Midfielder up for the challenge against Mick McCarthy’s Tractor Boys

Dave McAllister says Stevenage have got ‘nothing to lose’ as they travel to Ipswich Town tonight in the Capital One Cup first round.

The midfielder says Boro, who lost their opening league game of the season to Notts County on Saturday, are the underdogs for tonight’s game against Championship opponents.

However, the 26-year-old, who came off the bench on Saturday, says that while the Tractor Boys are favourites this evening his side can still cause an upset like they did two years ago when Boro knocked Ipswich out of the same competition.

“I’ve kept an eye on how Ipswich get on because they had a few more Irish [players] there last year. The Hunts [Stephen and Noel], big [Daryl] Murphy up front, they’ve also brought in Jonathan Douglas as well from Brentford. I always try to keep an eye on the Irish contingent,” McAllister, who is from the Republic of Ireland, said.

“They’re looking like they’ll be strong again this year. Mick has got the experience of getting teams out of the Championship, so if you play them thinking it’s an easy job you’re in for a rude awakening. But I think that we’re all set and we’re raring to go.”

McAllister added: “We’re going in as underdogs and we know that we’ve got nothing to lose. If we can play how we know we can there’s no reason why we can’t beat them.”