By Aston
December 21 2004

Ipswich Town can move to the top of the coca cola championship if they beat Wigan Athletic at Portman Road tonight.

Preview: Town Vs Wigan

Ipswich Town can move to the top of the coca cola championship if they beat Wigan Athletic at Portman Road tonight.

Town manager Joe Royle is with out midfielder Kevin Horlock who is serving a one game ban after picking up 5 yellow cards this season and defender Drissa Diallo also misses out because of a hamstring he picked up in training over the weekend.

New signing Darren Currie will start in place of Horlock and Matt Richard was expected to start in place of Diallo but the loan signing of Daniel Karbassiyoon may change that.

Town boss Joe Royle has said: “This is a mid-season showdown that has come at Christmas.

“It should be a great night and I'm looking forward to it immensely in front of a near-capacity crowd.

“It will be a chance to show the viewers that we can play a lot better than we did the last time we were on the telly against Sunderland.

“We have been consistent and we were terrific at QPR and we are in good goal-scoring form. As usual, we will be going for it.

“Wigan are a good, free-scoring side and I'm not at all surprised at how well they are doing this season.

“Everyone talks about the front two but there is more to them than the front two.

“We all know about Alan Mahon, Jimmy Bullard is underrated, except by people in the know in this division, and I know Matt Jackson, who played in my Everton cup winning side in 1995, and John Filan is one of the best keeper in this division.”

Ipswich Town Squad: Darren Bent, Dean Bowditch, Aidan Collins, Pablo Couñago, Darren Currie, Kelvin Davis, Jason De Vos, Daniel Karbassiyoon, Shefki Kuqi, Jim Magilton, Tommy Miller, Scott Mitchell, Antonio Murray, Richard Naylor, Matt Richards, Shane Supple, Ian Westlake, Fabian Wilnis.

Table topping Wigan are with out Per Frandsen, Jason Jarrett has made the trip south but has only recently came back from a broken leg and is only expected to feature on the bench at best.

Wigan boss Paul Jewell has said: “It's a game that we're all looking forward to as it's what we're all in football for. It's a top of the table clash in front of a big crowd, under floodlights and that means it has all the makings of being a cracking game. It's on the TV too and we usually respond well to that so there are a lot of things to look forward to.

“At the present time you have to say it's a clash between the two best teams in the Championship because currently the two teams are first and second. However, I'm sure both sets of players are aware that there is a long way to go yet and that there is an awful lot of football still to be played.

“We know the threat that Ipswich will pose because they are a good footballing side with plenty of good individuals. Joe has done a fine job down there and it is no surprise to me that they are up at the top of the table. However, I'm sure that Joe is probably saying similar things about us to the press down there so it's obvious that both sides have respect for each other. What we'd like is to go down there and put in a performance like we did last year as we were outstanding for an hour as we raced into a 3-0 lead. Ipswich will be wary of that though and therefore this game may start in a slightly more cagey manner.”

Source: EADT and Wigan Athletic - the official website.

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