Preview: Ipswich Town vs. Forest Green Rovers - prediction, team news, lineups

A dip in form has seen the Tractor Boys drop to fourth spot in England's third tier while their visitors are still searching for a first win under the new management of Duncan Ferguson.

Match preview

After sitting in the top two of the League One table for the majority of the first half of the campaign, with 48 points on the board from their opening 23 outings, Ipswich Town have experienced a sharp dip in form since around the turn of the year, with Kieran McKenna's side having put just one more notch in their wins column in eight further attempts.

That one triumph came in the form of a 4-0 thrashing of Morecambe on home turf in late January, as Freddie Ladapo and Conor Chaplin netted braces to put pressure back on Plymouth Argyle and Sheffield Wednesday in the automatic promotion spots.

They have been unable to build another run of results on the back of that, though, firstly only managing a 1-1 draw away at Cambridge United thanks to Ladapo's second-half equaliser, before they were, at least, able to hold Sheffield Wednesday to a 2-2 draw after trailing by two goals to nil, with Nathan Broadhead and Leif Davis finding the net to keep the deficit at six points, albeit with the Owls having a game in hand as well.

McKenna's men most recently travelled to take on Bristol Rovers on Tuesday, and they only managed to come away with a third consecutive draw, as neither team broke the deadlock at The Memorial Stadium.

Such a downturn in form has now seen Ipswich drop behind Bolton Wanderers to fourth spot, while they trail the automatic promotion spots by eight points with Sheffield Wednesday still holding a game in hand, and they will be desperate to keep their fading hopes of a top-two finish alive with a victory on Saturday to spark a turnaround.

They meet a Forest Green Rovers side who are seeing their own hopes of avoiding relegation back to the fourth tier fading, having now gone 11 matches without a victory in England's third tier.

That run of fixtures has also produced just two points, and such a rut saw Ian Birchnall dismissed in late January and replaced by Duncan Ferguson, who looked set to begin his tenure with a 1-0 win away at Shrewsbury Town, only for Rovers to eventually leave empty-handed in agonising fashion as Rekeil Pyke and Ryan Bowman netted goals for their hosts deep into injury time to turn the game on its head.

Still with positives to take from that display, the New Lawn outfit then hosted Peterborough United but fell to a 2-0 defeat before earning their first point under Ferguson, albeit in disappointing fashion again, as they were held to a 1-1 draw away at Morecambe, with Cole Stockton drawing the Shrimps level in the dying embers after Jahmari Clarke had opened the scoring nine minutes from time.

Hoping to bounce back from more disappointment, The Green most recently hosted Charlton Athletic on Tuesday, and after Corey Blackett-Taylor put the visitors ahead inside 12 minutes, they were unable to find a response and fell to a 20th league defeat of the campaign.

With Ferguson's appointment not having had the desired impact at the New Lawn thus far, they find themselves rooted to the foot of the League One table after 32 game with just 22 points, four behind 23rd-placed Cambridge United and seven adrift of safety having played the most matches out of all sides in the bottom eight, and Forest Green Rovers are running out of time to preserve their third-tier status and are relying on quickly turning their form around starting at the weekend.

Ipswich Town League One form:

D

L

W

D

D

D

Ipswich Town form (all competitions):

W

D

D

L

D

D

Forest Green Rovers League One form:

L

L

L

L

D

L

Team News

Kieran McKenna may look to make some changes to his Ipswich side on Saturday to inspire a turn in form, with Conor Chaplin, George Hirst and Nathan Broadhead all fighting to come into the front line alongside Freddie Ladapo, who has netted 14 goals in all competitions so far this term, after Sone Aluko and Marcus Harness were preferred last time out.

Elsewhere, Harry Clarke should make a return to the defence, likely forming a back three with Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess, with Leif Davis and Wes Burns expected to take up wing-back roles.

Key midfielder Lee Evans has missed the Tractor Boys' last two league games, and if his absence continues, captain Sam Morsy should again be joined by 19-year-od Cameron Humphreys in the engine room.

After opening the scoring for Forest Green Rovers off the bench in the eventual draw with Morecambe, Reading loanee Jahmari Clarke was an unused substitute on Tuesday, and with Ferguson's side struggling for goals, he could be called upon to lead the line from the outset on Saturday.

Support will be provided by attacking midfielder Myles Peart-Harris, who leads the current squad with four league goals this term following Connor Wickham's departure, while Jordon Garrick has found the net twice in seven league appearances on the flanks following his loan arrival from Swansea City in January after starting the campaign with Lincoln City.

Elsewhere, Oliver Casey and Brandon Cooper should again partner up in the middle of the back four with Dylan McGeouch and Ben Stevenson likely to operate at the base of midfield.

Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:

Walton; Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess; Burns, Morsy, Humphreys, Davis; Chaplin, Ladapo, Broadhead

Forest Green Rovers possible starting lineup:

Doohan; Bernard, Casey, Cooper, Robson; McGeouch, Stevenson; O'Keefe, Peart-Harris, Garrick; Clarke

We say: Ipswich Town 2-0 Forest Green Rovers

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