Ipswich Town took their winning run to four as they comfortably saw off Accrington Stanley at Portman Road.
The Blues, fresh from their weekend victory over Burton, were in control of this contest throughout and were fully in command after an early Nathan Broadhead goal put them ahead.
Town created openings but didn’t add a second until after half-time, when Kayden Jackson turned the ball home after Massimo Luongo’s shot came back off the crossbar.
The game was won well before visiting keeper Lukas Jensen was sent off in stoppage time, leading to a free-kick which substitute Kyle Edwards curled home to complete the scoring.
The clean sheet was Town’s fifth in succession, with the Blues now having passed the 500-minute mark since last conceding, during the Portman Road draw with Sheffield Wednesday.
Promotion rivals Plymouth Argyle came from behind to beat Derby County this evening, meaning the gap to second place remains at five points.
Next up for Town is Saturday’s trip to Bolton Wanderers.
Kieran McKenna made two changes to his side as Ipswich went in search of their fourth-successive victory.
Leif Davis recovered from the kick which saw him replaced late in Saturday’s victory over Burton and kept his place at left-back. There was a change on the right side of defence, though, with Harry Clarke dropping out the side and Janoi Donacien taking his place. Ahead of him, Jackson came in for Wes Burns.
The rest of the side was the same as the one which began the clash with the Brewers, meaning Christian Walton was in goal, with Donacien, Luke Woolfenden, Cameron Burgess and Davis making up the defence.
Luongo continued alongside Sam Morsy in the centre of midfield, with Jackson, Conor Chaplin and Broadhead lining up behind central striker Freddie Ladapo.
The Blues made life difficult for visiting keeper Jensen early on, pressuring him into a trio of hurried clearances before Jackson so nearly caused real trouble as he charged down the Burnley loanee’s long ball forward. Thankfully for the visitors the ball dropped safe, but John Coleman’s men weren’t spared for long.
Luongo worked the ball out to the right, where Jackson had scampered away and was in the perfect position to deliver a cross which invited Broadhead to tap home his fourth goal in as many Portman Road outings.
Donacien created an attack out of nothing, with a big tackle on Rosaire Longelo inside his own half before frightening Mo Sangare into a bizarre piece of defending, sitting off to allow the Town man to advance and sent in a cross which Ladapo headed into the arms of Jensen.
The Blues’ tempo dropped a little but they remained by far the more threatening, with Ladapo stinging the palms of Jensen, before Accrington ended the half with Aaron Pressley and then Mitch Clark having efforts on the Town goal. Walton dealt with both, before Town’s final act of the opening period ended with Jackson crossing for Chaplin to tap home, before the offside flag went up.
Town began the second half with a momentary jitter at the back before Chaplin fired an effort over the top of the bar, with the No.10 then connecting with a low Davis corner and seeing an effort from inside the box blocked.
McKenna’s first changes of the night saw Marcus Harness and Cameron Humphreys replace Broadhead and Luongo, before Harry Clarke and George Hirst came into the contest for Davis and Ladapo.
Harness flashed a Humphreys corner over the top of the bar with a header, as Town pushed for their third of the night, but much of the early energy had fallen out of the contest given the result was not in doubt.
Chaplin had time to spin and see a shot saved by the Accrington keeper, before being replaced by Edwards, with the game drifting towards a satisfactory conclusion.
The was a little more drama to come, when Clarke’s bursting run saw him brought down by Jensen, earning the keeper a straight red card in stoppage time.
Edwards did the rest, curling home the resulting free-kick to complete a solid evening’s work for the Blues.
Ipswich Town: Walton; Donacien, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis (Clarke, 72); Morsy, Luongo (Humphreys, 62); Jackson, Chaplin (Edwards, 84), Broadhead (Harness, 62); Ladapo (Hirst, 72)
Subs: Hladky, Burns
Accrington Stanley: Jensen, Clark, Longelo (Nolan, 23), Sangare, Rodgers (Tharme, 62), Fernandes, Martin, Mancini (Butler-Oyedeji, 62), Quirk (Adeyoyin, 62), Conneely, Pressley (Isherwood 90+1)
Subs: Adekoya
Att: 22,413 (59 Accrington fans)
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