Ipswich v Bristol City: Take Town at 4/5 on Tuesday

• Ipswich W12-D2-L0 hosting teams in 6^th and below

• Pressure building on Manning at Bristol City

• Town to secure top honours

• Read Betfair's new 90 Minute Payout offer here

Ipswich v Bristol City
Tuesday, 20:00
Live on Sky Sports Football

Ipswich 1.584/7 head coach Kieran McKenna was pleased by the way his side persevered with their style after a difficult first half away at Plymouth to secure a vital 2-0 success. The Blues struggled in tough conditions and heavy pitch, meaning they were unable to build any momentum in a stop-start period as their opponents pressed with energy and intensity.

However, the Tractor Boys stuck to their principles, and it paid off after the break as an own-goal from Brendan Galloway and a powerful strike from Kieffer Moore sealed a fifth successive victory to push Town to within three points of the Championship summit.

Speaking post-match, McKenna said: "It was a really solid performance in all phases. I thought our organisation was good, our discipline was good, we were really competitive. The conditions weren't easy, but I thought we were mostly in control of the game, or as much as you realistically can be in an away game. We're very pleased."

McKenna made three changes to his starting XI with Wes Burns and Nathan Broadhead replaced by Jeremy Sarmiento and Lewis Travis, whilst Massimo Luongo missed out through illness and was replaced by Omari Hutchinson. Jack Taylor returned to the squad.

Teams	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	PTS	xGF	xGA	xGD	EXP	FCST
1 Coventry	46	28	11	7	97	45	95	0	0	0
2 Ipswich	46	23	15	8	80	47	84	0	0	0
3 Millwall	48	24	11	11	64	49	83	0	0	0
4 Southampton	48	22	14	10	82	56	80	0	0	0
5 Middlesbrough	49	22	14	10	72	47	80	0	0	0
6 Hull	49	21	10	15	70	66	73	0	0	0
7 Wrexham	46	19	14	13	69	65	71	0	0	0
8 Derby	46	20	9	17	67	59	69	0	0	0
9 Norwich	46	19	8	19	63	56	65	0	0	0
10 Birmingham	46	17	13	16	57	56	64	0	0	0
11 Swansea	46	18	10	18	57	59	64	0	0	0
12 Bristol C	46	17	11	18	59	59	62	0	0	0
13 Sheff Utd	46	18	6	22	66	66	60	0	0	0
14 Preston	46	15	15	16	55	62	60	0	0	0
15 QPR	46	16	10	20	61	73	58	0	0	0
16 Watford	46	14	15	17	53	65	57	0	0	0
17 Stoke	46	15	10	21	51	56	55	0	0	0
18 Portsmouth	46	14	13	19	49	64	55	0	0	0
19 Charlton	46	13	14	19	44	58	53	0	0	0
20 Blackburn	46	13	13	20	42	56	52	0	0	0
21 West Brom	46	13	14	19	48	58	51	0	0	0
22 Oxford	46	11	14	21	45	59	47	0	0	0
23 Leicester	46	12	16	18	58	68	46	0	0	0
24 Sheff Wed	46	2	12	32	29	89	0	0	0	0

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Bristol City 6.6011/2 saw their feint play-off hopes extinguished in the Severnside derby on Saturday. The Robins suffered a third straight league loss as City failed to convert possession and pressure into notable goalscoring attempts in a limp 1-0 loss at home to Cardiff, though manager Liam Manning insists he can deal with the criticism after his side were booed off.

Manning said, "I didn't think overall in the game there was a huge amount of quality which is something that's not new to us. We have been speaking about it too much. There's a reason we are one of the lowest scorers in the league. We had 17 shots, 12 inside the box, and we don't really test the keeper at all. We have to improve and we have to step up."

Perry Ng stooped to score the game's only goal in the 66^th minute and the hosts never looked capable of mustering an equaliser to at least claim a share of the spoils and halt what has been a concerning run of defeats and a lack of goals. The full-time whistle was met with loud boos while several fans stayed behind to barrack Manning and his players.

Manning made four changes with Cam Pring, George Tanner, Anis Mehmeti and Tommy Conway moving to the bench and Ross McCrorie, Haydon Roberts, Andy King and Nahki Wells returning. Matty James didn't make the squad, while Kal Naismith wasn't deemed ready, though both players are expected to be in contention for Tuesday night.

Town to extend impressive winning streak

Ipswich have bagged five successive league victories, notching 17 goals in the process to reignite their promotion hopes. The Tractor Boys are back at Portman Road this midweek with Town taking W12-D2-L0 here when welcoming teams outside of the top-five - that includes scoring at least twice in 13 of 14 fixtures, averaging a monstrous 2.71 goals.

Three successive defeats have plunged Bristol City into the bottom-half with Liam Manning's men now only six points above the drop-zone. The Robins have W1-D0-L5 against the breakaway top-four - four of those losses arrived via a 1-0 scoreline; meanwhile, matches involving the guests are averaging a league-low average of just 2.26 goals per-game.

Backing Ipswich to win and Under 4.5 Goals appeals at [4/5]. The hosts have proven their class across the campaign, particularly at Portman Road, whilst Bristol City rarely get pulled into a high-scoring shootout. The Robins have seen 80% of their second-tier showdowns feature a maximum of three goals with 14 of their 15 losses delivering Under 4.5 Goals.

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