Ipswich Town play host to Watford on Wednesday evening with their promotion hopes still in their own hands despite the loss at rivals Norwich City.
At a time when the Tractor Boys sit in second position in the Championship standings, Watford are down in 14th spot, albeit on a four-match unbeaten run.
Match preview
© Reuters
On the back of their thrilling 3-2 victory over Southampton, Ipswich were heavily fancied to defeat rivals Norwich City, even when falling behind in the first half.
However, the anticipated turnaround did not come to fruition, as their East Anglian foes impressively resisting all that the Tractor Boys had to offer after the break to claim a 1-0 win.
Ipswich deserve minimal criticism at this stage, a consequence of still having won nine of 11 matches and their fate being in their own hands.
That said, losing at Carrow Road marked the first time in the Championship since New Year's Day that they have failed to score a goal, leaving Kieran McKenna to take stock of how they need to improve.
Although Ipswich have none of the current top six left on their schedule, some tricky-looking fixtures await, starting with Watford on Wednesday.
© Reuters
In the long term, this is a Hornets side that have performed drastically under par, winning just two of their last 14 encounters in the Championship.
On both occasions, 1-0 triumphs have come at the home of relegated Rotherham United and struggling Birmingham City, yet Watford feel on the up under the guidance of caretaker boss Tom Cleverley.
Following the win over Blues, draws have been posted against Leeds United, West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End, reducing any realistic chance of Watford being dragged into a relegation scrap.
Mathematically, though, a nine-point advantage with five games left means that the job is not yet done, particularly when trips to Ipswich, Southampton and Middlesbrough are still on the schedule.
Team News
© Reuters
McKenna will contemplate making a number of changes to his Ipswich team, also with a home fixture with Middlesbrough to come on Saturday.
Harry Clarke and Jeremy Sarmiento appear most likely to come back into the side at right-back and in the final third respectively.
Ali Al Hamadi could also get a run-out ahead of Kieffer Moore, who has been less effective in recent games and is without a goal in four appearances.
Cleverly is unlikely to overly tinker with a Watford side that are playing well, but Mileta Rajovic is an obvious option to come back into the attack.
As is Ismael Kone in central midfield, with it possible that Cleverley could go for three central midfielders and a front two.
Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:
Hladky; Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis; Morsy, Luongo; Hutchinson, Chaplin, Sarmiento; Al Hamadi
Watford possible starting lineup:
Bachmann; Porteous, Sierralta, Hoedt; Andrews, Kayembe, Dele-Bashiru, Lewis; Kone; Dennis, Rajovic
We say: Ipswich Town 2-1 Watford
With Watford having shown their solidity under Cleverley, this could prove to be a challenging game for Ipswich. Nevertheless, we are backing the home side to edge this contest, potentially courtesy of a fast start.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
