Ipswich Town 3 Bristol Rovers 0: Kalvin Phillips, Jack Clarke and Jack Taylor first-half goals see Blues sail past The Pirates in FA Cup third round

Three first-half goals against League One Bristol Rovers at Portman Road this afternoon saw a much-changed Ipswich Town side comfortably seal their passage through to a fourth round trip to Frank Lampard’s Coventry City in the Emirates FA Cup.

Kieran McKenna’s dominant side - 46 places above their opponents - got themselves ahead as soon as the 18th minute when Kalvin Phillips fired home from outside the area for his first Blues goal.

It was followed six minutes later by Jack Clarke sliding home a blocked Ali Al-Hamadi shot while Jack Taylor made it 3-0 before the interval after being found all alone in the box from Conor Townsend’s deep pass with a heavy suspicion of offside not judged that way by the offcials.

The fourth should have arrived in the 52nd minute but Al-Hamdi dragged his penalty wide of the left-hand post while a plethora of other opportunities went begging on a day where League One strugglers Bristol Rovers were barely given a sniff.

It was a good confidence-booster for McKenna’s side ahead of Thursday’s return to Premier League action with the visit of Brighton & Hove Albion (7.45pm).

With that game in mind, the Blues boss made 10 changes to his line-up to rest regular starters and give others some much-needed extra minutes.

One of those was new loan signing Ben Godfrey who started on the right of a back three which was anchored by Luke Wooldenden - the only survivor of the side that started last Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Fulham - with he homegrown player handed the captain’s armband for the first time.

With Leif Davis not in the squad, Conor Townsend was handed his full debut while Aro Muric returned in goal with youngster Cieran Slicker on the bench along with returning striker George Hirst.

Cameron Burgess went close to giving the hosts the lead inside two minutes, heading over a Townsend corner at the near post.

The early pressure continued unabated and replays suggested Town should have had a penalty in the 13th minute when Jack Clarke cut in from the left-hand side and went down over a clumsy challenge from Shaq Forde, but referee Oliver Langford saw nothing in it and with no VAR available to review it.

A few minutes later Jack Taylor was found free in the box by Conor Townsend but after taking an initial touch horribly sliced through it on his left foot before the loose ball was eventually knocked out.

From the resultant corner, Burgess won a header before Al-Hamadi sent a hooked effort goalwards in the ensuing scramble but West Brom loanee Joshua Griffiths was right behind it.

Town’s pressure translated into the opener in the 18th minute. A Wes Burns cross was only half-cleared with Townsend then playing out to Jack Clarke who found Phillips around 25 yards out. The Manchester City loanee took a touch out of his feet before firing a low effort beyond the dive of Joshua Griffiths for his first goal for the club.

With the Pirates still struggling to break out of their own half, a second goal followed for McKenna’s side within six minutes.

Burns’ pressure on the full-back saw the ball break for Taylor to get a cross in from which Al-Hamadi’s initial shot was blocked by Wilson before Jack Clarke slid in to convert from six yards out.

The gulf in class on display resulted in Town flying into a 3-0 lead in the 37th minute. Townsend sent in a deep threaded pass towards Al-Hamdi who appeared to get a flick on down the side before the ball reached Tayor all alone in the box. The former Peterborough United midfielder took a touch before sweeping it to the right of the diving Grifftihs from 12 yards out.

Tayor blazed high and wide from a Massimo Luongo ball down the side of the area after he had dummied Burn’s pass inside as the home fans were almost treated to another.

Rovers’ first chance eventually arrived gift-wrapped in the 42nd minute and there were shades of Newcastle about Muric’s low kick straight out to Ruel Sortiriou with the number 10 seeing his subsequent shot saved by the spread legs of the relieved Kosovo international in the last notable action of first half of a dominant home display.

The second half saw Town emerge with Ben Johnson replacing Burns down the right-hand side.

The Blues looked hungry to quickly add to their advantage with Connor Taylor having to make a crucial intervention in the box before the subsequent corner led to Townsend laying off to Massimo Luongo whose shot struck the arms of Ward in a bid to protect his face. The referee had no hesitation with pointing to the penalty spot.

But the fourth-goal celebrations did not materialise in the as Al-Hamadi sent his less-than-cleanly hit kick in te 2nd minute wide of the left post before looking down to the turf as if for a reason why.

Rovers had a good chance to get one back on the break soon after but Godfrey got back well to make a good lunging block in the area on Sotiriou.

The Blues’ pressure ramped up with Luongo hitting an air shot as the ball fell invitingly for the Australian from Johnson’s deflected cross while Jack Clarke lost his footing on a run into the box with Taylor again to the rescue.

After making the byline, Nathan Broadhead looked for fellow introduced substitute George Hirst - making his return from injury - with 11 minutes to go but goalkeeper Griffiths managed to cut it out of its intended destination with his leg.

There was a surprise home debut for third-choice keeper Ciaran Slicker, who was called up to the full Scotland squad, having captained the Under-21s, in the 82nd minute for his third appearance for the Blues and second against Bristol Rovers.

The quest for a fourth goal continued with Hirst breaking through the Rovers rearguard but he could not lift the ball over the on-rushing Griffiths, who got a hand to it before Wilson made the clearance.

It was the last notable action of what was a comfortable afternoon away from league action for McKenna’s squad that showed just how far they have come since being at The Pirates’ level just two seasons ago.

The fourth round draw - scheduled for 5pm - was delayed due to Arsenal’s home tie with Manchester United going the distance after a 1-1 draw with the Red Devils eventually winning through on penalties.

But Town avoided the holders before being pulled out to face a trip to the side the former had defeated in last season’s semi-finals, Championship Coventry City (16th), to be played across the weekend of February 7-9.

Read more: ‘A really good performance’ - what boss Kieran McKenna said

Ipswich Town: Muric (Slicker 81’), Godfrey (H Clarke 73’), Woolfenden (c), Burgess, Townsend, Phillips, Luongo, Burns (Johnson 46’), Taylor (Broadhead 73’), J Clarke, Al-Hamadi (Hirst 73’).

Unused subs: O’Shea, Morsy, Cajuste, Delap.

Bristol Rovers: Griffiths, Sousa, Moore, Wilson, Sinclair (c), Ward, Sotiriou (Hutchinson 73), Sawyers Lindsay 73’) , Taylor, Martin, Forde.

Unused subs: Hall, Senior, Thomas, McCormick, O’Donkor, Bilongo, Dixon.

Referee: Oliver Langford (West Midlands).

Attendance: 27,678 (541 away).

SuffolkNews Match of The Match: Conor Townsend. Seamlessly filled the Leif Davis void, proving a constant source of attacks and linking up well with those around him as well as providing a good set piece delivery.