Ipswich Town take on Rotherham United, at Portman Road, in a Championship match this evening (7.45pm). Stuart Watson previews the action.
CLOSE THE GAP
Second-place Leeds United have to sit back and watch tonight as the two teams behind them play their game in hand.
If Southampton beat Hull City at home, they will jump into the automatic promotion spots. If they don't, they could be leapfrogged by Ipswich.
The Blues will be strong favourites to get all three points against Rotherham United at Portman Road. Do that and they will draw level with Leeds in the table.
Leeds' goal difference is 15 better than Town's, so there's no way the Blues will be ending tonight in the top two. A healthy margin of victory would, however, help eat into that.
DIFFERENT TRAJECTORIES
There was a time not so long along that Ipswich routinely got mullered by the Millers.
Direct, physical and athletic, Rotherham did the double over Town in both of their League One promotion seasons of 2019/20 and 2021/22, winning by an aggregate scoreline of 6-0 over the four games. So often, the Blues were out-fought and out-thought.
That was then, though, and this is now.
Long-serving manager Paul Warne left the South Yorkshire club in September 2022 to join Derby County. He was replaced by Exeter City's Matt Taylor.
Ipswich subsequently knocked Rotherham out of the FA Cup at the fourth round stage last January as lower league opponents. The team that secured a 4-1 win at Portman Road was: Hladky; Vincent-Young, Keogh, Edmundson, Davis; Evans, Humphreys; Jackson, Chaplin, Aluko; Ladapo.
Town went on to claim promotion with mega momentum, while Rotherham got themselves out of a slump to finish six points above the drop zone and secure another season of second-tier football. It was clear these were two clubs on different trajectories.
Back in early November, however, Ipswich's wait for a league win in this fixture went on after a 2-2 draw at the New York Stadium. Town went behind early on, equalised through Sam Morsy, took the lead in the 87th minute via Jack Taylor's bundled finish only for Christ Tiehi to net a superb long-range leveller in stoppage-time.
The last time Town beat Rotherham in the league was January 2019 when Will Keane scored the winner for Paul Lambert's men on Suffolk soil.
ROCK-BOTTOM
Taylor was sacked just a few days after that November draw with Ipswich. A 5-0 defeat at Watford proved the final nail in his coffin, with two wins from 16 leaving Rotherham four points from safety.
Former Wigan boss Leam Richardson was eventually appointed in the middle of December following a 'long and meticulous interview process'.
"We can't guarantee results, but we can guarantee a certain level of performance and level of work ethic," was his promise to supporters.
The Millers have taken just six points from 12 games since then though and find themselves 14 points adrift of safety at the foot of the table.
Away form has been the biggest issue. Rotherham haven't won on their travels in more than 15 months. Their league record on the road this season reads: P15 W0 D4 L11 F9 A37.
WHO PLAYS?
Following two big away wins in quick succession - at Millwall and Swansea - will Kieran McKenna freshen his side up for a fourth game in 11 days tonight?
Ordinarily, I'd say 'probably', but my gut feeling is that the bulk of a team hitting some good form will be stuck with.
Wes Burns coming back into the team for Omari Hutchinson on the right looks an obvious alteration to me. Lewis Travis to give Massimo Luongo a breather in midfield is a possibility. But beyond that, it's hard to see where much tinkering will come.
Do you really rest statement signing Kieffer Moore just to give the exciting-but-raw Ali Al-Hamadi his first start? I don't think so. Moore needs minutes in the legs after not playing much for Bournemouth during the first half of the season. And the team needs to keep working on its chemistry with him at the top of the attack. I could see Moore starting every game from here on in, to be honest.
Al-Hamadi can play in other attacking roles, of course. But how can you rest Nathan Broadhead after he's just netted three goals in three games? Conor Chaplin's just had a rest (at Millwall), bagged at the weekend and is champing at the bit to go on another 'purple patch' scoring run. Sometimes it's important to ride hot hands.
Trying to plan ahead for Saturday's visit of Birmingham has the potential to backfire. My gut feeling is that the likes of Al-Hamadi, Jeremy Sarmiento, Marcus Harness and Hutchinson will come on in the second half to either break down a stubborn defence or, hopefully, have fun with the game already won.
Knowing Ipswich have strength on the bench and a never-say-die spirit will hopefully mean that another bumper crowd will show patience if there is an element of frustration to the game.
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