Town Home Form Is The Key To Success

Ipswich Town have struggled at home so far this season. If we could have replicated our away form then we could be sitting pretty in the top two now but of course all is not lost.

There are still 21 games to go and another 63 points up for grabs so what we need to do in the second half of our season is to start winning more games at Portman Road.

I guess I am stating the obvious there but after last season when we won very regularly at our place, this time around we have found the going very tough.

In fact, we have only won four games at home in the Championship so far, which is very disappointing and nothing like what we have normally come to expect.

The good news however is that we still have the time to redeem ourselves and with another eleven games to be played in Suffolk that is effectively another 33 points to fight over!

Two home games on the bounce against Leeds United and then Preston on Saturday could shoot us yet further up the table but we really have to stop this bad habit of spilling points from winning positions both at home and away.

We did it against Wolves and again against Birmingham and we must not think we are over the finishing line until we actually are!

Our tendency to sit on a goal advantage does not help our cause so I hope that if we take the lead this evening against Leeds United, we will press higher up the field and go in search of more!

Town are likely to field the same team that drew with Burnley at Turf Moor and that means the return of Daryl Murphy and Jonathan Douglas and Ryan Fraser and Freddie Sears should start again tonight.

The Yorkshire outfit are in a rich vein of form and are undefeated over the last seven games in the Championship so this will be anything but a comfortable victory and the blues will have to work hard to make clear openings.

Chris Wood is doubtful but if he passes a late fitness test he will be a real handful up front for them and they have some quality players, who could hurt Town, if we do not defend well.

The good news is that Leeds have gone six games without keeping a clean sheet against Ipswich but records like that are there to be broken so we cannot take anything for granted this evening.

They will have a big following too which is said to be in access of 2,000 supporters and that is quite remarkable turnout, given the fact that it is a midweek match.

Our home form might not be brilliant these days but we have won the last fourteen games that have been played at Portman Road under floodlights so here’s hoping for number fifteen!



Frank Weston – editor of Vital Ipswich.