by Carl MarstonTWO unwelcome old faces, one past and one present, will be plotting the downfall of Roy Keane's Ipswich Town on the Devon coast this weekend.

Carl Marston

by Carl Marston

TWO unwelcome old faces, one past and one present, will be plotting the downfall of Roy Keane's Ipswich Town on the Devon coast this weekend.

Plymouth Argyle midfielder Karl Duguid has made a habit of putting the knife into Town in recent years, during his days at Colchester United, and he is out to heap more woe on the Championship's basement dwellers tomorrow.

And Duguid's new mentor is none other than former Town striker Paul Mariner, who officially took on his new job as Plymouth's first team coach this week.

Town, without a win in their first 13 league games, will leapfrog second-from-bottom Plymouth in the table, if they can break their duck at Home Park. But the Pilgrims will be a tough nut to crack.

"Paul Mariner is an Ipswich legend, but he scored lots of goals for Plymouth as well, so we're all looking forward to working with him,"revealed Duguid last night.

"We have just had our first training session with him. He was in the dug-out at Bristol City (3-1 defeat) on Tuesday night, but this is the first time that he has had an impact.

"I think that Paul Mariner will bring a freshness to the club that has been needed. He's coaching all of us, although he did take the strikers to one side at the end of the session," added Duguid.

The versatile Duguid played 438 senior games for Colchester United, having signed professional forms with them in 1996. He ranks one of his highlights as being his winning goal in the U's 1-0 victory over Jim Magilton's Ipswich Town at Layer Road, during the U's first ever season in the Championship (2006-07).

The 31-year-old also scored the opening goal in the return match at Portman Road, although Town went on to win that game 3-2.

"This weekend is a big game. I have a good record against Ipswich, and I want that to continue. I always look forward to games against Ipswich," insisted Duguid, who moved to Plymouth during the summer of last year.

"Both sides will feel that they have got to win, but then both of us cannot afford to lose it either!

"Ipswich haven't won a game yet, so we have one over them. We've won a couple, and our heads are certainly not down.

"We are aware that Ipswich have tended to concede a lot of injury-time goals, but we will be trying to win it inside 90 minutes," concluded Duguid.

Town are sweating over the fitness of leading scorer Jon Walters, who sprained his ankle during Tuesday night's 1-1 home draw against Watford.

carl.marston@archant.co.uk

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