Wilson's Ipswich Preview

Former Ipswich Town defender James Wilson is heading to his old club with Argyle this weekend, and knows as well as anyone the magnitude of the game.

Argyle lead Sky Bet League One, and are seven points ahead of Ipswich, who are third and have a game in hand. An Ipswich win narrows that gap, but an Argyle victory would give the Pilgrims a little breathing space, admittedly with a large portion of the season still remaining.

Earlier in the season, when the sides met at Home Park, Argyle emerged 2-1 winners, and both sides have taken the opportunity during the current transfer window to bring in reinforcements to aid their respective promotion pushes.

Argyle come into the game in good form, having won four in a row before a creditable 0-0 draw at Bolton Wanderers last Saturday was followed by a 2-0 win at fellow League One side Bristol Rovers in the Papa Johns Trophy quarter-final.

Wilson sat out the game at Rovers, but says the victory has helped boost confidence ahead of the trip to Portman Road.

“It's a big game,” said Wilson. “I think all the boys are really looking forward to it. We've had a good week's preparation, with a good game Tuesday - the boys did brilliant. We’re coming off a good couple of good results.

“We've brought in some really good players. I think it shows the recruitment. We've got a really strong squad now and that's what we're going to need now heading into the final few months.

“We seem to have done our business really early. We've got players in positions that we've needed.

“The game here was brilliant. The atmosphere was amazing. We've sold out, so it's going to be a great atmosphere as it was last year when we played there. It's a tough place to go, but we are going to go there and try and get a result. 

“They are a different Ipswich to the previous few years. They play really good football. They've got really fast movement. It's going to be a really tough game. We beat them here, so there's no reason why we can't beat them again.”

Argyle have not lost on their travels in the league since losing the first two away matches of the season. That unbeaten run includes five draws in the last six, with Wilson saying that grinding out results on the road, gaining any point possible, is going to be beneficial.

“The most important thing, especially this season, is going to be to grind out results now, towards the end,” he said. “It might not be as pretty as it was the first half of the season, but if we can keep getting results, keep getting points on the board, that's, that's the main thing.”