A trip to Portman Road to face Ipswich Town is the next test for Paul Warne’s Rotherham United in the Sky Bet Championship. Here we take a look at who the Millers will be facing in our opposition analysis…
In the Dugout
Paul Lambert will be the man in the dugout for Ipswich Town on Saturday. The 49-year old was a midfielder in his playing days, making over 570 career appearances. He represented St Mirren, Motherwell, Borussia Dortmund, Celtic and Livingston as well as representing Scotland League XI, Scotland B, and Scotland U21 and senior sides. As a player, he won a variety of trophies including the UEFA Champions League with Dortmund and the Scottish League Championship four times. Individually, he also became SFWA Footballer of the Year in 2002 as well as being inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2009.
As a manager, he has managed Livingston, Wycombe Wanderers, Colchester United, Norwich City, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Wolves and Stoke City before taking charge of Ipswich in October 2018. He is best known for his time at Norwich City, where he took them from League One to the Premier League in two seasons, first winning the League One title in 2010, before finishing runner-up in the Championship in 2011.
Stats
Ipswich currently sit bottom of the Sky Bet Championship table, 10 points away from safety and they have conceded the most goals in the league with 46. In their last five league matches, they have won once, drew once and lost three. Furthermore, they have lost four consecutive matches coming into the game, with a 1-0 loss away at Accrington Stanley being the last result. A second half goal by Billy Kee knocked Ipswich out of the Cup and took Accrington to round four.
Previous Meetings
This is the 32nd time these teams have met, with the first meeting being in August 1954. Rotherham have won nine times while Ipswich have won 14 times, with there being eight draws. Ipswich have only won once in the last five meetings between the sides, with the Millers winning three and there being one draw. Rotherham have also won the last two times they’ve faced the Tractor Boys with consecutive 1-0 home wins. In August 2018, Michael Smith’s last-minute winner sealed all three points for the Millers that day.
Ones to Watch
Our Ones to Watch start with goalkeeper Dean Gerken. The 33-year old has taken the number one shirt in recent weeks from Polish international Bartosz Białkowski following some impressive performances. Starting in the youth system at Southend United, his first break into first-team football was at Colchester United, with a loan spell at Darlington as well, before making a move to Bristol City in 2009. He joined Ipswich Town in 2013 on a free transfer.
In defence, January signing Calum Elder will be looking to start. The 23-year old Australia U20 international is on loan from Leicester City till the end of the season and has represented a handful of Football League clubs including Wigan Athletic last season.
In midfield, Andre Dozzell is attracting interest from clubs in the Premier League. The son of former footballer Jason Dozzell, Andre has represented England from U16 level to U20 level and he made his Ipswich debut when he was just 16. However, his appearances have been restricted after tearing his cruciate ligament on the opening day of the 2017-18 season and has slowly made his way back into the first team in recent months. Ipswich could call upon new signing Simon Dawkins after a successful trial. The former Tottenham youth player was a free agent following his release from MLS side San Jose Earthquakes.
Upfront, Ipswich have added Will Keane and Colin Quaner to boost their strike force. Keane joined on loan from Hull City and came on for his debut against Accrington. Quaner has joined on loan from Huddersfield Town with the German international helping Huddersfield into the Premier League in 2017.