Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna says Blues fans 'have a massive part to play' in tomorrow's hotly-anticipated home clash with League One promotion rivals Plymouth Argyle.

It's third-v-first at a sold-out Portman Road, with Town trying to narrow a seven-point gap to the league leaders. 

"They’ve got a massive part to play," said McKenna, when asked about the sizeable support behind his team. 

"No doubt about it, we need to make it a really intense atmosphere because we love it and enjoy it when it’s like that. 

"When we do that the team we are up against feel the full force of us. When it’s like that it’s a formidable place for the visiting side to be. 

"We’re coming off the back of really strong home wins and performances against Rotherham (4-1), Oxford (3-0) and Peterborough (2-1). We want to carry that into this one.

"We want to give the fans lots to get behind. We want a great energy and everyone to be excited and enjoy the game."

The Northern Irishman continued: "Of course football doesn’t always go as smoothly as what you’d want. There will be moments that won’t go our way. That's when you need to show togetherness and resilience.

"When we go to big clubs with big crowds we say to the players ‘if we take charge of this game then the crowd will turn against them and they will get edgy’.

"That’s something we certainly haven’t had and don’t want in our home games. I feel like the crowd has always been with us. 

MORE: How Ipswich and Plymouth stack up man-for-man... and who comes out on top.

"In our games against the teams towards the top of the league we’ve responded and gone again. We did that against Rotherham, Peterborough and Portsmouth (equalisers conceded in all those matches). 

"The crowd are going to be a massive help at the points when the players need that support and extra push."  

Asked if this was the biggest game of his year-and-a-bit in charge of the club, McKenna said: "I honestly haven’t thought about it in that way. We honestly do stick to the mantra of treating every game with maximum respect. 

"But of course it’s a big game. We don’t want to get away from that fact. We want to enjoy that fact, we want to embrace it.

MORE: Ex-Town defender Wilson insists Plymouth can handle Portman Road atmosphere.

"It’s a massive game. It’s the type of game that we want to be involved in. We’re desperate for the three points and we’ll do everything we can to win. 

"It’s certainly a really big game. I’ve got no interest in ranking them! But we’re super excited for it and really motivated to go and get the three points."

Town lost 2-1 at Plymouth in an entertaining fine margins game last September.

"They’ve done very, very well it must be said," said McKenna.

"They got 80 points last year (finishing seventh) and that’s very unusual for that not to get you in the play-offs. 

"They’re on 57 points already this season, which is an incredible tally really. So they are obviously doing a lot of things well. 

"They’ve got a good manager (Steven Schumacher), they’ve got good organisation, they’re good on all phases and they’ve had individuals stepping up at big moments. 

"They’ve won a lot of tight games through very, very good individual goals and they’ve won a lot of tight games through big, big saves from their goalkeeper (Michael Cooper). 

"Of course we respect them, we know they’re a strong opponent, but we focus on ourselves and being the best we can be."