West Brom's Alex Mowatt makes Ipswich and Middlesbrough comparison and has message for team mates

Mowatt spent last season on loan at the Riverside under former Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick, who worked alongside Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna at Old Trafford.

The pair are making the way in management and have both enjoyed success so far, with McKenna guiding the Tractor Boys back to the Championship and into second place after a scintillating start to the campaign.

In his first season in charge Carrick led his side into the play-offs after taking over from Chris Wilder early in the campaign.

Baggies midfielder Mowatt, who has been in sparkling form since making his return to The Hawthorns from the North East, said: "They’ve had a great start and everyone’s been quite surprised by how well they’ve done.

“But I know one of the lads there and he spoke about how Ipswich want to play and I think it’s similar to how Boro did things when I was on loan at the Riverside Stadium last season.

“Their boss Kieran McKenna is obviously a former Manchester United man, just like Michael Carrick, and he wants to play similarly to how Carrick did.

“So from that sense, it’s no surprise how well they’ve done this season playing that way.

“They’ll come here with a great record. I think they’ve only lost one game so far and are unbeaten in 12, which shows how good they are and how confident they’ll be on Saturday."

Ipswich are on the coat tails of Leicester City after their stunning run this season, but equally in recent weeks Albion have strung together a run of results that see them sitting just outside the play-offs.

And Mowatt insists he and his team mates have to have confidence and have already shown they can stand up to challenges this season.

He added: “They've had some great results and scored plenty of goals, but we need to be confident in our own ability because we're also a very good side.

“It’s a great challenge for us, but we’ve shown numerous times this season already that we’re up for the challenge and we’d love to get what would be a big three points.”