'Tough ask' - honest verdict shared on Ipswich Town that will give Portsmouth hope ahead of Portman Road game

Pompey head to Ipswich Town on Saturday with a former Portman Road player believing now is a good time to be playing Kieran McKenna’s side.

Alex Mathie spent three-and-a-half years with the Tractor Boys, scoring 38 goals in 109 appearances. A period of that stay overlapped with Ipswich operating in the Premier League (1994-95), with the striker bagging two goals in 13 outings that season.

But the now BBC Radio Suffolk pundit believes a return to the top flight at the first time of asking currently looks a long shot as McKenna struggles to get his new-look team to gel.

And that can only be a good thing for John Mousinho’s Blues, who travel to Portman Road on Saturday keen to right the wrongs of their home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.

Ipswich’s summer overhaul and their start to the new season

Following their relegation from the Premier League last season, two-times promotion winner McKenna oversaw a major overhaul of his squad, with 11 new players signed and 14 exits confirmed - including Conor Chaplin’s loan move to Pompey.

But according to Mathie, that rebuild has impacted the Tractor Boys’ start to the new campaign as they sit 17th and well adrift of current league leaders Middlesbrough, albeit with a game in hand.

Ipswich were spared a second league defeat in six games when Saturday’s match at Blackburn Rovers was abandoned on 80 minutes due to a waterlogged Ewood Park pitch, with the 10-man visitors trailing 1-0 at the time.

And with a home game against Pompey next on the agenda, the BBC man believes McKenna’s side are a long way off the levels they need to be to get themselves into the promotion picture.

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‘Tough ask’ already for Ipswich to be in promotion contention

‘It's going to take time for McKenna to mould his team the way he wants them to play,’ Mathie told BBC Radio Suffolk.

‘It will be his biggest achievement to get this team up there challenging.

‘At this moment in time, if we got to the play-offs, I'd be delighted with that - but it's going to be a tough ask for them. There's a lot of teams (that) have got a head start on them, but who knows what they can do?

‘I can't see us getting in the top two, we've not hit the ground running. But if we get to the play-offs, we might be able to peak at the right time.’

Pompey and Ipswich concerns ahead of Portman Road game

Pompey’s firepower on Saturday will be lessened by Chaplin’s unavailability due to the terms of his loan arrangement.

Meanwhile, Josh Murphy and Minyeok Yang joined Callum Lang, Harvey Blair and Franco Umeh on the Blues’ injured list ahead of the weekend defeat at the hands of the Owls.

There’s hope both Murphy and Yang will provide Pompey with a welcome injury boost by making the trip to Portman Road.

But Mathie believes Ipswich’s current defensive record this season might also do the visitors a favour.

Indeed, he’s far from impressed by the central defensive pairing of Dara O'Shea and Jacob Greaves, although the latter is set to be suspended for the visit of the Blues.

Mathie added: ‘They seem to get caught out. They go galloping forward and leave one there on their own, and that's what happened for the (Blackburn) goal.

"One ball over the top killed us, so I think they need to work on that together - as individuals. They are two very good centre-halves, but as a pairing, they are still to gel for me.’

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