Ipswich Town v Bristol Rovers
Emirates FA Cup, Portman Road, Sunday 12 January, 3:00pm
Bristol Rovers will be looking to progress to the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup when they travel to Ipswich Town on Sunday.
The Gas will be confident after collecting their first victory under new head coach Iñigo Calderón in their last outing. Luke Thomas netted the only goal in a 1-0 triumph over Cambridge United in Sky Bet League One.
The Pirates beat Weston-super-Mare 3-1 after extra time at The Memorial Stadium in the first round of the competition before being drawn away to Barnsley. Josh Griffiths sparkled at Oakwell, making a string of brilliant saves over 120 minutes of football before pushing away Josh Earl’s spot kick to see Rovers through to the next stage.
Ipswich, who enter the third-round stage due to their Premier League status, drew 2-2 with Fulham in their last match. Sammie Szmodics and Liam Delap helped the Tractor Boys into a 2-1 lead heading into stoppage time. However, Raul Jimenez netted his second penalty of the contest in the final stages to earn a point for the Cottagers.
Tickets...
Tickets are available until midday on Thursday in-store at The Memorial Stadium.
Travel...
To drive from Bristol to Ipswich Town's Portman Road Stadium, take the M4 motorway towards London. Merge onto the M25 and follow signs for the A12 toward Ipswich. Continue on the A12 and take the exit for Ipswich. Follow signs for the town centre, then head towards Portman Road.
By train, Ipswich train station is approximately 0.6 miles away from Portman Road, taking around 14 minutes to walk.
Opposition...
Ipswich Town were in League One during the 2022-23 campaign but are playing in the Premier League after back-to-back promotions. They were the surprise package of the Championship last campaign, collecting 96 points from their 46 games to finish in second position, just above Leeds United and Southampton.
The Tractor Boys have remained competitive this season and are only inside the relegation zone on goal difference. Kieran McKenna’s men have beaten Tottenham Hotspur, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea this season, emphasising that they have enough this term to have a chance at retaining their Premier League status.
They were busy in the summer transfer market and added plenty of talent.
Omari Hutchinson made his loan move from Chelsea permanent after a stunning campaign. Plenty of star Championship names also joined, with Sammie Szmodics coming in after netting 27 goals last term alongside Jacob Greaves, Jack Clarke, Dara O'Shea and Connor Townsend. Two Manchester City also switched, with Kalvin Phillips making a loan move and Liam Delap signing a five-year contract.
The Tractor Boys have also made a move in the January window, with former Norwich City defender Ben Godfrey temporarily moving from Atalanta.
Previous Meetings...
Rovers have only won one of their last 13 games against Ipswich Town in all competitions, with their only victory in that time coming back in 2019 at Portman Road. Both teams were playing in League One at the time, with goals from Tyler Smith and Tom Nichols helping the Gas to a 2-1 victory.
The last meeting between the two teams came as recently as last season in the Carabao Cup, with Jack Taylor and Sone Aluko scoring in a 2-0 victory for the hosts.
Officials:
Referee: Oliver Langford
Assistant Referees: Mark Stevens and Alex James
Fourth Official: James Oldham
