Ipswich Town

The Premier League's bottom two Southampton and Ipswich using the highest number of players this season - 33 and 31 respectively - does not come as a surprise.

Both are newly-promoted sides with relatively limited budgets who began the campaign with managers that had never previously led teams in the division.

Saints suffered an identity crisis under Russell Martin who refused to his possession-based approach for the top flight before replacing him with Ivan Juric who is still attempting to find his favoured starting XI.

Ipswich have fought admirably in their first Premier League season but manager Kieran McKenna is learning on the job. Back in October, BBC Radio Suffolk's Graeme McLoughlin wrote he was "not sure McKenna knows his best line-up yet" and, although things have settled, the Town boss is still adapting from game to game.

When contrasted with high-flying Nottingham Forest - who have used 23 players, the lowest in the division- it is clear the impact a settled, consistent starting XI can make.

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Aston Villa have lost just one of their past 14 top-flight meetings with Ipswich (W10 D3), a 1-0 home defeat in March 1994.

Excluding own goals, 95% of Ipswich's 21 Premier League goals this season have been scored by British or Irish players, the highest proportion by a team in a campaign since Wolves in 2011-12 (98% - 39/40).

Seb Brown
Fan writer

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Four goals scored in an away win made Saturday feel like a return to familiar surroundings at Championship level for Ipswich, following a difficult season so far.

Last April, a 2-1 win at the CBS Arena, in the penultimate game of the season, saw Ipswich move to within a point of promotion. Saturday was never going to reach anywhere near those heights, but there was still much positivity to take away.

The match was a stark reminder at the differences in levels between the Championship and the Premier League. Ipswich did not have to get into top gear to win and while Coventry had moments, the game was a relatively comfortable victory.

The main reason for optimism, other than the four-goal haul, was the performance put in by Ipswich's reserve players against a strong Coventry side.

Premier League money has allowed Town to hoover up the outstanding talent from last year's Championship and players who have been thrown into a top-flight relegation battle were able to show their quality when performing back at a more familiar level.

The standout player at the weekend was Jack Clarke, a £15m summer signing from Sunderland after 15 goals and four assists last year.

Clarke has been involved in some sliding doors moments so far this season. There was a penalty overturned by VAR against Everton and a key moment when he hit a post in the dying moments at Craven Cottage, with the ball bouncing straight back into play and Fulham immediately scoring a late equaliser.

Clarke's clever feet and calm finishing saw him leave Coventry with two goals and an assist. His off-the-ball work was also excellent in a performance which will hopefully give him confidence after a difficult campaign so far.

Ipswich are into the FA Cup fifth round for the first time since 2007. With some big sides already out of the competition, could a cup run be on the cards?

Find more from Seb Brown at the Blue Monday Podcast, external

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Former player Paul Anderson highlighted Jack Clarke as Ipswich's key player in the 4-1 FA Cup win over Coventry City.

Speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk, Anderson said: "As attacking players, goals are always that confidence builder, but forget about the goals. If he wouldn't have scored [against Coventry] he still would have been the difference between the teams.

"With his football intelligence and the positions he was picking up on the pitch, he caused real problems to the Coventry defence. When he got the ball he tended to make the right decision most of the time.

"With a performance like that, he would hope to have put his name on the team sheet against Aston Villa."

On fellow winger Jaden Philogene, Anderson added: "That goal maybe takes a bit of pressure off him. I would have liked to see a bit more from him but games don't always pan out that way. The ball didn't necessarily come to his side that much, it came to where Jack Clarke was a lot.

"He got his goal and everyone will feel great about that. Hopefully he can get a few more in the Premier League and win a few points."

Chelsea and Manchester United are interested in Ipswich striker Liam Delap. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

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The draw for the FA Cup fifth round has been made. Here is a list of all the ties involving Premier League teams in the order they were drawn.

Games will be played over the first weekend of March.

• Aston Villa v Cardiff City

• Crystal Palace/Doncaster v Millwall

• Man Utd v Fulham

• Newcastle v Brighton

• Bournemouth v Wolves

• Man City v Plymouth

• Exeter/Nottingham Forest v Ipswich

See the full draw

Is there something you want to ask about a Premier League club?

Former Premier League defender Nedum Onuoha is ready to answer your burning questions and give his thoughts on some of the biggest talking points for a special Q&A.

Submit your questions here and come back on Thursday for his answers

We asked for your views on Saturday's FA Cup match between Coventry and Ipswich.

Here are some of your comments:

Andy: This result and performance shows that we are way too good for the Championship but lack that bit of quality needed for the Premier League. It may not even be down to quality but the belief of the team that walks out on to the pitch.

James: Jack Clarke has surely played himself into the 11 for next week? Yes it may have been against Championship opposition but hopefully this gives the players a timely boost ahead of the forthcoming games.

Terry: Same 11 next week please. They wanted to win.

Matt: At last a performance to savour. Well done Jack Clarke who showed what he can do. Gutted for Sammie. Let's hope we can bring this sort of performance into the Prem.

Kevin: A good performance, plus we gave the fringe players some game time. Nice to see Jack grab a couple as it's been difficult for him to establish a permanent position. Positive performance from our new signing in goal. Only downside was the injury to Szmodics. But a good confidence booster for next week's tough challenge at Villa.

David: So glad that Alex joined us from West Brom. Much needed after we wasted many millions on Muric. I can't see him playing again this season and hopefully he's gone in the summer.

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Ipswich Town scored 4+ goals in an away FA Cup game for the first time since January 2002 against Dagenham and Redbridge (4-1), while the Tractor Boys have reached the fifth round of the competition for the first time since 2006-07.

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Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Saturday's victory against Coventry: "It's always a good sign [winning despite 11 changes] and it's how we have worked over the last few years where we train hard with the whole group and try to have two players challenging for any position - we have faith in the players to come in for any game.

"We have shown we can put in a good performance with a changed group and that's one of the big positives. It's a really good day for the group, Aston Villa next week is a challenge up from this."

On Jack Clarke, who scored twice and made one: "We're delighted for Jack. He has really shown good signs. He joined us late in the [summer] window and has stepped up to the Premier League for the first time. But he's a really talented footballer, a good athlete and a good lad. He is making some progress and showed that today."

On goalkeeper Alex Palmer's debut following his £5m move from West Brom, he said: "He did really well and it was the perfect opportunity to bring him in against an opponent that he has already faced this season. He stepped straight into the team and showed his quality."

Tell us your thoughts of the match here

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Ipswich's performance

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

Nine Premier League teams are competing in Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round action, and we will bring you every moment.

• Leyton Orient v Man City (12:15) - watch on BBC One and listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Coventry v Ipswich

• Everton v Bournemouth

• Southampton v Burnley

• Wigan v Fulham - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Birmingham v Newcastle (17:45) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Brighton v Chelsea (20:00) - watch on BBC One and listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

All kick-off times 15:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all the action and reaction here

Ipswich are on a terrible run in the Premier League, with their worst result coming with their home defeat by Southampton on Saturday.

Coventry have been doing much better under Frank Lampard in the Championship, winning four games in a row before they lost to leaders Leeds on Wednesday.

On the face of it, this looks like a possible upset, especially if Ipswich rest players, but I actually think they will go strong.

The Tractor Boys are a team who need a result to kick on after losing their past four matches.

Kieran McKenna's side are have got games coming up against Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester United and they need to win a game first to give themselves some confidence and try to find some rhythm again.

Sutton's prediction: 0-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

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The fifth-round draw will take place during Monday's episode of The One Show on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Former England winger Theo Walcott, who won the trophy twice while with Arsenal, will conduct the draw at about 19:10 GMT.

There are 16 Premier League teams left in the draw, with Leicester having been beaten by Manchester United on Friday, and Arsenal, Brentford and West Ham exiting in the third round.

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Earlier, we asked you to name the former Ipswich manager from a series of clues.

The answer was Mick McCarthy, who was in charge between 2012 and 2018.

Josh Lobley
BBC Sport journalist

Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna has been speaking to the media before Saturday's FA Cup game against Coventry City (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• McKenna confirmed that Wes Burns has had successful surgery for his ACL injury: "Thankfully it all went well. It's as positive as it could be."

• Elsewhere, Sammie Szmodics will be back in the squad for Saturday's match. Connor Chaplin and Christian Walton are still unavailable, with the latter expected to be out for "around eight weeks".

• McKenna confirmed new signing Alex Palmer will be in the squad: "We are pleased to bring him in. He is a really good and experienced keeper and is someone that has been on the radar for a while. We felt it was the right time to bring another goalkeeper in. He has fitted into the group really well."

• He is satisfied with the overall business done in the transfer window: "We worked really hard in the window and it gets more difficult every year. The squad is in a stronger position than it was at the start of January and we've got pretty good depth across the positions."

• McKenna is confident he can adequately cover Burns' season-ending injury: "Losing Wes [Burns] is difficult and we can't replace it like for like, so we have to replace it with different qualities. Ben [Johnson] has played there, Omari [Hutchinson] can play there and we feel like Jaden [Philogene] can bring quality there."

• However, he admitted covering Chiedozie Ogbene's injury is a bit more difficult: "I made it known that I wanted to have three senior strikers in the building, but the market is small for that type of striker. We didn't want to bring a body for the sake of the body."

• On Saturday's opponents: "We know them really well. They are a really strong squad and they seem to be on an upward trajectory. It's going to be a tough game, this is a few levels up [from the last FA Cup round]."

Follow all of Friday's FA Cup news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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Now that the transfer deals are done, we have a clearer picture of how the season may finish.

Unfortunately, as things stand I think Ipswich will be relegated in addition to Southampton and Leicester City.

Saying Ipswich is a difficult one for me because out of those three, they are the one that I think will give the biggest fight to survive between now and the end of the season.

But at the expense of who? It is probably Wolves, as Everton have now distanced themselves from the pack, but even then Wolves have a new manager and they have Premier League experience which will always help in this crunch time.

Ultimately, the gap now between the Championship and the Premier League is massive.

It is hard to adjust quickly enough in the Premier League as the players simply just don't have the time to adapt. Mistakes are punished, so it makes it very difficult to play the same style that has got a team promoted from the Championship.

Ipswich have probably been the most adaptable of the three teams, but they still lack the quality that is needed within a squad to compete. They have, however, invested and brought in more players in the January transfer window to give them a fighting chance.

Fara Williams was speaking to BBC Sport's Katie Stafford

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

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Unlike in the last game, most recent outing in the Championship, it will be Frank Lampard next to Kieran McKenna on the Coventry touchline.

Following Lampard's arrival on 28 November, Coventry have been a more solid unit and until Wednesday's defeat by Leeds United, they were unbeaten in four.

The performance against the league leaders however was two steps back from their recent form, with Leeds dominating the majority of the game. But that has been the story of Coventry's season. The Sky Blues have struggled to find consistency in performances and too many individual errors have decided results.

A late play-off push is not mathematically off the cards, but they are also likely to field a strong team to progress to the fifth round of the FA Cup given the club's history.

The 1987 winners were so close to a place in last season's final, having recovered from three goals down to take Manchester United to penalties - and the core of that team remains.

The primary change to Lampard's style has been plugging the defence. Goalkeeper Oliver Dovin is back between the sticks and he has a defensive trio and two wing-backs in front of him.

In the absence of captain Ben Sheaf, whom Ipswich were reported to have been interested in during the summer, Jamie Allen has stepped into the holding midfield role with Victor Torp and Jack Rudoni are operating as number eights.

New January signing Matt Grimes is also expected to bolster a midfield that has been plagued with injuries this season.

Torp and Rudoni have been providing good service for forwards Ellis Simms and Brandon Thomas-Assante in recent weeks, while 20-year-old Norman Bassette has the ability to add pace from the bench.

United States international Haji Wright is expected to return from injury imminently, but Saturday's game is likely to come too soon.

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Ipswich are looking to reach the FA Cup fifth round for just the second time in the 21st century, previously doing so in 2006-07. They were eliminated at this stage of the competition last season by non-league Maidstone United.

Name this former Ipswich manager from the following clues:

• I have had two spells in charge of the country I represented at international level;

• I won the Championship title as a manager of two different clubs;

• I led Ipswich to a top-six finish in the second tier in 2014-15.

Answer will be revealed at 17:00 GMT