Burnley Vs Ipswich - The Opposition View
Last updated : 20 February 2004 By Site Editor
How do you feel your season is going?
It’s probably going just as we expected with a vastly reduced squad, at times with not even enough players to fill the bench, and precious little money to do much about it. First Division survival was the aim and hopefully we will achieve that.
How do you feel Ipswich are doing this season?
They are doing better than I wanted them to but as long as they are not promoted I would settle for that. As Burnley try to work through the financial nightmare in an honest way all we see from Portman Road is a club who benefited from cheating and with any luck that cheating will not win them promotion.
It still seems a disgrace that we lost a player to a club that could only afford him because they did a deal with their creditors and it is just a pity the Football League didn’t have much stronger sanctions in place.
Who do you think are your most on form and dangerous players at the moment?
Without doubt Robbie Blake has been the star of the season so far and is amongst the leading goalscorers in the division whilst Tony Grant is in outstanding form in the centre of the midfield.
We have had problems in defence at times and played the game at Portman Road earlier in the season without a central defender on the pitch. The return to fitness of both David May and Mark McGregor have helped tighten things up at the back.
Are there any youngsters or unsung talents in the squad we may not have heard of?
We currently have Neil Wood from Manchester United and Bradley Orr from Newcastle on loan, both young players with very little experience. The only home grown youngster in the squad is Richard Chaplow who has just celebrated his 19th birthday but you should have heard of Richard who is an England Under 21 international.
How do you think both clubs will finish up come end of the season?
Hopefully we will be playing each other next season with both of us staying in Division One. That I think would just be about right and just.
What Ipswich players do you feel could cause your side problems?
Shefki Kuqi, a player we were keen to sign just over two years ago, has often caused us problems and I expect him to be a tough opponent again Saturday. And then there is Driss Diallo, a crowd favourite at Turf Moor who could take some stick from the Turf Moor crowd because of the way his move to Ipswich was conducted.
What sort of line-up can we expect from you?
I think it is unlikely that there will be many, if indeed any, changes from the side that lost at Millwall last week in the FA Cup.
We play a 4-4-2 system and if it is the same team then it will be:
Brian Jensen
Lee Roche – David May – Mark McGregor – Mo Camara
Glen Little – Richard Chaplow – Tony Grant – Neil Wood
Robbie Blake – Ian Moore
Subs: Paul Rachubka – Bradley Orr – Paul Weller – Luke Chadwick – Alan Moore.
Predicted score?
We need the win although I think it will be tough. However, I will go for a 1-0 win to the Clarets with the goal coming from either Blake or Chaplow.
Thanks to Tony for the Answers.
