The U’s were promoted from League Two last season and are in a comfortable place to see out the campaign and secure their spot in the third division for another term.
Kieran McKenna’s side, on the other hand, are fighting for the playoff places as getting promoted to the Championship has been their priority the whole of Ipswich’s time in League One.
Bonner thinks that with the squad that the Blues have they should have been in the top two at this point and it is a surprise to see them instead competing for the playoff places.
The U’s boss though is aware that his side faces a tough test this afternoon and he feels that the gulf between the two squads is so wide it almost approaches the level of his team taking on a side in the tier above.
“They’ve kept an incredible number of clean sheets, as well as picking up an impressive number of wins since Keiran came in”, Bonner said in a press conference ahead of the clash against Ipswich.
“Let’s be honest, they should be getting promoted automatically with their team, so there’s no surprise that they are fighting for the play-offs, the only surprise really was that they were so far off the play-offs at one point.
“We know how tough the task is, as the pattern of the entire season has gone, we know we have to be at our very best if we are going to get anything from the game on Saturday.
“It’s a league of two league’s really, we know that, and we’re almost going up against a team in the league above us on Saturday.”
The U’s more than held their own when the two sides met in the reverse fixture, a 2-2 draw with a late equaliser for Cambridge, but the Tractor Boys will be aiming to prove their on-paper favourite status come the weekend to continue their playoff hunt.
