A WAY THROUGH THIS
MIDDLESBROUGH v IPSWICH TOWN
Jonathan Way; 12 Sep 2009
Bouncing back.
Is what Middlesbrough will be looking to do against Ipswich at the Riverside this weekend. When it looked like we would be coming away with a draw from Ashton Gate, a late Nicky Maynard strike made us suffer our first league defeat of the campaign. With the transfer window now shut, Gareth will have to settle with the current team at his disposal, unless he can find the quality striker we have been looking for on loan.
When Roy Keane took the reigns at Portman Road back in April, he ended their season on a high with two impressive wins. Since the start of the new campaign, results haven't been so rosy for the Irishman - he has only managed to guide Ipswich to two points from their opening five matches. With speculation mounting over his future, you do feel that if he fails to grab his first league win of the season on Saturday, then there will be a huge amount of pressure on the Ipswich boss.
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Danny Coyne v Richard Wright
After conceding his first league goals of the campaign, it will be interesting to see how the 36-year-old does after his remarkable run of clean sheets was ended. To be fair, Bristol City scored two excellent goals at Ashton Gate and Coyne has more than enough experience to start his next run, which will hopefully last even longer. Rumours of an injury do not help matters and he will be sorely missed if he is forced to sit out.
The former Arsenal and Everton goalkeeper is now in his second spell at Ipswich after ending his six year stay with the club back in 2001. Nearing his 300th league appearance for the Tractor Boys, Wright was voted the players' and supporters' player of the season for the last campaign.
Jonathan Grounds v Alex Bruce
The young academy graduate will certainly have been disappointed with the manner in which he gave away the Robins' first goal two weeks ago. With Huth now gone, we really need Grounds to be at the top of his game and become a strong, reliable defender.
The Ipswich skipper has become a key player at Portman Road ever since joining on a free in the 2006 summer transfer window. Son of Sunderland manager Steve Bruce, Alex has enjoyed a bright start to the campaign and has already bagged his first goal in the 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace.
Julio Arca v Jack Colback
Despite making only his second start of the season against Bristol City, Julio put in a more than impressive performance in the middle of midfield. Picking up his second yellow card of the campaign in the process, I really hope the Argentinean can keep up these displays and become the perfect partner to O'Neil in the centre of the pitch.
The 19-year-old midfielder arrived from the Black Cats a month ago, joining on loan until January. After possibly being the best player on the pitch in their previous game against Preston, Colback will be hoping to make his second start under Keane in this big match against Boro.
Leroy Lita v Jonathan Walters
With no new strikers joining Lita at the Riverside, it looks like our number nine is going to have to be our goal machine, certainly until January at least. With already one goal to his name, hopefully the skilful forward can add more on Saturday to give Ipswich more problems to worry about.
The Ipswich number 19 got off to a flyer at the start of season, scoring in their opening fixture against Coventry City. Having started every league match this campaign for the Blues, Walters will be hoping he can go on a scoring spree after rescuing a point for his side in their last game.
Despite losing so late on, we shouldn't feel down about our first league defeat as Ashton Gate is a tough place to go, just like we've found out over the past few years in the cup. Hopefully this weekend we can continue to make the Riverside a fortress by taking advantage of the Blues' recent results.
With Keane desperate for his first league victory, this will definitely be a hard match, despite them being second bottom in the table. However, with us being at home, I feel we will get back to winning ways by defeating the Tractor Boys 1-0.
