Ipswich Town

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Derby forward Sam Szmodics has praised the medical staff who helped him after he was knocked unconscious while playing for the Republic of Ireland in their World Cup play-off defeat by the Czech Republic on Tuesday night.

The 30-year-old, who is on loan at the Rams from Ipswich Town, was left on the ground in Prague following an aerial challenge, six minutes after coming on as a substitute in extra-time.

He left the pitch on a stretcher and was taken to hospital where head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson confirmed shortly after the game he was conscious.

"Gutted the way it ended. Fans and boys immense all evening," Szmodics said in a post on X., external

"Appreciate everyone's messages and thank you to the medical staff who acted so quickly to help me. On the mend."

The Republic led 2-0 inside 25 minutes of the tie only to be pegged back by the home side and go on to lose 4-3 on penalties.

Ipswich midfielder Dan Neil says his old Sunderland team-mate Jack Clarke could prove the difference in their quest for automatic promotion.

The 25-year-old winger stole the show in Saturday's draw with promotion rivals Millwall at Portman Road, breaking the deadlock with his 14th goal of the Championship season, only for the Lions to hit back in the second half.

Neil played 97 times alongside Clarke across four seasons at Sunderland and has now had eight games with him in the Ipswich side after joining on loan from the Black Cats in January.

"That was probably the best Jack Clarke performance I have seen since I got back playing with him," Neil told BBC Radio Suffolk. "He was direct, the right-back was almost a bit scared when he was getting it.

"When he's on it, he's by far the best winger in this league, bar none, and you saw that.

"We need to keep feeding him the ball in dangerous areas between now and the end of the season and he can be the difference-maker for us."

Neil admitted that overall Ipswich felt the draw was "two points dropped" despite staying above Millwall on goal difference, two points behind Middlesbrough in the second automatic promotion place.

"With Middlesbrough drawing it feels an opportunity missed but it's another point on the board, we still have the game in hand so we're still in a good position," he added.

"The old cliché is taking one game at a time. Saturday was the best atmosphere I have heard since I've been here. Eight games to go, we're going to need everybody - players, staff, fans - to try to get us over the line."

Neil helped Sunderland to promotion via the play-offs last season but says there are not many parallels between their position and the Tractor Boys' this season.

"You just have to keep going until the end. It's slightly different (this season). With Sunderland at this point we were rooted in fourth, really in a little bit of no man's land, no chance to get second or seventh.

"We have an unbelievable chance to sneak into the top two. Away from home we need to do slightly better with the mentality - it's more siege mentality, their fans are going to want to spoil our promotion chase. We need to stick together."

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Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna said his side were not ruthless enough in attack in the 1-1 draw with fellow promotion chasers Millwall.

"We should win from where we had it," McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk. "The performance in the first half was really, really good and we gave them so many problems and dominated the game.

"But we would like to have executed better and should have opened up a two-goal lead to give us that margin, and in the second half we had so many moments on the edge of the box.

"They defended well and got bodies in the way but we still could have executed better to kill the game off. When you don't, with a team like Millwall you know they carry such a threat and can score from not very much - and they did that with the goal.

"They threw everything at us and your goal is always going to be under threat so the best way is to kill the game at the other end, but we didn't."

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Ipswich Town will be without forward Wes Burns for their Championship match at home to Millwall on Saturday (12:30 GMT), while Marcelino Nunez is also a doubt.

Burns was forced off in the latter stages of last weekend's 2-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday with a calf injury, while midfielder Nunez has missed the past two matches with a hamstring issue.

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk: "Wes won't be available. It's not a serious injury, which is a positive and all being well he'll be available after the international break.

"Marcelino is touch and go so we'll see how he is."

Ipswich are currently third in the Championship table, level on points with fourth-placed Millwall and only two behind Middlesbrough, who occupy the second automatic promotion place.

"Millwall have done very well, as is clear to see in their results, and when you watch the games you see how competitive they are," added McKenna.

"They are really strong at set plays and have a counter-attack threat so it's going to be a tough game, as they all are in the Championship."

"I do believe Ipswich potentially have got more ways to win. If Middlesbrough don't unlock that formula of breaking teams down when they are sitting in that lower block and making things hard, that can do for them in terms of that top-two place."

Coventry are seven points clear at the top of the Championship and look well set for a place in next season's Premier League.

In the latest 72+ podcast, the team discuss why Ipswich Town might be the favourites for the second automatic promotion spot.

They also preview Saturday's huge game at Portman Road between Ipswich and a Millwall side eyeing the same prize.

Listen on BBC Sounds

Ipswich and Millwall will take on a titanic tussle at Portman Road as they hope to reach the top two on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

Both teams are only two points below current second place holders Middlesbrough.

With Boro set to play Blackburn Rovers - the side that beat Millwall on their last outing - at the same time, there could be a different name in the spot before the day is done.

• Ipswich drew 0-0 with Millwall in this season's reverse fixture (on Boxing Day 2025); the last time they had two nil-nil draws with an opponent in a league campaign was in 2020-21 v Oxford (in League One).

• Millwall have only won two of their last 10 away league games against Ipswich (D2 L6), with their last win there coming in January 2019 under Neil Harris (3-2).

• No team have lost fewer Championship games in 2026 than Ipswich (2 – level with Southampton), with the Tractor Boys currently on a six-game unbeaten run (W4 D2).

• After losing at home to Blackburn last time out, Millwall could suffer consecutive Championship defeats under Alex Neil for just the second time (previously in December 2025, v Hull and Blackburn).

• Jack Clarke has scored 13 goals for Ipswich in the Championship this season – the last player to net 14+ for the Tractor Boys in the second tier was Martyn Waghorn in 2017-18 (16).

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There have been plenty of contentious decisions in the 2025-26 Championship season so far.

Offside goals given, perfectly good goals ruled out, red card offences missed, penalties not given, dubious spot-kicks awarded. You name it.

With the video assistant referee (VAR) only used for the play-off final, the outcome of every second-tier game in the regular season can hinge on how on-field officials see incidents in real time.

• Would you want VAR introduced for every league game in the Championship?

• If so, why?

• And if not, let us know your reasons.

You can share your thoughts on VAR here or comment below, and we will publish a follow-up article soon with a selection of your responses.

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Ipswich Town captain Dara O'Shea says it will take a whole-squad effort between now and the end of the season if they are to achieve automatic promotion.

The Tractor Boys closed to within two points of second-placed Middlesbrough with Saturday's 2-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday and have a game in hand.

"It doesn't matter how you win the games now. Coming into this part of the season all that matters is the result at the end and we were on the right side of it against a (Wednesday) team that are good - I have maximum respect for them, they are a really dangerous side," O'Shea told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"Every team we play, you can tell they're up for it. We watch the games that they've played and when they play us, they'll play a totally different way, a different style, so it's going to take a small bit of time to adapt in some of the games.

"Of course the pressure's there, results go your way, they don't go your way, but that's football. We can't look too far ahead, we can't look at other results, we've got to focus on ourselves."

He added: "Each and every single one of us has got a massive part to play between now and the end of the season, it doesn't matter if you're starting all the time or you've only played a couple of minutes this season, everyone has the same job and the fans as well, they've got a massive job and they're helping us a lot.

"We can feel the passion (of the fans), and the frustration at times too, but it's never going to plain sailing this league."

Ipswich have a crucial home game at lunchtime on Saturday against Millwall, who have the same number of points but are below them on goal difference.

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Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna was delighted with his side's patience before they struck two late goals to beat Sheffield Wednesday and boost their automatic promotion bid.

Ivan Azon and Jack Clarke scored in the final 12 minutes at Hillsborough and Ipswich have climbed up a place to third, just two points behind second-placed Middlesbrough with a game in hand.

McKenna was also pleased with Ipswich's clean sheet and says they didn't panic when the early goal didn't come.

He told BBC Radio Suffolk: "We would have loved to have got an early goal, and we know that would have changed the game.

"We really emphasize trying to start fast and come out and get it, but we didn't manage to do that. We didn't take the couple of early chances we had, and then as the game wears on, you can get a little bit tense.

"Then it's about just staying disciplined and trying not to give anything away. It took to the later stages, we knew that might be the way and it was today.

"The bonus was we got a clean sheet, we didn't give much away, and we gave ourselves a chance to show our quality with the goals at the end."