Back in early August, Burton Albion had the honour of welcoming Ipswich Town to Sky Bet League One. The Suffolk side last competed this low in the English football pyramid in 1957. Last season saw the Tractor Boys finally end their stay in the Sky Bet Championship, however it was relegation rather than promotion that concluded their 17-year stay in England's second tier.

  • Team news

Ipswich Town:

Both Luke Garbutt and Teddy Bishop are both in contention to return to the side this Saturday. Garbutt was ruled out of the Sunderland match last weekend, and was absent midweek versus AFC Wimbledon too with a thigh injury. 

Burton Albion:

The Brewers will see the likes of Stephen Quinn, Jake Buxton, Colin Daniel and John-Joe O'Toole return to the Midlands outfit. The all have suffered injuries in recent weeks, and the Brewers will be delighted to welcome them back into the picture. 

Oliver Sarkic also returns the squad after he missed Tuesday's fixture against Oxford United due to suspension. 

  • Managers thoughts

Ipswich Town:

Speaking Ipswich iFollow, Tractor Boys manager Paul Lambert stated he is desperate for his side to return to winning ways against Albion:

“Finishing in the top two places is still the aim.

“We have to be more ruthless though. It’s both ends of the pitch where it really counts in football. If you defend well, you give yourselves a platform to win football matches. Score goals and you win football matches.

“We have the players here to score goals. They have already shown that this season but it’s clear that we need to start taking our chances because we have to get back to winning games and we have to do that quickly.”

Burton Albion:

Nigel Clough spoke to Burton's official website in the build-up to the fixture, and detailed how he believes his side are due some positives against Ipswich:

 “I think we have a point to prove after the first day of the season when we were beaten very unfairly after a deflection.

“They have been a bit of a bogey side as we have played so well against them and haven’t had the results. If you think about the games in the Championship and here in August, we are due a bit of luck against them.

“We are looking forward to the game. It’s always an enjoyable experience going to Portman Road. It’s one of those football clubs who have been at the top level for so long and have the history and the stadium and it should be an enjoyable experience for our players.

“We thought at the start of the season that they might run away with it but they have been pegged back a little, which can happen in a long hard season.”

  • Previous meetings:

The sides first met back in 2016, during Burton's first ever season in the Championship. That fixture was also at Portman Road, and that game ended 2-0 to the home side, with goals from Luke Chambers and Freddie Sears. From that team, only three players remain in the Burton squad this season, including the Brewers all-time EFL goalscorer Lucas Akins. 

The five meetings between the two sides have gone heavily in Ipswich's favour, with four wins, one draw and zero losses for the Suffolk side. 

Kick off is at 3pm at Portman Road