Ipswich Town defender George Edmundson says the Blues have to be up for the fight as they welcome red-hot promotion rivals Rotherham to Portman Road tomorrow night.

The Blues suffered a frustrating afternoon in a 2-0 reverse at Sunderland on Saturday, leaving them down in tenth spot in League One, seven points off the play-offs.

While they can't afford to fall further off the pace, Rotherham will be a real test - the Millers sit second and are unbeaten in 14 games, including a 5-1 thumping of Sunderland.

And Edmundson, who's been Town's star man in many of their recent clashes, says Saturday's defeat will fire Paul Cook's side up for another big night under the Portman Road lights against a direct, physical Rotherham outfit.

"It would have been nice to win at the weekend but because we've lost, now it's a game we've got to go and win," he said.

"We knew before the season started that Rotherham were going to be up there so we're looking forward to the challenge.

"We've done it before against Wycombe and Portsmouth, so it will be a good test for us - and it's hopefully one we can win.

"We know what kind of game it's going to be, we've spoken about it.

"Everybody knows what kind of team Rotherham are - they're a good team, but they're very good at the other side of the game, being a bit more direct and second balls.

"It's one of them games where you've got to stick up to the fight and the challenge."

Edmundson also said he and the Blues have left no stone unturned in preparing for the Millers and 12-goal star striker Michael Smith, who returns from a one game suspension for the Suffolk clash.

"We do loads of analysis," he explained. "We have meetings and get clips on the opposition - if you want to look at a certain player, what formations they'll play, we go through it all and do our homework.

"If I want to go and look at Smith for Tuesday then I can go through analysis, go through it with the gaffer, the coaches.

"We'll go through the clips and you can do that for everybody - whatever you want, how they play, is he left footed or right footed, is he good in the air, when he's in this position does he try and spin off you, does he come short for the ball?

"We go through everything and we don't leave a page unturned."