Ipswich Matchday Preview

Ipswich Town v Fulham | Portman Road | Wednesday 16th September 2020 | 7pm | #IPSFUL

The opposition

• Having featured in the top two divisions for 62 years consecutively, Ipswich were relegated to League One two seasons ago. They began the 2019/20 campaign well, but inconsistency resulted in an 11th placed finish when the season was brought to a halt.
• They have one of the most decorated managers in the division in Paul Lambert. As a player he won the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund, while as a manager he is revered at Ipswich’s fierce rivals Norwich City having led them to consecutive promotions a decade ago.
• The Tractor Boys have won two and lost one of their three 2020/21 fixtures so far. A 3-0 victory over Bristol Rovers in the Carabao Cup set up the Fulham tie, but they were then narrowly beaten by Arsenal Under-21s in the EFL Trophy. Their League One campaign kicked off with a 2-0 win over recently relegated Wigan Athletic on Sunday.

Ipswich team news

Forward Aaron Drinan, who has been ever-present for Town this season, picked up a thigh strain against Wigan and may not be risked. Long-term absentees include Cole Skuse, Kane Vincent-Young, Kayden Jackson and Luke Woolfenden.

Fulham team news

The treatment room at Motspur Park is currently empty, although Scott Parker has said he will use Wednesday's game as an opportunity to get some minutes into the legs of players who have not played a lot of football of late.

Permutations

If the score is level after 90 minutes, the match will go straight to penalties. The winning side will host Sheffield Wednesday in Round Three.

Coverage

No game this season will be shown live on FFCtv, but the EFL have launched a streaming service allowing fans to watch Carabao Cup matches. You can purchase a match pass for £10 and then head to carabaocup.live to watch the tie. Gentleman Jim and Jamie Reid will be at Portman Road to provide live commentary for FFCtv's seasonal and monthly subscribers.

Pre-match quotes