Ipswich Town travel to Cheshire on Saturday to take on a Crewe Alexandra side whose fate has already been decided, having been relegated to League Two.

Ipswich's fate has also been decided, they sit in 11th place and have no chance of reaching the play-off places, with many referring to this fixture as 'dead rubber'.

The Railwaymen were relegated from League One two weeks ago following a 2-0 defeat at fellow strugglers Doncaster Rovers, a result that saw manager David Artell sacked as Alex boss two days later.

Alex Morris will be taking charge of his third match as interim manager having yielded a win and a defeat so far alongside assistant Lee Bell.

Ahead of Saturday's game, Bell said: "We want to give the crowd something to cheer about. We've got to play with lots of energy and more importantly, we've got to get closer to their goal to create chances.

"We have to be on the front foot. We want high energy performances, particularly at home."

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Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna wants his side to replicate the levels shown on Tuesday night in their home draw with league-leaders Wigan Athletic.

He said: “I think it is important that we continue the focus that we showed the other night. All I can ask of the players is that they give maximum effort and maximum concentration until the last minute of the season.

"We need to make sure our big travelling away support get the feeling that it is a really motivated team giving everything until the last day of the season. If we do that we’ve got a good chance to win.”

Team news

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Bell confirmed that Crewe duo Dan Agyei and Travis Johnson are making good progress from injury, but Saturday's game with Ipswich will almost certainly come too soon for the pair to return.

Regarding Johnson, Bell added: "Travis underwent a scan and there is no serious damage with the foot. It will be a question of his pain threshold and how he handles that."

Arsenal loanee Ryan Alebiosu could be available after receiving treatment for a back injury at his parent club.

Ben Knight and Chris Porter remain unavailable, while Ipswich loanee Rekeem Harper is ineligible to face his parent club.

The Tractor Boys face some fresh injury concerns going into this weekend.

Sone Aluko and Matt Penney are major doubts while Wes Burns will face a late call after picking up an ankle knock on Tuesday.

Full-back Kane Vincent-Young will travel with the squad and could be in line to feature for the first time since February.

This could open the door for some of Town's younger players to feature against both Crewe and Charlton Athletic next week.

McKenna said: "My first thought is that we need to put out a competitive team, a team that gives us a really good chance to go and win the game and continue the development of our performances.

But it’s also a possibility that in the last couple of games we’ll look to give a little bit of experience and exposure to a couple of the young players who have been doing well. There’s a chance that we’ll make a couple of changes to the travelling squad.

George Edmundson, Lee Evans, Kyle Edwards and Kayden Jackson all remain longer-term absentees.

Predicted lineups

As is common at this stage of the season, both sides may look to make changes and give a run out to some players who have been on the fringes of the squads.

Crewe Alexandra (4-2-3-1): Richards; Williams, Offord, Sass-Davies, Lundstram; Lowery, Murphy (c); Long, Ainley, Kashket; Mandron.

Ipswich Town (3-4-2-1): Walton; Burgess, Woolfenden, Donacien; Thompson, Morsy (c), Bakinson, Burns; Celina, Chaplin; Bonne.

Ones to watch

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Ipswich captain Sam Morsy has been influential since his summer deadline day arrival from Middlesbrough and has been given a new lease of life since the appointment of McKenna in December.

The 30-year-old's three goals this season have all come in the last eight matches, including one on Tuesday night against his former club Wigan.

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For the Railwaymen, forward Chris Long is his side's top goalscorer this season with nine goals.

The England youth international has scored in his last two appearances at the Mornflake Stadium.

Form guide

Crewe Alexandra come into this fixture having lost 16 of their last 18 matches which has seen them rooted to the bottom of the League One standings.

They have conceded the most goals at home in League One and have not beaten a side currently in the top half of the table in the league this season.

Last Friday's victory over AFC Wimbledon did, however, end the rot of eight defeats on the bounce.

Ipswich's season is beginning to peter out following their failed run at the play-off places with just one win in their last seven.

Goalscoring has been the Blues' main concern of late, netting just five goals in that period.

Last Saturday's televised defeat at Rotherham United was their first on their travels for six matches.

Head-to-head

The reverse fixture at Portman Road in November resulted in a far from convincing 2-1 victory for Ipswich Town, a match that included the League One Goal of the Month from Bersant Celina.

Crewe haven't beaten Ipswich since 2003, with the Tractor Boys unbeaten in nine matches against the Cheshire outfit.

How to watch

Saturday's game will kick off at 15:00 BST and will not be broadcast on television. Overseas supporters will be able to purchase an iFollow match pass from either club, with highlights available to watch in the UK on Quest and globally on social media the following day.

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