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Ipswich a point away from promotion
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Huddersfield all but down
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Tractor Boys backed to run riot
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Ipswich v Huddersfield
Saturday, 12:30
Live on Sky Sports
Ipswich 1.261/4 rediscovered their winning touch as they triumphed 2-1 at Coventry in midweek to move to within a point of promotion back to the Premier League. After a winless of run of just three points from four games, the Tractor Boys held their nerve to get the better of the FA Cup semi-finalists at the CBS Arena on Tuesday night.
Kieffer Moore's first-half opener was cancelled out by Haji Wright - but Cameron Burgess' scrambled 69th-minute winner put Town three points clear of third-placed Leeds going into this weekend's campaign curtain-closer. A point will now suffice for Kieran McKenna's men as they bid for back-to-back promotions and a first return to top-flight in 22 years.
Understandably, McKenna was enthused with the outcome, saying: "A fantastic result for us. Some different qualities are needed at this stage of the season. It's not always going to be smooth and calm and pretty. We had to dig in and show a lot of fight. It's in our hands but the job is not done yet - it's still a football match - and anything can happen."
Huddersfield 12.50 were all but relegated from the Championship despite a battling draw at fellow strugglers Birmingham last weekend. Rhys Healey's second-half strike earned a 1-1 stalemate at St Andrew's but only victory would have kept the Terriers above water; Town are all but certain to go down with only a few far-fetched permutations in their favour.
That reality of the situation prompted Huddersfield head coach Andre Breitenreiter to accuse some of his players of lacking "heart and passion". The German, who succeeded Darren Moore in February, has seen his team win just two of their 10 games since his appointment and did not hold back on criticising some of his squad.
Breitenreiter said, "All the players are disappointed. It's clear some players are more disappointed than other players. Some players left early, but they leave early every day so this was also a question for me of heart and passion and the willingness to stay together with the team. This is also a big problem in the team for the whole season."
Ipswich will be eager to wrap promotion up in-style in front of a capacity Portman Road crowd and bedraggled Huddersfield could be the most forgiving opposition in the Championship this weekend. There are various potential ways to profit from a one-sided Tractor Boys triumph, including the Half-Time/Full-Time market where Ipswich are [1.77].
Kieran McKenna's crew boast a W13-D2-L0 home record when entertaining teams outside of the top-eight this term, striking at least twice in each victory. In fact, Ipswich have scored three goals or more in 10 of those 13 triumphs and a similar haul could be in the offing - backing Ipswich to score Over 2.5 Goals holds plenty of appeal at [19/20] quotes.
The Terriers have leaked 15 goals across four previous defeats against top-five opposition and Huddersfield boss Andre Breitenreiter has already suggested he'll be making major changes to his starting XI for this dead-rubber encounter.
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