This Time A Town Draw Would Probably Do

Ipswich Town are away to Leeds United tomorrow afternoon and if they could replicate what they did last season, when a single goal by Tommy Smith was enough to win the game then that would be a real bonus, with two home games to look forward to next.

The reality however is that this is unlikely to happen. Tommy Smith has just had successful surgery on his back but won’t be in contention for a first team place until next year at the earliest and anyway, Mick McCarthy will depend entirely on Brett Pitman to provide us with some forward fire-power, as he is likely to be the only striker on form and available.

Freddie Sears will try for the 35th time of asking to score from the wing and of course we are missing David McGoldrick once again and Daryl Murphy long term.

That leaves the best of the rest and the best of the rest includes journeyman Leon B who will probably have to sit this one out, as he is still not considered to be match fit.

He played of course and scored in the convincing 4-0 victory under 23 victory over our rivals tomorrow in midweek but that was 70 minutes of sub-standard football and nothing much to write home about in absolute truth.

I would like him to get a bit more game time tomorrow though and perhaps McCarthy might be tempted to bring him off the bench a bit earlier than before but that will probably only be the case, if we are chasing the game I would imagine.

There are serious injury concerns too about Teddy Bishop, who is recovering from a broken nose sustained last Saturday against Aston Villa and and a calf strain incurred by Luke Varney that could also keep him out of the picture at Elland Road.

As I have intimated before, a draw would indeed be a good result because having won their last three games in all competitions, Leeds United should have bags of confidence going into this one at home tomorrow afternoon.

Leeds Boss Garry Monk will be hungry for another home victory and if our manager can be believed, then a draw will suit us fine and on this rare occasion I happen to agree!

Frank weston – Editor of Vital Ipswich