Promoted Ipswich deliver an early Suffolk punch and come to The Hawthorns unbeaten on the road

The Tractor Boys have settled into life in the Championship remarkably well and sit level on points with Leicester City at the top of the table, writes Dan Stacey.

Albion will need to rediscover the defensive solidity they showed last month against Kieran McKenna’s side, who have scored in every game they have played this season.

The highly-rated manager has Ipswich playing an eye-catching brand of football and will look to take the game to the hosts. Ipswich’s challenge will be keeping this good form up throughout the season, and a trip to Albion should present them with one of their more difficult challenges so far.

During the international break McKenna said: “If you manage to do it for 46 games, which is an awful lot harder than it probably sounds because it’s a lot of concentration, to concentrate and try to find a performance in each one, then you’ll be a pretty good team.”

Ipswich’s success is not as big a surprise as you might imagine for a newly-promoted side.

They have built their team smartly, blending the youthful exuberance of left-back Leif Davis and forward Omari Hutchinson with the experience of centre-back Cameron Burgess and Wolverhampton-born Egyptian international Sam Morsy.

Albion fans may remember Ipswich skipper Morsy as the man who scored a late winner for Wigan Athletic against them at The Hawthorns in 2020, before celebrating by doing ‘the boing.’ The Wolves supporter is the driving force in the Tractor Boys midfield, and will likely start alongside seven-figure summer signing Jack Taylor in the engine room.