| Ipswich Town 3 v 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers Carabao Cup Tuesday, 26th September 2023 Kick-off 19:45 |  |
Town Host Wolves Aiming to Reach Carabao Cup Fourth Round For First Time in 13 Years Monday, 25th Sep 2023 12:23 Town host Premier League Wolves on Tuesday evening aiming to reach the fourth round of the Carabao Cup for the first time in 13 years. The Blues last made it through three rounds of the League Cup under its various guises back in the 2010/11 campaign when they progressed to the semi-finals before going out 3-1 to Arsenal on aggregate over two legs. Town beat Bristol Rovers 2-0 at Portman Road in round one before defeating another League One side, Reading, in the second 3-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw. The Blues go into Tuesday’s match in stunning form having won seven of their first eight Championship matches this season in addition to those cup successes. On Saturday, Kieran McKenna’s men played out a remarkable seven-goal thriller against Blackburn, eventually emerging 4-3 victors over the Lancastrians. “An incredible game, really incredible. I thought we played really well, certainly at times, and I thought they played really well as well,” Town assistant manager Martyn Pert told TownTV reflecting on that game. “They were really offensive, really attacked us, so it was a tough job in terms of keeping them to just three goals. “Also it was tough for them because we could have had a lot more goals, it could have ended up a really high-scoring game. It was high-scoring anyway but it could have been 7-6 because there were so many good chances in the game. “It must have been a great game for the crowd, for the neutral it would have been exceptional. For a supporter of Ipswich it must have been a heart-stopper at times. “But it was a really good game to be involved in, really happy that we came out on top and I thought we deserved to come out on top, but only just. It was a really good game.” Looking ahead to Tuesday’s match, the first ever League Cup tie between the Blues and Wolves, Pert added: “Obviously it’s a cup game, so it’s different, a little bit of a break from the league and we can really go and attack it against a Premier League team, who have got a number of really good offensive players. It should be a real test for us and something the fans should look forward to.” Town have changed their entire XI for their two cup games so far and are likely to take a similar approach on Tuesday. “We’re in a good bit of form in terms of results and the cup games have been good to get to get minutes into players who want more minutes, so it’s another chance to change the team in terms of players coming in,” Pert continued. “We haven’t looked at it yet but there will definitely be some changes and I would imagine most teams in the cup will make changes.” The Blues assistant also anticipates the Molineux side, who drew 1-1 at Luton on Saturday having been reduced to 10 men and are 16th in the top flight, making switches of personnel but says whoever they field they’ll present stiff opposition. “Whatever team they put out they’re going to have a good team,” he said. “Look at the bench against Luton at the weekend and you could see a lot of talented players, so it will be a really tough game whoever they put out. “Looking forward to it and looking forward to how we cope with the challenge of a Premier League team.” Town are again likely to change their entire team with Cieran Slicker set to be in goal having played in both the previous Carabao Cup ties. Janoi Donacien could start at right-back having returned to training following his groin injury last week with Brandon Williams probably at left-back. Leif Davis appears unlikely to be involved even on the bench having aggravated his ankle injury on Saturday, although with manager McKenna playing down the significance of the knock following the match. George Edmundson and Elkan Baggott will probably be the centre-halves with manager McKenna having said last week that recent signing Axel Tuanzebe was at that stage in “the earlier stages of pre-season in essence”. In central midfield, Lee Evans will probably skipper against his old side with Jack Taylor and Dominic Ball options alongside the Welshman with the former Peterborough man perhaps getting the nod, although it's not impossible that regular captain Sam Morsy could play with the Egyptian international suspended for Saturday's Championship game at Huddersfield. Omari Hutchinson could start on the right with Marcus Harness in the centre and Cameron Humphreys on the left, as was the case against the Royals, although Sone Aluko is another option for a role in the three behind the main striker. Freddie Ladapo looks set to start as the number nine with Dane Scarlett cup-tied having played for Spurs in their on-penalties defeat to Fulham last month. In the previous round the Blues have named a strong bench and that’s likely to be the case again given the strength of the opposition. Wolves came into the competition at the second round stage when they beat League One Blackpool 5-0 at home. Among the starters for Gary O’Neil’s side that night was young midfielder Joe Hodge, who hasn’t been involved since due to a thigh injury. O'Neil plans to make changes to his team with Dan Bentley, Pablo Sarabia, Fabio Silva and Sasa Kalajdzic among those likely to come into the XI having been subs at the weekend, while new signings Santi Bueno and Enso Gonzalez, who are yet to make their debuts, could also come into the reckoning. “There’s a group of players there and loads of them are frustrated because they’ve not had enough minutes,” O’Neil told the Wolverhampton Express & Star. “They’re all capable and all did well against Blackpool, so there will be some changes. “The Man City game at the weekend will be a massive test for us as well, physically, so we will make some changes. “But I’m desperate to beat Ipswich as I’m sure all the Wolves fans are and all the players are. “I’ll pick a team that helps us, helps the group and helps move people along, but we’re also desperate to win the game.” Tuesday's match will go straight to penalties if level at the end of 90 minutes. The draw for round four will take place on Wednesday evening following the live-on-Sky Newcastle United-Manchester City tie at around 10.20pm unless that game goes to penalties. The teams are fairly evenly matched over the years, Town winning 29 times (28 in the league), Wolves 29 (26) and with 25 games (22) ending in draws. The teams last met at Portman Road in the Championship in January 2018 when Matt Doherty’s 15th-minute goal saw top-of-the-table Wolves, who ultimately claimed the Championship title, to a 1-0 victory over Town. Doherty nodded home a Barry Douglas cross at the far post with the impressive visitors subsequently looking more likely to add to their lead than the Blues were to level with Town keeper Bartosz Bialkowski making a number of outstanding saves. Earlier that season at Molineux, Ivan Cavaleiro’s 40th minute goal saw Wolves a 1-0 victory over the Blues. Town contained the Championship leaders until five minutes before the break and despite showing more attacking intent in the second half, rarely looked like taking anything from the game. Blues skipper Morsy was born in Wolverhampton and started his career with his hometown club but left before making a senior appearance in the old gold. Fellow midfielder Evans was with Wolves between January 2013 and 2018 having signed from Newport County, making 54 starts and 13 sub appearances, scoring three goals. Last week, young attacker Tawanda Chirewa joined Wolves having left the Blues after turning down new terms at Town at the end of last season but the 19-year-old appears unlikely to be involved with the first team at this stage. Tuesday’s referee is Sam Barrott, who has shown 20 yellow cards and two red in five games so far this season. One of those matches was the Blues’ opening fixture at Sunderland, which they won 2-1, in which he dismissed Black Cats right-back Trai Hume for two bookable offences and yellow-carded Morsy, Vaclav Hladky, Wes Burns and one Wearsider. Barrott’s last Town game prior to that was as a late replacement for the 6-0 thrashing of Charlton in April after it had emerged that the official originally slated for the game, James Bell, was a fan of Sheffield Wednesday, who at the time were vying with the Blues for League One promotion. The West Riding-based official showed yellow cards to Leif Davis and four to Addicks, two to Ryan Inness, who was then issued with a red with two minutes left on the clock, his fourth dismissal of the season and fifth in just over a year. Barrott previously took charge of the 1-1 draw at Cambridge in February in which he awarded the U’s a penalty after Edmundson had clumsily felled Conor McGrandles, which Christian Walton saved. Barrott also booked Edmundson, Morsy and two home players. He was also the man in the middle for the opening game of last season, the home game with Bolton Wanderers, which also ended 1-1, and in which he gave the Trotters a penalty, which was converted by Aaron Morley, after debutant Davis had tripped Conor Bradley. Evans, Luke Woolfenden and two visitors were booked. Barrott was also in charge of Town boss McKenna’s first match in charge, the 1-0 home victory over Wycombe Wanderers at Portman Road in December 2021 in which he booked Morsy, Joe Pigott, Matt Penney and one Chairboy. Squad from: Slicker, Hayes, Hladky, Donacien, Clarke, Ball, Woolfenden, Burgess, Edmundson, Baggott, Tuanzebe, Williams, Morsy, Evans, Luongo, Taylor, Humphreys, Burns, Jackson, Chaplin, Broadhead, Harness, Aluko, Hutchinson, Ladapo, Carr, Ayinde.
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