'Norwich fans will be singing about the record' - Ipswich Town view given ahead of derby clash | OneFootball

The East Anglian derby returns as the Tractor Boys look to end a 16-year winless run

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Few fixtures in English football are as self-contained and insular as the East Anglian derby.

Norwich City and Ipswich Town may only be separated by 40 miles, but their orbits rarely overlap.

When the two sides meet at Portman Road on Sunday, it will be for the 110th competitive edition of a fixture that has produced far more bitterness than glamour.

Ipswich have not beaten Norwich since 2009, a span of 16 years and nine derbies that have turned a local bragging right into something approaching a psychological burden. The weight of that record has persisted through managers, ownership changes and entire squads.

Much has changed since the last meeting 18 months ago, when Marcelino Nunez’s goal gave Norwich a 1-0 win at Carrow Road.

Ipswich expert plays down Norwich City’s unbeaten run ahead of East Anglian derby

Ipswich have since had their brief Premier League return - a season that began brightly but ended with just one win from the final 18 games - while Norwich have continued to search for direction in the Championship, reshaping their squad yet again under Liam Manning.

McKenna’s side have also undergone substantial change. Eleven new players arrived over the summer, including the capture of Nunez for a reported £10 million.

The Chilean’s move across the divide adds a layer of intrigue, but the broader question remains whether Ipswich can rediscover the fluency and belief that powered their rise through the divisions.

Asked if Norwich’s dominance in recent derbies gives him any concern ahead of Sunday, resident Tractor Boys fan pundit Adam Wilkin told Football League World that such records mean little once the game begins.

“I don't think head-head records make too much of a difference,” Wilkin told FLW.

“It's obviously something that their fans are holding on to because 16 years is a hell of a long time.

“When you look at it, I think only six of those seasons, the two clubs were in the same division.

“And I think only like two or three players from each side have actually played in an East Anglian derby. So from the player's perspective, it probably won't come into their thinking too much.

“Very different sides from all of the other teams that have played from the manager's perspective.

“McKenna's managed two derbies now. This will be Manning's first one, East Anglian derbies, that is - so it probably won't play into their thoughts too much.

“But I'm sure the Norwich fans will be singing about the record and I'm sure that if they do manage to keep it going, that that is something that they'll be able to hold on to.

“And it will give us a bit of an extra edge, a bit of an extra celebration this time around, if we do win to finally end that, because it has been a bit of a monkey on the back up until now.

“I was set that it was going to end the last time we faced them at Portman Road in the Championship. It ended up as a two all draw. So, yeah, I'd take any kind of win at this moment.”

What ending a 16-year wait for victory would mean for Ipswich Town

The truth, as ever with these fixtures, will probably lie somewhere between emotion and execution.

McKenna has spoken about the need for improvement and focus; Manning about “control” and “composure” amid the inevitable surge of intensity.

For Ipswich, the challenge is to turn familiarity of frustration into something more productive.

For Norwich, to translate the abstractions of process and progress into a tangible result at a time they desperately need momentum.

It is easy to overstate what a single result can do in October, but a first Tractor Boys victory since 2009 would feel symbolic: a small rupture in the order of things, a release of pressure that has been building for more than a decade.