Preview: Fleetwood Town vs. Ipswich Town - prediction, team news, lineups

The Tractor Boys sealed their top-two finish with a 6-0 thrashing of Exeter City last weekend, and they currently sit on 97 points, one worse off than leaders Plymouth Argyle heading into the final day.

Match preview

Fleetwood Town head into the final game of the League One season hoping to regain their place in the top half, having enjoyed a climb up the middle of the table in recent weeks.

After sitting on 50 points from 41 league games, following back-to-back 2-1 losses at the hands of Cambridge United and Bristol Rovers, Scott Brown's side made a return to winning ways with a 5-2 thrashing of Accrington Stanley away from home, as Jack Marriott hit a hat-trick alongside goals from Promise Omochere and Phoenix Patterson.

The Cod Army then travelled to take on already-relegated Forest Green Rovers and left with a point from a goalless draw, before adding another notch to their wins column at home to MK Dons as Omochere netted the only goal of the game on the stroke of half time.

Fresh off that positive three-game run, the Lancashire outfit found themselves in the top half of England's third tier, before facing a short but difficult trip to Bolton Wanderers in their penultimate league outing last weekend, but they were unable to further strengthen their position, instead suffering a 2-0 defeat as Omochere scoring a first-half own-goal before Kyle Dempsey wrapped up a home win in the second half.

After Shrewsbury Town recorded a victory in midweek, Fleetwood Town now sit back in 13th spot, and with a two-point gap up to the Shrews in the top half, they will hope to cap off a positive season with a victory at the weekend to stand a chance of moving back up.

They meet an Ipswich side who make the trip hoping to top off their own memorable season, with a chance still to secure the league title on the final day.

After dropping out of the top two in January, Kieran McKenna's side had to wait a long time to move back into the automatic promotion places, but they would eventually make that climb back above Sheffield Wednesday thanks to an eye-catching run, as they are now unbeaten in their last 18 league matches.

In particular, the Tractor Boys have won 13 of their last 14 outings in England's third tier, initially climbing back up to second spot with eight straight wins, scoring 22 along the way and not conceding a single goal, before they were briefly halted by a 1-1 draw away at Cheltenham Town in April.

That did not derail their automatic promotion bid, though, and Ipswich would move closer to sealing their climb back to the Championship with convincing triumphs over Charlton Athletic, Port Vale and Peterborough United, before moving within two points of wrapping it up with a 3-0 beating of fourth-placed Barnsley away from home in their game in hand late last month.

In their penultimate game of the regular season, McKenna's side most recently hosted Exeter City last weekend, and they sealed the promotion in style with a 6-0 thrashing at Portman Road, with Conor Chaplin netting a brace alongside goals from Massimo Luongo, George Hirst, Nathan Broadhead and Wes Burns, and now with their sights on going up as champions with 100 points and over 100 league goals scored, Ipswich will be desperate to triumph on Saturday while hoping that current leaders Plymouth slip up in their final contest.

Fleetwood Town League One form:

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Ipswich Town League One form:

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Team News

Fleetwood Town will come into the final day without forward Jayden Stockley, who will serve a suspension after he was sent off in the defeat to Bolton last time out.

In his absence, the attack will again be heavily reliant on frontman Jack Marriott, who will likely be flanked by Phoenix Patterson and Promise Omochere.

Ahead of the end of his loan move from Everton, Lewis Warrington will again join Josh Vela in the engine room, while Toto Nsiala and Brendan Sarpong-Wiredu will line up in the middle of a back four in the continued absence of Josh Earl.

Although Kieran McKenna will not want to rotate his Ipswich Town side too heavily with the title still up for grabs, he is blessed with plenty of quality and depth all over the pitch, with the likes of Freddie Ladapo, Dominic Ball, Kyle Edwards, Janoi Donacien and Marcus Harness all fighting to come into the starting XI.

Ahead of Donacien, Harry Clarke, Luke Woolfenden, Christian Burgess and Leif Davis have all been mainstays in a back four in recent weeks, while goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky came on for the final 10 minutes of the Exeter clash and will hope to be given the nod over first-choice Christian Walton on the final day.

Further forward, George Hirst will hope to lead the line in the final game of his loan deal, having netted six league goals since arriving from Leicester City in January, all of which have come in the last 10 matches, while fellow January arrival Nathan Broadhead should again start alongside star man Conor Chaplin, who leads the League One scoring charts with 26 goals this term.

Fleetwood Town possible starting lineup:

Lynch; Rooney, Nsiala, Sarpong-Wiredu, Johnston; Warrington, Vela; Omochere, White, Patterson; Marriott

Ipswich Town possible starting lineup:

Walton; Donacien, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis; Luongo, Morsy; Burns, Chaplin, Broadhead; Hirst

We say: Fleetwood Town 0-3 Ipswich Town

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