Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna insists his team take 'zero per cent motivation' from the fact Plymouth Argyle pipped them to the League One title going into tomorrow's Championship clash at Home Park.

The Blues were heralded by many managers and pundits as 'the best team in third-tier history' when storming to automatic promotion last season, but it was Plymouth who claimed top spot with an incredible 101 points compared to Town's 98.

Fast forward 10 months and this a 15th versus third clash, with promotion-chasing Ipswich - who won the reverse fixture 3-2 at Portman Road last October - 32 points better off in the table. 

“We take zero per cent motivation from that aspect," said McKenna, when asked if last year's duel gave this fixture any extra edge.

“They were a really good team in League One, as shown by their points total. We had two really good games with them (losing 2-1 away and drawing 1-1 at home), we felt like we could have got more points from those games, but that’s ancient history now.

"It’s a new season, our team’s on its own trajectory. There’s new staff on their side, new players on both sides. I don’t think the past will have any great relevance as to what comes this weekend. 

"We take 100% motivation from the season we’re having. We’re just focused on picking up more points and performing well. 

“Honestly, there’s not been any talk whatsoever about last season amongst the group and I don’t think there will be in the build-up to the game."

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Town defender Luke Woolfenden wasn't quite on the same page as his boss, saying: “That (last season) is probably going to play into it. They took good joy in finishing above us and rightfully so. We’ve kicked on again this season and there’s that bit of space between us in the table.

“I think there’s a bit of a point to prove from both ends really. We want to prove we’re better than them, despite where we both finished last season, and they’ll probably be thinking that they’ve got our number. They’ve given us good games wherever we’ve played. They beat us down there last season and nicked the draw here, then they gave us a good game here towards the start of this season. So it will be a tough game."

Plymouth saw manager Steve Schumacher leave for Stoke in December and he was replaced by former England U20 boss Ian Foster. The Pilgrims recently lost at home to both Leeds (2-0) and West Brom (3-0), but come into this game off the back of an impressive 2-0 win at Middlesbrough.

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“It’s a tough game, no doubt about it," said McKenna.

“We know there’ll be a good atmosphere, their supporters will be very motivated and we look forward to that. 

“They’re coming into the game off the back of a really good win last week. They played ever so well at Middlesbrough. It could have been more comfortable than they were at half-time actually. They carried a big threat, as they always do, on transitions especially, and showed the individual quality that they have. They defended resolutely as well. 

“There’s new players on both sides, a new manager for them, but they’re still a team with a really strong home record and lots of talented individual players who can hurt you if you’re not at your very best."

Asked if he felt Plymouth's approach had changed much under new management, McKenna replied: “They’ve gone back to a 3-4-3 or a 5-4-1 formation, whatever way you want to label it on and off the ball, which was something they had great success with last year.

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"This year they were playing a 4-3-3 under Steven (Schumacher) with wide wingers and inverted full-backs. So they’ve reverted to what brought them success and that puts some key players back into the lost they were in when we faced them previously. 

“They’ve been so strong on counter-attacks and transitions for a long period of time. That’s still their best attribute as a team. They’re number one in the whole league for shots from attacking transitions, which is a fantastic attribute to have as a newly promoted team. With the likes of (Morgan) Whittaker and (Ryan) Hardie they are always going to be a big threat in those situations.  

“You have to prepare for it well. We thought we prepared for it well before the home game and we conceded in the first situation when Whittaker’s put it in the top corner from 25 yards. We’ll try and counter their strengths, but also not go too far away from our strengths and attacking weapons and the ways we like to impose ourselves on any game."