'It's up to me to adjust' - Matusiwa on looming ban, Boxing Day football and Millwall

Ipswich Town star Azor Matusiwa insists he won’t change his game to avoid a two-game ban for hitting ten bookings – and will happily take a yellow card if it’s for the good of the team.

The Dutch midfielder has been one of Town’s best players this season, working tirelessly at the heart of the Blues’ engine room and leading the Championship in interceptions thus far.

His non-stop, all-action style has seen him rack up nine yellow cards though. One more will earn him a two-match ban, unless he can avoid it until the cut-off point of the March 7th trip to Stoke City.

The all-action Matusiwa has been one of Town’s star players this season (Image: Ross Halls)

“Of course you think about it,” he admitted. “But now it’s up to me to adjust where I can – but it’s also my game, so if I have to take the card for the team, I will take it. If not, I won’t.

“I have to use my experience as well now, I know the league better and I’m getting to know the referees, so I know what the limit is.

“I’m aware of it now and if it happens, it happens and I have to deal with it. But for now I’m still on nine.”

So will he change his game?

“I will say adjust a bit, I won’t say change, because it’s my game,” he stressed. “It’s also the position I’m playing, you take a lot of cards.

“Hopefully I can stay on nine, that would be great – it’s going to be hard, but I will do my best.

“But if I have to take a yellow card for the team, I have no choice.”

One of the games in which the 27-year-old picked up a yellow was the dire 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers at the start of the month.

He felled Blackburn’s Ryoya Morishita as he chased a long ball, with ref Oliver Langford deciding that Leif Davis was providing sufficient cover to justify just a booking over what many Town fans feared would be a red card.

And Matusiwa admitted he thought he was off too.

Azor Matusiwa is looking forward to his first taste of Boxing Day football (Image: Ross Halls)

“Yes, I was worried!” he said. “The ref saved me, but I have to say that he touched me – he went in front of me – and that’s why he fell.

“But nine times out of ten it’s a red card, of course. So I was really happy, he saved me I think.”

Having avoided a booking in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday, Matusiwa will get his first taste of Christmas football at Millwall on Boxing Day – something he’s eager to experience.

“Really excited,” he enthused. “Normally we are off with Christmas, not this time. I’m really excited to play the game on Friday.

“My mum and my sister arrived here last weekend. They were at the stadium, but they’re not coming here for Christmas.”

He added: “Only in Italy do they do this as well, but less games. For us, it was a big thing because in England there were only the Boxing Day games and the rest you had nothing. At least you had something to watch during your break.

“For me, it was something big and I’m happy that I’m part of it at the moment.”

Of foes Millwall, he opined: “I expect a physical team. A lot of big players, they have a different play style as us. You have to respect this as well because they’ve got a lot of points with it.

“It’s going to be a difficult game, but we know to bring the most important things like challenges and second balls, to bring energy and to show good body language.

“If we do this, we have more quality than Millwall and we have to win this game. It’s easy to talk, but we have to show it on the pitch.”

‘It’s up to me to adjust’ – Matusiwa on looming ban, Boxing Day football and Millwall

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