Ipswich Town: The state of play with yellow cards ahead of the run-in

That's because the Blues have picked up 88 bookings since the start of the campaign, more than any other side in the Championship. 

The rules regarding suspensions and their cut-off points can be tricky, so Alex Jones has analysed the state of play heading into the run-in.

Sam Morsy is three bookings away from a three-match ban (Image: Pagepix)

Sam Morsy

Sam Morsy has been banned for four games so far this season, which are the only league matches he’s missed so far.

After picking up five yellow cards, he served a one game suspension in the 1-1 draw at Huddersfield Town towards the end of September. He was and then forced to sit out the home goalless stalemate against QPR in late December after being charged with ‘improper behaviour towards a match official’ after the 2-0 win at Middlesbrough.

Town's skipper then received his 10th booking of the season during a goalless draw away at Stoke City on New Year’s Day, ruling him out for games against Sunderland and Leicester City in January.

He currently has 12 cautions to his name, more than any other player in the division, which puts him into a bit of a perilous position. If he receives three more bookings before the end of the season he’ll receive a three-match ban.

And if that 15 card limit was hit on matchday 44, 45 or 46 of the regular season, then there's potential for him to miss one, two or all three play-off matches.

Yellow cards received during the play-offs don’t count towards the season total, meaning, for example, if Morsy was on 14 and booked during a first-leg tie he wouldn’t then be suspended for the second leg and a possible trip to Wembley.

If anyone knows how to walk a yellow-card tightrope, it’s the captain. It certainly isn’t his first time doing it.

Massimo Luongo has received eight yellow cards so far this season (Image: Ross Halls)

Massimo Luongo

Of course, Massimo Luongo, like any player, is still at risk of reaching 15 yellow cards before the end of the season, but it’s hard to see him being cautioned seven times in the next 12 games.

The Australian will be more worried about hitting 10 bookings, which he needs to avoid by matchday 37. For Ipswich, that’s away at Cardiff City on March 9.

He’s currently on eight for the campaign, meaning that he can get no more than one in the next three games.

The Blues head to Plymouth Argyle this weekend before hosting Bristol City next Tuesday. If he can finish 90 minutes in South Wales with nine cards or fewer, he’ll probably be fine for the rest of the campaign.

Just one of Lewis Travis' eight bookings have come during his time at Portman Road (Image: Ross Halls)

Lewis Travis

Funnily enough, Lewis Travis has only received one yellow card since joining Ipswich in January. That came in the 1-1 draw away at Leicester, taking his total for the season to eight.

That’s because he picked up seven bookings in 20 games for Blackburn Rovers in the first half of the season, leaving him in the same position as Luongo.

Travis has only made three starts and two cameo appearances since moving to Suffolk, however. Morsy and Luongo look to be the first-choice partnership, and Jack Taylor can’t be a million miles away from returning to action following a quad injury, meaning that the 26-year-old shouldn’t have any issues in avoiding two bookings by the end of Cardiff away.

Wes Burns is one of two players on six yellow cards for the campaign (Image: Ross Halls)

Other players

Barring a total disaster, nobody else is at risk of accumulating too many yellow cards.

Harry Clarke and Wes Burns are both on six, while Brandon Williams, Conor Chaplin and Luke Woolfenden all have five. None of them can reach 10 bookings before the cut-off point, and it would take a total disciplinary collapse for any of them to reach 15 before the end of the season.

It looks like Morsy, Luongo and Travis are the only three at risk going into the final few weeks.