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Ipswich Town make the journey up to Ewood Park on Saturday afternoon as they face Blackburn Rovers away from home.
After a 5-0 win over Sheffield United last weekend, the Tractor Boys are starting to look back to their best and Kieran McKenna will be pleased with the progress that they have made since the international break.
It is the visitors who have the better record against Rovers, and their young manager has won both of his previous meetings with the Lancashire outfit, and they head into this contest as the favourites.
Nevertheless, there is one issue that will leave McKenna fuming, and Ipswich supporters will be unimpressed with the EFL after their referee appointment for this game.
Kieran McKenna and Ipswich Town had a run-in with referee Stephen Martin before
The Tractor Boys’ rise up the divisions in the last few years has been nothing short of remarkable, but it was back in their League One promotion campaign when they had issues with Stephen Martin.
Martin will officiate their game against Blackburn on Saturday, but in 2022, McKenna was left extremely angry when the referee was in charge of a third tier clash between Ipswich and Barnsley at Portman Road as he controversially chalked off a third goal for the hosts on that day while the score was 2-1 – the game ended 2-2.
He said in September 2022 (via: EADT): “It’s frustrating. I think it’s obvious what the main frustration is about. The decision of the referee has cost us the game, for me.
“It was a clear goal, it was 3-1, it was what the players and the crowd deserved from the energy that they gave. But we lose the two points on a decision that I thought was really poor and really in-fitting with the performance of the referee in general. I thought he was much too keen to get involved in the game right throughout, he wanted to be actively involved, he wanted to make big decisions all the time.”
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Stephen Martin’s Championship record this season
It’s been a busy season for Martin, and he has already officiated three Championship games, as well as a Carabao Cup second round tie between Millwall and Coventry.
In these games, he has handed out 21 yellow cards, averaging just over five bookings per match, while he has also awarded two penalties.
| Competition | Fixture | Yellow cards | Red cards | Penalties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | Charlton 1-0 Watford | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Championship | Portsmouth 1-2 Norwich | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| Championship | Swansea 1-1 Watford | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Carabao Cup | Millwall 2-1 Coventry | 4 | 0 | 1 |
The away side has come out on top in just one of those four games, with Norwich City, Ipswich Town’s rivals, defeating Portsmouth in the league last month.
McKenna will be keen to see if Martin has learned from his alleged mistake when the Tractor Boys make the trip to Ewood Park as Ipswich look for their second win of the campaign.