Ipswich Town

Ipswich Town midfielder Jack Taylor says they need to brush themselves down as they target a vital three points at Stoke City on Tuesday (20:00 GMT).

The Tractor Boys missed the chance to move into the Championship's automatic promotion places on Saturday after being held 1-1 by Leicester City, who lie 22nd in the table.

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna said on Monday that the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) have since admitted they should have had two penalties at the weekend.

"Its obviously not great when it doesn't go your way," Taylor told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"It just reflects the fact that no one's going to do us any favours in the job that we've set out. So its down to us to brush ourselves down and attack [at Stoke]."

Despite the sense of injustice over Saturday's decisions by the officials, Taylor is not convinced that the Championship needs the introduction of VAR.

"I'm a bit in the middle. I think sometimes the referees need help, like the other day. But then you don't want to slow the play down," he added.

"Everyone loves the Championship because its so quick and so intense, and you see bigger tackles which, as a supporter, is what you want to see."

Victory for Ipswich on Tuesday would take them to within two points of second-placed Middlesbrough who host Charlton on Wednesday.

Taylor warns that it will not be easy to secure the double at mid-table Stoke despite victory over them at Portman Road in December.

"They played well when they came to us. They built up first phase really well, and it was a lot of us pressing, but they didn't really hurt us that much," Taylor said.

"They made us run which I think we matched up really well. But obviously, away from home is going to be a different sort of game, and hopefully we can put a performance on, and definitely get a result."

Image source, Getty Images

Kieran McKenna is hopeful winger Jaden Philogene will rejoin the squad in the near future as they look to close the gap on the Championship's top two.

Philogene has been out of action since mid-January because of a knee injury and will again be unavailable for Tuesday's trip to Stoke City.

"Hopefully he will start team training this week. He's working with the rest of the coaching staff now but not with the team and hopefully he will get back to that level at some point soon," McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"It'll be good to have Jaden back. You're always going to miss someone of Jaden's quality. We know how demanding the schedule is going to be and we're going to need lots of options and availability being really good to get the results we want."

Philogene has nine league goals this season, five more than team-mate Sindre Walle Egeli, but McKenna is delighted with the young Norwegian's knack of scoring at important moments, as he did in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Leicester City.

"They've all been crucial goals. First goal at Coventry, massive goal - set us on the way to the points, Blackburn gets us a point. He's had four goals and they've all been pivotal goals," McKenna said.

"There's very few 19-year-olds playing regular minutes in this division so it's a fantastic experience for him to be doing it.

"It's going to be up and down over the course of a season with a player so young, coming to England for the first time, but I know he'll be so much stronger for the season that he's had.

"We believe he'll have some more big moments before the end of the season."

Ipswich have slipped five points behind the automatic promotion places in the Championship but have taken 10 points from a possible 12 in their past four matches.

Stoke have managed only five points from their past six outings with their solitary win coming against Oxford which means they are now 10 points short of the top six going into this game on Tuesday (20:00 GMT).

• Stoke have failed to score in their past three league games against Ipswich (D1 L2), with their two defeats in that run as many as they had suffered in their previous 16 against the Tractor Boys.

• Following their 1-0 win in December, Ipswich are looking to complete the league double over Stoke for the first time since 1987-88.

• Stoke won 2-1 against Oxford in their last home league game, but have not won consecutively at the bet365 Stadium since November.

• Ipswich have alternated between victory (3) and defeat (2) in their past five away league games, beating Watford 2-0 last time out.

• Stoke boss Mark Robins has lost each of his past five Championship games against Ipswich Town – twice with Huddersfield (2013-14), twice with Coventry (2023-24) and earlier this season with the Potters.

Image source, Getty Images

Ipswich Town head coach Kieran McKenna feels his side were denied two penalties in the second-half of their 1-1 draw with Leicester City in the Championship on Saturday.

Sindre Walle Egeli equalised for the Suffolk side after Patson Daka had given the Foxes a first-half lead.

Cedric Kipre went down under a stoppage-time challenge from Hamza Choudhury but referee John Busby waved away their penalty appeals.

"I thought it was clear we should have had a penalty," McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"The referee said he didn't see it but for me you can't miss it because as soon as Dara (O'Shea) crosses it there's nowhere else to look and Cedric (Kipre) is ready to attack the ball and gets wiped out - I thought we should have had two penalties in the second-half."

Ipswich missed the chance to move into the automatic promotion places with second-placed Middlesbrough not playing at QPR until Sunday (16:30 GMT).

"I really liked us in the second-half, the way we chased the game and the pressure we put on," added McKenna.

"It is what it is, we take the positives, there are things we can take and improve like conceding a goal from a set-piece but the way we pushed in the second-half and dominated a Leicester side full of quality and pushed for the winning goal there are real positives in there."

Ipswich visit Stoke City in the Championship on Tuesday (20:00 GMT).

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester City will be no pushovers when they visit Portman Road in the Championship on Saturday (15:00 GMT), according to Ipswich Town head coach Kieran McKenna.

The Foxes have slipped into the relegation zone after having six points deducted for breaching financial regulations, and on the back of a nine-game winless run, but McKenna says they still have plenty of quality.

"We felt it earlier in the season... you look at their starting 11 and they're as strong as anyone in the division," McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"If you look at their Premier League experience and international caps and things like that they may even be the strongest team, but in the end it doesn't really matter, we know they have good players and an experienced manager - but we feel we're a good team with good players and it's up to us to show that."

Ipswich will still be without defender Ashley Young and forward Jaden Philogene although McKenna says the latter is nearing a return from a six-week absence with a knee injury.

"Jaden has made some pretty good progress this week, stepping up his ball work, but he hasn't trained with the group yet so isn't ready to be involved," he added.

Ipswich head coach Kieran McKenna became the club's fastest boss to win 100 games in charge when they beat Hull City 1-0 on Tuesday evening.

This was a Premier League fixture last season but while Ipswich are third and will go second with a win on Saturday, Leicester are one point adrift in the relegation zone and on a nine-game winless run in the Championship.

• Ipswich Town have won one of their past 12 league games against Leicester (D4 L7), a 1-0 home win in March 2013.

• Leicester are looking for their first league double over Ipswich since the 2013-14 season when they won the Championship title under Nigel Pearson.

• Ipswich have lost just one of their past 30 league games against teams who are 25+ points below them in the league table (W19 D10), losing 2-1 to Cardiff City in March 2024. At home, they last did so in February 2005 against Watford (W17 D4 since then).

• Leicester are winless in their past nine league games, last enduring a longer run without victory when playing outside the Premier League from February to April 2007 in the Championship (10 games).

• Leicester have gone 29 consecutive league games without a clean sheet – the last side to go 30 games in one season without a shutout was Wolves in 2011-12 in the Premier League (30), and outside the top flight it was Colchester in the Championship in 2007-08 (38).

Image source, Shutterstock

Earlier we asked what you make of the news that, from next season, the Championship play-offs will be expanded to include the teams finishing seventh and eighth?

It was announced on Thursday morning that EFL clubs voted in favour of expanding the play-offs from four to six teams.

Here's a selection of your comments...

Josh, Derby: I don't believe this is necessary. I do think that the play-off format should be aligned throughout the top five leagues, but expanding isn't needed. Better distribution of the monies involved and establishing a clear matchday structure to balance various men's and women's leagues would be a better use of everyone's time. This strikes me undue American influence.

Callum, Dartford: I think it's a good thing so teams can push for promotion that thought they wouldn't get near the play-offs.

Cato, Sheffield: If we adopted it to this season, it means that eighth-placed Derby (on 51 points) have about as much a chance of going up as third-placed Millwall (on 63 points). Plus, to accommodate the extra games, would they extend the season into June? I don't like the idea of it at all, and I hope it's short-lived.

Steve, London: Another example of football being ruined, week by week. Don't you dare think about implementing VAR too.

Mark, Stafford: As a Stoke fan, I think it's good news. The season has come to a grinding halt due to being decimated by injuries. Add to that, the quality of what is coming down from the Premier League, it would mean upsets can happen and still allow teams in that mid-table race to dream of greater heights!

Richard, Stansted: Absolutely ridiculous. What is the point of a league format if you are going to make it a bigger lottery to include even more teams at the end of the season? It also brings teams that are even less ready to actually be in the Premier League into scope. But mostly it's the undermining of the league format which makes no sense. I'm a Derby fan - and we look like we would have a chance of benefiting from this if it were in place this season.

Andy, Nuneaton: Anything that expands the opportunities for those outside of the parachute teams is a good thing. We need to get away from this elite view of the Premier League. If it was up to them, they'd stop automatic promotion and relegation and have a system like Rugby Union, where it's based on meeting certain criteria. The eighth-placed club in the Championship getting to the PL? Bring it on!

Ron, Hayling: Money, Money, Money. Players complain about the amount of games they play with the league games and cup competitions so the intention is to play even more at the end of the season. Owners will make some money but that's all that matters!

Barry, Dartford: Yes it's a fantastic for everyone, all the small teams as well as the big boys, to have something to play for. It will give the end of the season something to look forward to.

Benjamin, Poole: I'm a Charlton fan, so it's unlikely we'll come 8th in the Championship any time soon, however, this is ridiculous. More pandering to Americans to make it more likely they'll make money, which is the only thing they care about. Sporting integrity out of the window again. Shame as I felt the Championship was the last bastion of quality and integrity combined. Game has gone.

Broughton, Derby: Absolute ridiculous, put it back to the old days of three straight up, no play-offs. If you don't make top-three you don't deserve to go up.

Julian, London: The worst decision from a footballing point of view ever! The National League teams have been trying to change their system to be like the current EFL system so it seems a very strange decision for the EFL to take. You can finish 8th after 46 games and still get promoted - sporting integrity has been totally lost with this decision. Money over integrity every time!

Former Championship winger Jobi McAnuff says the victories Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town picked up earlier this week were "huge".

Boro won 3-1 at Birmingham City on Monday night, while the Tractor Boys edged 1-0 past Hull City at Portman Road the following evening.

It leaves second-placed Middlesbrough three points ahead of Ipswich, who are third but have a game in hand and a currently superior goal difference.

"It was huge in terms of Middlesbrough just getting out of that mini slump after doing so well under Kim Hellberg," McAnuff told the BBC Football Daily 72+ podcast.

"Losing what was a huge game at Coventry and then a couple of games against teams you would expect them to go and win that they weren't able to.

"To go and pull off a result at St Andrew's which has been a real tough place for anyone to get results for a very long period of time, to be back in the goals, I think it was really important for them. Then it was over to you [Ipswich]."

McAnuff, who played in the second tier for Reading, Watford and Crystal Palace, says the constant pendulum swing of results is "the beauty of this stage of the season".

"That pressure definitely ramps up when the team you're challenging plays after and you've just got the three points," he added.

"Again for Ipswich to find a way to win, Hull made it really tough for them. But what a strike from [Azor] Matusiwa.

"When you've got that quality to unlock a game that looked as though it might have been drifting for a 0-0, it gives them a massive boost.

"They [Ipswich] are the ones I've always thought they are coming with the quality they've got. They're flip-flopping Jack Clarke and Anis Mehmeti at the moment, it is ridiculous."

Kieran McKenna became the fastest manager to reach 100 wins as Ipswich Town boss with the 1-0 victory over Hull City on Tuesday night, eclipsing the record previously held by the legendary Sir Alf Ramsey.

McKenna reached a century of wins in his 210th game in charge thanks to midfielder Azor Matusiwa's excellent 20-yard strike.

Ramsey, England's 1966 World Cup-winning manager, clocked up his 100th victory for the club in 212 matches.

"My brother told me about it yesterday, it's certainly one of the nicer sentences that you can be put in," McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"What it means, I don't know, there have obviously been some amazing managers. A few top, top, top managers here have done incredible things, well beyond what I've done at this football club.

"I don't need to be compared in those terms but of course, we've won lots of games over the last few years and it's been a good journey so far."

Victory against the Tigers lifted the Tractor Boys up to third in the Championship and three points behind second-placed Middlesbrough with a game in hand.

Town also welcome Boro to Portman Road on 18 April for what may well be a crucial encounter in the race for automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Here are the fastest six managers to reach 100 victories for Ipswich and how many games it took them:

• Kieran McKenna - 210

• Sir Alf Ramsey - 212

• George Burley - 230

• Scott Duncan - 241

• Mick McCarthy - 258

• Sir Bobby Robson - 271

Ipswich Town midfielder Azor Matusiwa has told fans not to expect a goal rush from him after finally breaking his duck in his 34th game for the club.

The Dutchman's 20-yard strike was enough to secure a vital home victory over Hull City - and was reminiscent of some of the goals scored this season by injured team-mate Jaden Philogene.

Asked whether supporters should now look to him to be a regular goals contributor, he joked: "No, don't expect more. If I think I can do it, I will do it - but it's not my job."

The win moved Ipswich to within three points of second-placed Middlesbrough and eight behind leaders Coventry City, and was their third in a row, extending an unbeaten record at Portman Road to 12 games.

"It was a really good performance. We knew it would be a hard game and in these kinds of games, you just have to manage to win, it doesn't matter how," Matusiwa told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"It was a really good feeling. I asked for the ball from Leif (Davis) and thought 'I have to shoot' - it was a good hit. I knew when it left my foot it can be a goal.

"From the start, I've felt the love from the supporters, from my team-mates and the staff and of course you want to pay it back.

"Maybe it's better to score in this kind of game when it's hard to score. It was a big moment for me and I am happy to give something back."

The victory was the 100th for boss Kieran McKenna, who said of Matusiwa: "Everyone here knows how well he's doing, he's going from strength to strength.

"But over the course of a season you sometimes need your number six, your holding midfielder, to step forward and smack one in the top corner at some point, and he picked a good time."

Ipswich are at home again on Saturday when they welcome struggling Leicester City (15:00 GMT).

Image source, Getty Images

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna was in calm mood after his 100th win in charge took the Tractor Boys to within three points of the automatic promotion places in the Championship.

Azor Matusiwa's fine strike beat Hull to put McKenna firmly in the hunt for a third promotion at the club.

He told BBC Radio Suffolk: "When you win a game with a goal like that at this stage of the season it always feels big. That's three wins in a row with clean sheets. We had to overcome a compact side who made it really hard for us.

"We defended well and limited them to nothing, and then we scored a brilliant goal. He's having a fantastic season and you need your holding midfielder to do that at some point in a season.

"It's going to take a healthy points total to go up, and we'll take the momentum from tonight. I'm sure we won't win all of our games and neither will the other teams up there - we can only tick off good performances and good results."

Image source, Shutterstock

Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna said Tuesday's game against play-off rivals Hull City is no more significant than any other in the Championship.

The two sides are fourth and fifth in the table with 60 points, just three behind second-placed Middlesbrough, although Town have a game in hand.

It has been billed as a 'six pointer' but McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk: "They're a really dangerous team, can score at any moment, and we're going to have to be at our best.

"I don't see it as any bigger than any of the other ones. It's against a really good team, but you have to respect everyone equally.

"There's so many games to go and so many teams that are tight [together,] so we just get ready for the next game respectful of their strengths, and get ready to bring the best of us."

McKenna is delighted with the recent form of George Hirst and Ivan Azon after the club failed to bring in any striking reinforcements in January.

Both scored in Saturday's 3-0 win over Swansea City - making it two in two for Hirst, who also netted in the previous game at Watford.

"They're both doing well," said McKenna. "That's two good goals off the bench for George, two striker goals, and he's continued to conduct himself well.

"It's a great way to build himself up, coming on and impacting off the bench. He's getting big chances every game he comes on."

On Azon, he added: "He has improved in every aspect. Part of that is the physicality of English football, but also tactically, understanding his team-mates and what we need from him, and he's delivering some good all-round centre-forward performances."

Ipswich Town could enter the automatic promotion places if they are to win against Hull City on Tuesday evening (19:45 GMT).

The Tractor Boys are three points short of current second place holders Middlesbrough, but a superior goal difference will mean Boro will lose out should Ipswich win and Middlesbrough lose to Birmingham City on Monday night (20:00 GMT).

But the Tigers have their own motivation for victory. Three points would also move them level on points with the Teesside club as it stands and while it's unlikely they can make up the goals to reach second on this occasion, they will be piling on the pressure to do so next time around.

• After their 2-0 win in November, Ipswich could complete their first ever league double over Hull City – this is the 21st league campaign in which the two sides have faced.

• Hull City have lost three of their last four league meetings with Ipswich (D1), as many as their previous 25 beforehand (W14 D8 L3).

• Ipswich have only lost one of their last 21 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) games in the Championship (W14 D6), a 0-3 defeat to Charlton in October 2025.

• After losing six successive away league games played in midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) from November 2024 to November 2025, Hull won their last such fixture 3-0 at Preston in January.

• Chuba Akpom has scored in all three of his league appearances against Hull City (3 goals), including as a substitute for Ipswich in the reverse fixture in November.

Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna said his team stayed 'humble' to beat Swansea City and stay in the hunt for the play-off places.

He told BBC Radio Suffolk: "A good performance. I thought the boys went at it with a lot of humility, recognised exactly what the opponent was and what we needed to do.

"That meant first half a really aggressive high press, man to man. We put together some really good moves through the pitch ourselves and got the goals.

"Second half we needed to stay humble, defend, limit them and know we would get some big opportunities of our own.

"There were some lovely passages of play against a good opponent who contributed to the game as well."

Image source, Coventry City FC

You might not hear the old terrace refrain of 'you're not fit to wear the shirt' as often as you used to, but it still has a better ring than 'the shirt's not fit for you to wear'.

Championship leaders Coventry City launched a new collection on Friday, proudly taking inspiration from a kit widely dubbed the 'Worst of All Time'.

A take on the club's infamous brown change strip worn away from Highfield Road from 1978 to 1981, the modern reinvention features what the club calls "a deeper chocolate plum colour with sky blue elements".

Many would suggest it sounds tastier than it looks.

But it's got us thinking... what are actually the worst EFL kits of all time? Let us know which of your club's shirts is hiding in the back of the wardrobe, or even if they were too ugly for you to even part money for them.

We'll collate a list of the biggest eyesores and will give you the chance to vote on the ghastliest of all next week.

Click here to let us know your suggestion, and you can even attach a picture if you really want to convey the horror.