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Derby County head into their final Championship fixture before the first international break of the season with a little bit of renewed confidence.
Despite losing 2-1 to Premier League side Burnley in the second round of the Carabao Cup, the Rams’ defeat at Turf Moor was their best performance of the campaign so far.
Ipswich Town have had the better of the East Midlands outfit throughout history, but the Tractor Boys have not had the best of starts to life in the second tier following relegation.
Therefore, Derby may well fancy their chances at Portman Road, with Lewis Travis and Max Johnston set to join the club soon. However, for John Eustace, he will come face-to-face with a referee who he has a bit of a strange past with.
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John Eustace oversaw a strange moment with Leigh Doughty in 2022
Back in October 2022, the current Derby boss was just a few months into his tenure at Birmingham City when Blues made the trip to the MKM Stadium to face Hull City.
In what looked to be a fairly rudimentary Championship clash, the game was sent into chaos before a ball was even kicked, as referee Leigh Doughty noticed something odd with one of the goals in East Yorkshire.
The crossbar at the North Stand end of the MKM Stadium was two inches too high, with the ground also being used for rugby, and the match was delayed as changes were made to ensure it was at regulation height.
Despite the 20-minute delay, Birmingham stayed focused and won the game 2-0.
Leigh Doughty sent Curtis Davies off in his final Derby County game
Curtis Davies’ Derby career came to a bitterly disappointing end in 2023, having joined the club from Hull City six years earlier – captaining them through some of their darkest days as administration struck the East Midlands side in 2021.
In the final game of the 2022/23 campaign, Davies was shown a straight red by Doughty for bringing Sheffield Wednesday’s Marvin Johnson down in the box. Michael Smith scored from the penalty, and the Rams missed out on a play-off place in League One.
Nevertheless, this is the first league game that this particular official has overseen involving Derby since a 2-1 win over Cheltenham Town in their promotion campaign and Eustace will be hoping that his team can find a way to earn all three points.
There have been solid signs of improvement from the Rams in the last few days, but Ipswich possess plenty of quality, such as Sammie Szmodics, and this will be an intriguing contest.