This Week's Opposition: Ipswich Town

A closer look at The Tractor Boys, Pompey's next Championship opponent.

Pompey’s 42nd match of the campaign sees them finally welcome Ipswich Town to Fratton Park - It’s 3rd time lucky following 2 postponed attempts to play this fixture already earlier in 2026.

MANAGER

Since December 2021, The Tractor Boys have been under the management of Kieran McKenna.

The now-39-year-old became one of the youngest managers in the EFL when he took over at Portman Road, where he has since picked up 103 wins from 216 competitive games in charge.

Under his stewardship, the club achieved back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League, however now find themselves back in the Championship after just 1 season in the top flight.

ONE TO WATCH

This time around, we’ve picked Albanian striker Anis Mehmeti as one to cause a potential threat this midweek.

Jaden Philogene would be an obvious choice, being one of, if not THE best player in the division, however he has only recently returned from injury so is still getting back up to speed.

Mehmeti, who wears the number 33 shirt, will be hungry to build on just 1 goal scored for his new club following his January arrival from Bristol City, for whom he netted on 9 occasions earlier in the season - Including 1 in each of the fixtures against Portsmouth!

TOP SCORER

Jack Clarke is currently the leading scorer, having found the back of the net 14 times in the league so far this campaign.

Clarke is joint-third in the division’s leaderboard with Hull City's Oli McBurnie.

The 25-year-old winger has blanked in his last 2 matches but scored in back-to-back games before that. He wears the number 47 shirt.

CURRENT FORM

Ipswich are THE most in-form team in this second half of the season, collecting 41 points from their last 20 matches.

Kieran McKenna’s side are unbeaten in their last 9, picking up 6 wins and 3 draws.

They sit 2nd on 75 points heading into this fixture - 2 clear of Millwall in 3rd and with 2 games in hand.

Last time out, The Tractor Boys enjoyed a 2-0 East Anglian Derby victory over Norwich City at Carrow Road with Jaden Philogene and George Hirst on the scoresheet in that one.

Can the Blues bring over the momentum from Saturday’s late win at Middlesbrough or will this be a test too much?

Join Jake Smith, Kirsty Roxanne and James Wilson for full coverage of the match LIVE on Express FM from 7pm on Tuesday (April 14th) evening.

Kick-off: 8pm!