Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has backed captain Sam Morsy to walk a disciplinary tightrope heading into tomorrow's game at West Ham.

The combative Blues midfielder has been booked four times in the opening six Premier League games of the season. One more will see him serve a one-game ban, with the yellow card amnesty not until game week 19.

With the 33-year-old having been fortunate not to have received a second yellow card in the second half of last weekend's 2-2 home draw against Aston Villa, McKenna said: “Samy’s an experienced player and he plays with a really competitive edge, he always has done and it’s one of the strongest bits of his game.

“In the last two and half years, he’s never been sent off for us and I think he’s really good at finding the balance in general in his game of being competitive and being aggressive but also knowing that keeping 11 players on the pitch is so, so important for us, especially in this division.

“I think Samy knows how to manage himself well and he’s an important player for us and will be important, hopefully, this weekend.”

Attacking duo Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson both have two bookings each, with eight other Town players on one.