Portman Road

Saturday 10th February 2024 -  12:30
Ipswich
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West Brom
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Key Events

Ipswich Town and West Bromwich Albion badges with an image of John Swift smiling and pointing at the camera wearing the green kit on the green away kit graphic

West Bromwich Albion take on Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Saturday lunchtime in the Sky Bet Championship (ko 12.30pm).

The Baggies, who head into the encounter high on confidence following their 1-0 victory over Birmingham City at The Hawthorns last weekend, will be looking to earn their first away win in 2024 having suffered three straight defeats on their travels.

Hosts Ipswich Town remain in the thick of an automatic promotion battle despite claiming maximum points in just one of their last eight matches in the second tier. 

Carlos Corberán's men won the reverse fixture 2-0 back in the West Midlands in late November, with Darnell Furlong and Grady Diangana both on target. 

A general view of Ipswich Town's Portman Road
Albion's last trip to Portman Road was in November 2018

Supporters can listen to live audio commentary of the Baggies' fixture with Ipswich.

Gez Mulholland and former Baggie Andy Johnson will provide live commentary from Portman Road, with coverage starting at 12.20pm.

Audio passes are available to purchase here.

Details for video streaming on WBA TV will be available here from Thursday afternoon onwards.

Supporters are kindly asked to direct any questions or complaints about WBA TV or WBA Radio to wbatvsupport@streamamg.com.

The club are unable to answer queries about WBA TV or WBA Radio sent to fans@wbafc.co.uk or myalbion@wbafc.co.uk.

Regular updates will also be posted across the club's social media channels throughout the day.

WBA TV matchday information graphic featuring Brandon Thomas-Asante cheering and Jed Wallace throwing popcorn.

The opponents

Despite only winning one of their last eight league games, Ipswich head into this weekend's encounter knowing they can climb back above both Leeds and Southampton into the automatic promotion places with a victory against the Baggies.

The Tractor Boys made a blistering start and occupied one of the top two places in the Championship for the majority of the campaign up until recently.

They've suffered back-to-back defeats at home to non-league Maidstone United in the Emirates FA Cup and away at Preston North End in the league - the first time they've lost two games in-a-row since October 2022. 

Saturday's hosts will be glad to be back in action in front of their own supporters having lost just one of their 14 home matches in the Championship at Portman Road, with Ipswich last tasting a league defeat there way back in August. 

Northern Irishman Kieran McKenna is the boss, and has been since December 2021. The 37-year-old former Manchester United assistant manager will take charge of his 116th Ipswich game this weekend, boasting a record of 64 victories and just 18 defeats.

Three Ipswich Town players celebrate a goal scored at their home ground Portman Road
The Tractor Boys have been very strong at Portman Road this season

One to remember

The Albion delivered a five-star showing in East Anglia in the Championship in October 2006. 

Kevin Phillips scored a hat-trick and Diomansy Kamara bagged a brace on a super afternoon at Portman Road.

Supporters can watch the highlights below.

The last five

Albion 2-0 Ipswich Town

November 25 2023, Sky Bet Championship

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Albion 1-1 Ipswich Town

March 9 2019, Sky Bet Championship

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Ipswich Town 1-2 Albion

November 23 2018, Sky Bet Championship

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Ipswich Town 1-0 Albion

December 1 2010, Carling Cup

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Ipswich Town 1-1 Albion

January 26 2010, Coca-Cola Championship

Harvey Barnes scores against Ipswich in 2018
Harvey Barnes scored for the Baggies the last time they visited Portman Road

Did you know?

Albion have only drawn one of their last 19 fixtures in all competitions. 

That draw came shortly before Christmas, when Stoke City held Carlos Corberán's men to a 1-1 scoreline at The Hawthorns.

The Baggies haven't drawn any of their last 10 matches on their travels, with their last single point on the road coming at Watford in September (2-2).

In comparison, Ipswich have shared the points in five of their last eight Championship games, including three of the last four at Portman Road. 

Carlos Corberán wearing a black coat during a training session
Carlos Corberán's men have gone nine games in all competitions without a draw

Ticket details

Tickets are on general sale for Albion’s Sky Bet Championship game at Ipswich Town.

The Baggies have been handed an allocation of 2,002.

In the Upper Tier Blocks V1 & V2, seats are priced £32 Adults, £25 Seniors (65+), £19 Under-23s and £10 Under-19s.

In Lower Tier Block S, tickets can be purchased for £28 Adults, £22 Seniors (65+), £18 Under-23s and £10 Under-19s.

A Wheelchair Bay costs £24 Adults, £21 Seniors (65+), £18 Under-23s, £10 Under-19s and £6 Under-12s.

Supporters can buy online here.

Please note, the game is all-ticket. There will be no sales on the day.

A ticket graphic displaying information for Albion's game at Ipswich

Travel colours

Albion will wear their lime green away kit at Ipswich on Saturday lunchtime.

The last time the Baggies donned those colours was in December up at the Stadium of Light for the fixture against Sunderland.

Order the lime green away kit here.

Darnell Furlong in action wearing the lime green kit
Darnell Furlong sporting the lime green away kit

Visitor guide

Hosts Ipswich Town have provided a supporters guide for those travelling to Portman Road this weekend.

The guide can be found here https://www.itfc.co.uk/supporters/fanguides. 

Supporters inside Portman Road

Albion in action against Ipswich Town.

Albion drew 2-2 with Ipswich Town in an action-packed Sky Bet Championship clash on Saturday afternoon.

The Baggies held a slender advantage at half-time thanks to Tom Fellows’ superb solo strike, but Ipswich quickly equalised through Nathan Broadhead’s 46th-minute volley.

Substitute John Swift scored what looked like the match-winner, firing in another excellent goal from 25 yards to earn the visitors a lead which they held until stoppage time.

However, Ipswich Town left it late to earn a share of the spoils with a set piece falling to Omari Hutchinson to volley home in the 94th minute.

Carlos Corberán’s men return home this Tuesday as Cardiff visit The Hawthorns.

An image of Tom Fellows celebrating his goal against Ipswich

Corberán made one change to the team that beat Birmingham, bringing in last weekend’s goalscorer Andi Weimann for John Swift.

And his team started superbly - Fellows and Andi Weimann both firing decent chances off-target in an opening period where Albion looked bright.

They then managed to find a deserved first goal around the 20-minute mark, and it was those two combining to create it. Weimann played a ball over the top, Fellows out-muscled the Town defender, got into the box and fired an excellent low finish past Vaclav Hladky.

An image of Tom Fellows celebrating his goal against Ipswich

Portman Road was stunned - the hosts had only lost once at home all season. They had an immediate break to hit back midway through the half when the ball fell to Conor Chaplin 12-yards out, but he could only side-foot over.

Further opportunities fell to Sam Morsy, Wes Burns and Harry Clarke ahead of the interval - yet Alex Palmer and his defenders stood firm to ensure they took a one-goal lead into half time.

An image of Okay Yokuslu on the ball against Ipswich

However, the home team found an equaliser just one minute after the restart via Broadhead - the Town player converting a volley from close-range to make it 1-1.

Albion thought they notched a second just before the hour-mark, with Weimann getting on the end of substitute Daryl Dike’s flick. Yet the referee spotted a handball from the Baggies striker and, rightly, ruled it out.

Corberán’s visitors did find a second in Suffolk, though, and it was a Swift stunner to put them back in front. The attacking midfielder sent a wonderful low shot towards the bottom corner, beating Ipswich’s goalkeeper and sparking great scenes in the away end.

An image of John Swift celebrating his goal against Ipswich

However, Ipswich responded in late fashion through Hutchinson. A set piece ended up falling to the loanee forward, who lashed home a powerful volley to earn the Tractor Boys a share of the spoils.

Albion: Palmer; Furlong, Kipre, Bartley (Chalobah 46), Townsend; Yokuslu, Mowatt; Wallace, Weimann (Pipa 83), Fellows (Johnston 56); Thomas-Asante (Dike 56, Swift 65).

Substitutes: Griffiths, Pieters, Hall, Pipa, Marshall.