ALEX MOWATT | IPSWICH TOWN FIXTURE IS ‘GREAT CHALLENGE’ FOR US

Alex Mowatt thinks it is “no surprise” that Ipswich Town, Saturday night’s guests at The Hawthorns, are having such success in the Sky Bet Championship this year.

The Tractor Boys arrive in the West Midlands as joint league leaders with Leicester City. They have won promotion from League One, and this is their first season back in the second tier since the 2018–19 campaign.

With 12 wins, 36 goals, 39 points, and only one loss from their first 16 league games, Kieran McKenna’s team is undefeated in 12 Championship games going into The Hawthorns.

Mowatt is keen to secure a spot in the starting lineup this weekend for an Albion team looking to extend their unbeaten home record to six games.

Though he acknowledges the Baggies are facing a team full of talent, momentum, and confidence, the former Barnsley player says he expects a very tough test.

“They have got off to a great start, and everyone is pretty surprised by how well they have performed,” Alex stated.

“However, one of the guys there talked about how Ipswich wants to play, and I believe that is similar to how Boro operated during my loan period at Riverside Stadium the previous season.

As Michael Carrick was, Kieran McKenna, their manager, was also a Manchester United player, and he aspires to play in a manner akin to Carrick’s.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that they have performed so well this season.

“They’ll come here with a great record. I think they’ve only lost one game so far and are unbeaten in 12, which shows how good they are and how confident they’ll be on Saturday.

“They’ve had some great results and scored plenty of goals, but we need to be confident in our own ability because we’re also a very good side.

“We would love to get what would be a big three points, but we have shown multiple times this season that we are up for the challenge, so it is a great challenge for us.”