LIVE insights: There’ll Be a Lot of Changes From last match” Ipswich Boss McKenna plot a deadly scandal” ahead of next fixture” As he pushes to make mark” after EPL return huddles…

McKenna wants to integrate his new additions into the squad as quickly as possible with the likes of Kalvin Phillips, Jens Cajuste, Conor Townsend, Jack Clarke and Dara O’Shea all expected to feature against the League Two side.

“We’ll utilise the squad, for sure,” McKenna confirmed at his pre-match press conference. “We are in a position where we’ve made a lot of additions to the group and we feel like that’s going to really help us over the course of the season.

“But quite a few of them have been in recent weeks as well, so it’s really important we get the squad up to speed as much as we can, both in terms of match minutes but also getting on the pitch together and playing together.

For sure, there’ll be a lot of changes from Saturday, that is important. We’ll try and be as organised as we can as a team, but we also know the challenges of lots of new players coming together.

“That’s going to be our process over this week and over the next few weeks, to be honest. We’ll get started with that on Wednesday and hopefully put out a good performance.”

He says the Carabao Cup is a good opportunity to integrate those players into his squad: “Definitely. We want the games and we want to go through for the immediate reason of we want another round in the tournament at least after this.

“Then beyond that, it’s a cup competition and you want to go into every cup believing that you can progress in it, reach the latter stages and maybe go and win it.

We want to progress in the competition, but for now the priority is getting minutes into the group and getting this group of players together and moulding them into a team, which we’ve done over the last couple of years and now we have to renew that process with the additions we’ve made.

“The game is welcome for us this week and certainly the feeling in the group is that we’re getting into a strong position in terms of numbers and we want to have some extra games in the weeks ahead.”

Last season’s Carabao Cup run, in which the Blues came from 2-0 behind to beat Premier League Wolves 3-2 at Portman Road before ultimately going out to Fulham in another home tie after a 3-1 defeat, instilled belief in the squad, McKenna recalled

That was a game that gave us confidence and it was a good competition in the early parts of the season for carrying numbers as we like to do,” he said regarding the win against Wolves.

“It’s important to get game time and when the games go well it’s good for the group it can build confidence in the group, it builds the spirit because more of the group feel like there’s a game coming up as the team will often be rotated in this competition and it’s good for keeping the group together.

“We can’t look any further than Wednesday night, it’s a difficult game away from home against a really physical, competitive team and we’re going to have a lot of changes in the team and we’re going to be integrating a lot of very talented but new players

That’s going to bring some challenges, but that’s the challenge ahead of us and we’ll look to make the best of it tomorrow night.

AFC Wimbledon have made a positive start to the season and sit in eighth in the League Two table having won two – 4-2 at home to Colchester on the opening day and 1-0 at Cheltenham on Saturday – and lost one, a 2-0 defeat at Bromley.

In the previous round of the Carabao Cup, they won 2-1 at Bromley, a few days before the Ravens’ league win, while in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy – the EFL Trophy – they won 1-0 at home to Wycombe Wanderers.

Reflecting further on the game, which will go straight to penalties if level at 90 minutes, he added: “I think it’s going to be a different test and at this stage of the season having different challenges can stand you in good stead.

“We know they’re going to play more direct than the teams we’ve played so far and will look to put balls and bodies in our box with crosses and set-plays and give us a different type of challenge so we have to stand up to that.

“That’s not what we’re going to face every single week in the Premier League, but there’s also going to be games where we are and there’s also going to be moments in games where we have to stand up to that. So that’s one challenge for tomorrow night.

“It’s also a game where I think we will have more of the ball than the opposition, and we’ve had two games where that hasn’t been the case.

The Team

Second-guessing cup teams when there are going to be innumerable changes is always a tough ask, however, it seems likely most of the new signings who haven’t yet been involved will start.

Christian Walton will probably get the nod ahead of Cieran Slicker in goal with Conor Townsend making his debut at left-back.

Ben Johnson may be one survivor from Saturday at right-back with new signing O’Shea debuting alongside Cameron Burgess at the heart of the defence.

In central midfield, Phillips and Cajuste may be handed their debuts.
Ahead of them, Conor Chaplin may return in the centre of the three with Marcus Harness perhaps on the right and Jack Clarke making his debut on the left. Ali Al-Hamadi could start as the central striker against his old club.

History

Until 2019/20, Town and AFC Wimbledon had never met anywhere in a competitive or friendly fixture, the Dons having been reformed in 2002 following the original club’s hijack to Milton Keynes. Since then, Town have won three of the five games, Wimbledon one and three have been draws.

The teams last met in the FA Cup third round in January when the Blues beat the 10-man Dons 3-1 at Plough Lane in the first cup tie between the clubs.

Town went in front via a Josh Davison own goal on eight but home skipper Jake Reeves levelled from the penalty spot nine minutes later, before Axel Tuanzebe’s first career goal five minutes before the break and then a third from Jack Taylor right on time saw the Blues to victory over the Dons, who had been reduced in number just before the hour following Harry Pell’s dismissal for two bookable offences.

Prior to that, the teams last met on Burns Night in January 2022 when, appropriately, Wes Burns netted twice to see the Blues to a 2-0 victory at AFC Wimbledon and up to eighth in the League One table, five points from the play-offs.

Burns shot across the keeper in the 61st minute after good work from Kayden Jackson and James Norwood, then added the second on 87 after sub Macauley Bonne had found him with a cross-field pass.

In the dying moments, the Blues were reduced to 10 men when Kane Vincent-Young was dismissed for a second bookable offence.

In the previous August, the Wombles scored deep in injury time to come from two goals behind to claim a 2-2 draw at Portman Road.

Joe Pigott, who had joined Town after leaving the Dons in the previous summer, put the Blues in front from the penalty spot in the 52nd minute after Burns had been fouled, then the Welshman made it 2-0 two minutes later, before Ben Heneghan pulled one back for the visitors on 58.

Town looked on their way to their first win of the campaign until Jack Rudoni scored a second for the Dons five minutes into injury time.