Ipswich Town will endeavour to claim a fourth win from five League One matches when Cheltenham Town pay a visit to Portman Road on Tuesday night.
Kieran McKenna's side eased past Burton Albion 3-0 at the weekend, while their visitors were involved in a breathtaking 5-5 draw with Wycombe Wanderers.
Match preview
Ipswich's defensive solidity has not been called into question whatsoever over the past few weeks, and McKenna's men also managed to find their shooting boots at the right moment to see off Burton with panache on Saturday.
Kayden Jackson opened the scoring within 43 seconds of the contest at Portman Road before further strikes from Wes Burns and Dijon loanee Bersant Celina sealed the deal, as the Tractor Boys continue to push for a playoff berth amid their upturn in fortunes.
Having now taken 10 points from the last 12 on offer in League One, the in-form hosts have surged up to eighth in the rankings but cannot throw the cat amongst the pigeons in the playoff places just yet, with McKenna's side four points adrift of sixth-placed Wycombe.
As impressive as they were on the attacking front against Burton, Ipswich also recorded a fourth successive clean sheet and have only shipped one goal in their last six domestic encounters, as well as winning each of their last four at Portman Road.
Not since November 23 have Ipswich suffered a third-tier defeat on home soil - and even then that was against runaway leaders Rotherham United - but Cheltenham know a thing or two about breaching defences.
Two sides that have developed something of an affinity for a draw in recent weeks played out a stalemate for the ages on Saturday, as Wycombe and Cheltenham shook hands on a point apiece following a 10-goal extravaganza at Adams Park.
Alfie May stole the show for Cheltenham on the day with four of his side's five goals - including two vital late strikes when his side were 5-3 down - and manager Michael Duff admitted that he "did not have the vocabulary" to describe what he witnessed over the 90 minutes.
While another draw means it is now five games without defeat for Cheltenham in League One, their position in the table is still precarious, as Duff's side enter Tuesday's game down in 15th but comfortably 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
Several weeks of mid-table mediocrity likely awaits Cheltenham before the final whistle blows on the season, but they are now winless away from home since the end of November and are facing an uphill battle to emulate their 2-1 home win against Ipswich from August 17.
- W
- L
- W
- W
- D
- W
- L
- D
- D
- W
- W
- D
Team News
Ipswich boss McKenna confirmed before the Burton win that Kyle Edwards would spend the next few months on the sidelines with a quad injury, but Lee Evans was fit enough to return to the first XI on Saturday.
The Tractor Boys otherwise have no fresh concerns to report from the weekend's triumph, and McKenna will be tempted to name a largely unchanged XI given the manner of his side's success.
However, Celina will certainly push for a recall after netting off the bench in that game, with Sone Aluko's place at risk for the midweek contest, and 12-goal striker Macauley Bonne ought to displace Joe Pigott.
As for Cheltenham, Conor Thomas was not involved in the Wycombe thriller after suffering a setback and faces a race against time to be fit for Tuesday, and the same can be said for Sean Long.
Charlie Brown, George Lloyd and Ellis Chapman remain absent for the visiting party, and Duff could shuffle the pack in defence or midfield in order to prevent another five-goal leak.
Aston Villa loanee Aaron Ramsey may be sacrificed if Duff opts for more experience in the middle, with 31-year-old Liam Sercombe waiting patiently in the wings.
Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:
Walton; Donacien, Woolfenden, Edmundson; Burns, Evans, Morsy, Thompson; Celina; Jackson, Bonne
Cheltenham Town possible starting lineup:
Evans; Raglan, Pollock, Boyle; Blair, Sercombe, Bonds, Wright, Williams; May, Etete
We say: Ipswich Town 3-1 Cheltenham Town
With two prominent goal-getters in Bonne and May set to lock horns at Portman Road, the stage is set for a terrific watch for the neutrals - especially if the visitors' draw with Wycombe is anything to go by.
However, Ipswich know how to keep things watertight at the back and are firmly in the playoff picture now, so we can only back the Tractor Boys to get the job done.
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Ipswich Town win with a probability of 65.49%. A draw had a probability of 20.1% and a win for Cheltenham Town had a probability of 14.45%.
The most likely scoreline for a Ipswich Town win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.59%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (11.26%) and 2-1 (9.82%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.54%), while for a Cheltenham Town win it was 0-1 (4.63%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 5.5% likelihood.
