Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna says his team needs to believe they can ‘do something no-one expects us to do’ against Manchester City.

It’s an 18th versus sixth clash at Portman Road tomorrow afternoon (4.30pm, Sky Sports). Remarkably, however, both teams have taken the same number of points from their last 12 Premier League games (12).

On facing the four-in-a-row champions, McKenna, whose side lost 2-0 at home to Brighton on Thursday night, said: “It’s one to look forward to. We’d love to have been going into it off a good result, but we have Man City and Liverpool (away) in the next two games and we have to enjoy those challenges. We have to take the games on and go into them with a positive mindset.

“Man City have obviously had mixed results. We need to go in it with humility, but also have belief in ourselves that we can do something that no-one will think we’re able to do. One, make it a really competitive game and, two, get a result.”

Erling Haaland bagged a hat-trick in the reverse fixture (Image: PA) Town lost 4-1 at the Etihad last August, Erling Haaland bagging a hat-trick. Asked if City had lost a bit of their aura since then, McKenna said: “The fact they’ve dropped off has been a big surprise to everybody because they’ve been so consistently excellent. I think that reflects the strength of the league and how hard it is to win games.

“On the other hand, they’re 2-0 up at Brentford the other night after a couple of wins (against Leicester and West Ham). If they’d have seen that game out then people would be saying we’re playing them at the wrong time and they’re just on the cusp of getting back into good form.

“We have full awareness and respect for the strengths they have. All we can do is perform as well as we possibly can and fight with everything we've got to try and get some points.”

New signings Ben Godfrey and Jaden Philogene could make their league debuts for the Blues, while McKenna says this match has probably come too soon for the almost fit-again Axel Tuanzebe.