IPSWICH TOWN FC

Freddie Sears admits that despite a decent start to the season on a personal level, he feels Town should have more points in the bag at this stage.

The Blues take on Huddersfield at Portman Road this weekend, looking to end a three-game winless run prior to the international break.

The former West Ham man is the Club’s top league scorer this season so far with four, but believes they aren’t too far away from picking up the win that has eluded them for the past three games.

“I think I’ve done alright so far. I’ve scored a few goals, made a few assists but it’s just about getting those wins again,” he told Ipswich Player HD.

“We’ve had a couple of poor results lately and you feel like it has not gone as well as it may have but the results will come.

“Hopefully we can keep pushing up the table, we’re still three points off the Play-Offs so with a couple of wins we’ll be up there again.

“Huddersfield are a good side. They’ve picked up a few results lately but we’re looking forward to it, we’ve worked on a few things in training and we’ll take them into Saturday.

“Chris Powell has done a great job at Huddersfield, and he was at Charlton before and did a great job. He’s a young manager who is doing well but hopefully on Saturday we can get the result.”

Ryan Fraser will be out of action for at least two months after sustaining a knee injury in what is the only real injury concern for Mick McCarthy ahead of the visit of the Terriers. Luke Hyam’s long awaited return draws ever closer as he continues to battle back to fitness following his persistent knee problems, although he isn’t due to return to full training just yet. Otherwise, the gaffer has a full squad to choose from and Jonas Knudsen is again available for selection after he recovered from an illness which kept him out of the defeat at Blackburn prior to the international break.

The Terriers could be without defender Elliott Ward as his loan deal from Bournemouth has expired, although Chris Powell has expressed a desire to hold onto him past his initial one-month deal. They do not have such an issue with goalkeeper, Jed Steer as he extended his loan from Aston Villa by a further month on Thursday as he looks to continue his run in the side which has coincided with an injury to Joe Murphy. Otherwise, Huddersfield have no real injury problems to contend with for their trip to Suffolk.

Town – 12th

Huddersfield – 18th

First-half goals from Nahki Wells and James Vaughan were enough to ensure that Huddersfield claimed all three points at the John Smith Stadium back in April. Luke Varney pulled one back for the Blues in the second-half but it wasn’t to be as the hosts held on for the victory.

The Aussie winger will be hoping to make his home debut for Town and that could come this weekend following the injury sustained by Ryan Fraser. Tommy started against Manchester United in the Capital One Cup last month and made his league bow from the bench against Blackburn just before the international break, coming on for Daryl Murphy with under ten minutes to play, in the defeat at Ewood Park.

The Welshman has been in scintillating form since pairing up with Chris Powell’s side on loan from Wigan in the summer. The deal will keep him at the Yorkshire side until the end of the season and he marked his first four matches with four goals, including a brace in the 4-1 victory over Bolton.

Town come into the match as favourites, with the bookies pricing them at 10/11 to win the match. The visitors are available at a more distant 3/1 while the draw is 5/2. Blues have scored twice in all but one of their home matches so far this season, and are 10/11 to net two or more with Sky Bet for Saturday’s game.

Referee: Andy Davies

Assistants: John O’Brien & Andrew Laver

Fourth Official: David Rock.