Ipswich Town vs Sheffield United. Sky Bet Championship.
Portman RoadAttendance17,942.
Friday 21 December 2018 11:18, UK
Ipswich boss Paul Lambert hopes midfielder Grant Ward can recover from illness in time to face Sheffield United.
Ward has missed the last two games due to a virus and will be assessed, while Lambert will check on several unnamed players who are nursing knocks.
Midfielders Tom Adeyemi (Achilles), Emyr Huws (knee) and Cole Skuse (knee) remain long-term absentees. On-loan Fulham midfielder Tayo Edun is still receiving treatment back at his parent club for an eye problem.
Sheffield United striker Leon Clarke could return to the squad after a three-game lay-off. Clarke was scheduled to return to full training in time following "a nerve issue" and will be included in boss Chris Wilder's plans if he comes through unscathed.
Wilder has no new injury worries as his side bid to bounce back from last Friday's home defeat to West Brom. Striker Conor Washington and midfielder Paul Coutts are both pushing for recalls to the starting line-up.
Ipswich have failed to score in each of their last three games against Sheffield United across all competitions (D1 L2), with two of those coming at Portman Road in 2018 (0-1 in January in the FA Cup and 0-0 in March in the Championship).
Sheffield United have won just one of their last 20 league games at Portman Road (D11 L8), with that victory coming back in May 2010 (3-0).
Sheffield United have won consecutive away games in the Championship for the third time this season - they lost the next game on each of the previous two occasions.
Ipswich have a worse points-per-game average under Paul Lambert (0.62) this season than they did under Paul Hurst (0.64).
Ipswich picked up their first home league win of the season last time out, and are looking for consecutive victories at Portman Road for the first time in over a year (December 16th 2017).
Only Jake Cooper (6) has more Championship assists among defenders this season than Sheffield United's Enda Stevens (5).
What a massive win for Ipswich that was last week, finally ending their dreadful run at home at Portman Road this season.
Sheffield United are a completely different proposition to Wigan, though, and Chris Wilder's side will be stinging from their defeat to West Brom last week. They should bounce back here.
David Prutton predicts: 0-2 (7/1 with Sky Bet)
