Ipswich Town travel to League Two AFC Wimbledon for a second round clash in the Carabao Cup tonight (7.45pm). Mark Heath previews the action...
UP FOR THE CUP?
There are two ways of looking at this game. One, it's an unwelcome midweek distraction from the only important goal Ipswich Town have this season, namely staying in the Premier League.
Having lost their opening two top tier matches against title contenders Liverpool and Manchester City, there's a sense that the season truly starts in earnest on Saturday, when Fulham visit Portman Road. A Wednesday night trip to the Dons, then, is not ideal.
The other, entirely more positive way of looking at it, is that's it's a very winnable game in a cup competition which gives Town a chance to get minutes in the legs of their getting-deeper-by-the-day squad and score their first victory of the season. Winning, after all, is a habit - wherever and however you triumph.
LAST SEASON
The Carabao Cup was just another chance for Town to win even more games last season, and they had a decent run in it.
Having seen off Bristol Rovers 2-0 in the first round, they beat Reading on penalties in the second and fought back from an early 2-0 deficit at home to beat Premier League Wolves 3-2 in the third round.
That set up a fourth round clash with Fulham - ironically their opponents this weekend - where the run ended, the Cottagers running out 3-1 winners on a night where their greater class showed.
MEET THE DONS
AFC Wimbledon have had a decent start to the campaign under ex-Colchester United star Johnnie Jackson.
They've won two of their first three League Two games to sit eighth in the early table, and saw off Football League new boys Bromley 2-1 away to secure their second round spot in this competition.
They come into tonight's clash off the back of a 1-0 win at Cheltenham on Saturday, with a familiar face scoring the winner...
FEED THE PIG
Joe Pigott arrived at Town in the infamous Paul Cook Demolition Man summer of 2021, one of 19 new signings.
On paper, coming in after a dazzling 22-goal season with these very Dons, he was the man brought in to score the goals which would finally fire Town out of League One.
Of course, it didn't work out like that. Macauley Bonne started the season like his shorts were on fire, Pigott quickly lost his starting spot and never really got going in Suffolk.
He finally departed Town for Leyton Orient last summer, having scored just three goals in 28 games. Orient have since shipped him out on loan back to the Dons this season.
He's already scored twice, including Saturday's winner. Jackson said of him: "I’m delighted for Joe.
"He sometimes beats himself up a little too much – he’s his own biggest critic at times.
"He’s getting the game time now, and he’s starting to look sharper and better every day.
"It’s an unbelievable skill to control that finish that he showed. Reasons like that are why we brought him in."
Piggott will no doubt have a bit of extra pep in his step tonight. But he's not the only striker set for a reunion with old friends...
ALI'S BACK
When Ali Al-Hamadi arrived in Suffolk from the Dons in January, the seven-figure fee paid out was an AFC Wimbledon club record and reportedly on course to be a League Two record, if future incentives were met.
That lofty price was justified given just how good the Iraqi international had been at the Dons, where he bagged 27 goals in 48 games and was largely considered to be the best player in the league.
The 22-year-old has since become something of a fan favourite at Portman Road too, scoring four goals in 16 games and making history as the first Iraqi to play in the Premier League.
Whether he remains in Suffolk after Friday's transfer deadline day is TBD - a loan move away is a possibility - but there seems a good chance that he'll start tonight. Which brings us to...
WHO PLAYS?
Normally, it's fairly easy to predict Town sides for cup games - a few youngsters, a few fringe players and skipper Sam Morsy, who never wants to miss a match.
But now the squad is so deep, with so many new faces through the door, that it seems tonight's starting XI is going to be a strong one.
Speaking yesterday, boss Kieran McKenna confirmed that there will be plenty of changes and new signings.
“We’ll utilise the squad for sure," he explained. "We are in a position where we’ve made a lot of additions now to the group, and we feel like that’s going to really help us over the course of the season.
“Quite a few of them have been in recent weeks as well, so it’s really important that we get the squad up to speed as much as we can, both in terms of match minutes, but also just getting on the pitch together and playing together.
“So for sure there will be a lot of changes from Saturday, that’s important, and we’ll try to be as organised as we can as a team, but we know the challenges of lots of new players coming together. That’s going to be our process this week and over the next few weeks to be honest.
“We’ll get started with that on Wednesday and hopefully put out a good performance.”
POTENTIAL XI
Tough to predict! You'd imagine third-choice stopper Cieran Slicker will start in goal, with McKenna confirming yesterday that he won't be going out on loan this season. It'd give him the chance to impress after Christian Walton and Arijanet Muric played against Liverpool and Manchester City respectively.
This seems a good chance to get Ben Johnson and Conor Townsend starting at full-back too, with the likes of Cameron Burgess and George Edmundson getting minutes in the centre of defence.
International midfielders Kalvin Phillips and Jens Cajuste have yet to see action since signing on loan, and they could form a daunting engine room.
Up top, Al-Hamadi feels like a likely starter here, with Marcus Harness, Conor Chaplin and Jack Taylor potentials to form the trio behind him. The latter played off the left against Fortuna Düsseldorf and could be used in the same role.
Most recent new signings Dara O'Shea and Jack Clarke are both expected to be available too, but probably off the bench.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Slicker; Johnson, Edmundson, Burgess, Townsend; Phillips, Cajuste; Harness, Chaplin, Taylor; Al-Hamadi
AND REMEMBER
There's no extra-time in the Carabao Cup until the semi-final. If it's level after 90 minutes tonight, we go straight to penalties...
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