IPSWICH Town return to Portman Road tomorrow night – determined to build on the positives of Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Birmingham City.

The Blues had to be content with a point after being pegged back and seeing their two-goal cushion go up in smoke.

Jon Nolan and Matthew Pennington put them in total control but Garry Monk’s Midlanders hit back thanks to a second-half brace from Lukas Jutkiewicz.

Disappointing, maybe, but there were positives – a first point on the road, unbeaten in three and inching another place higher in the table, leapfrogging Millwall.

Now Town are preparing for the visit of a Boro side sitting third in the Championship table but held to a 1-1 draw at Hull City on Saturday.

Town have the upper hand in terms of previous meetings between the pair, winning 30 of their 67 matches. The Teessiders have prevailed 21 times, with 16 draws.

And in order to kick-start their miss-firing season, Ipswich will hope to show the same qualities so evident in a relatively recent match between the sides, when they thumped Tony Mowbray’s Boro 4-0 in February 2013.

Then boss Mick McCarthy continued to be laid low with a virus but had plenty to cheer about regardless as Tommy Smith netted just before half-time.

The afternoon only got better for the hosts as David McGoldrick fired in a screamer just after the restart and Aaron McLean made it 3-0 on 56 minutes, before Smith scored his second to seal Town's first home win since December 2012.

Middlesbrough handed former Ipswich hero and England international Kieron Dyer his debut while ex-Colchester United star Anthony Wordsworth - known as Woody - was handed his Blues debut as a 77th-minute replacement for McGoldrick.

The midfielder had signed for £100,000 on a two-and-a-half-year deal just a few days previously before being released at the end of the 2014–15 season.

Scott Loach started in goal that day behind a back four of Luke Chambers, Richard Stearman, Tommy Smith and Aaron Cresswell.

Carlos Edwards, Guirane N’Daw, Luke Hyam and McLean made up the midfield quartet with the front men being McGoldrick and Daryl Murphy.

Current U’s striker Frank Nouble also stepped off the bench, as did Adam Drury, with the unused subs being Stephen Henderson, Elliott Hewitt, who went on to have a loan spell at Colchester, Patrick Kisnorbo and Michael Chopra.

Back to tomorrow night and Ipswich - still seeking their first Championship win - will be looking to continue their unbeaten start at Portman Road, having drawn their five matches so far against Blackburn, Aston Villa, Norwich, Brentford and Bolton.

They will be without Everton loanee Pennington, who was sent off in the latter stages at Birmingham on Saturday.