McKenna could offload an “unreal” Ipswich star who could save them millions
At the beginning of 2023. Ipswich Town v Bristol Rovers was an incredible League One game, with the Tractor Boys a sleeping giant for the third tier.
Now the two teams face off against each other in the FA Cup later today with the Gas still deep in the bottom division, while Ipswich now face Manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League, away from the focus on EFL upheavals.
Kieran McKenna he will know his side cannot underestimate the visitors from Bristol, having been on the receiving end of a major Cup upset early last year when non-league Maidstone United came to town as the Kent minnows pulled off a monumental 2-1 victory.
But with Suffolk’s top priority being Premier League safety, it would be no surprise to see a number of first-team faces rested, with the hope that the selected reserve staff can still secure an outright win.
The McKenna players could be rested against Bristol
The first change could see Liam Delap dropped from the XI and McKenna did not want to overtax his main source of goals against League One opposition.
Indeed, the former Manchester City man has been a mainstay of his manager’s Premier League squad and rightly so, with a very impressive haul of goals since eight strokes along with his name from those constant appearances.
Delap also aroused interest Chelsea this transfer window, it is unlikely that he would want to overextend himself against Gas, knowing that an injury could derail a potential departure.
Other key figures such as Leif Davis could also get a rare day off, with the former Leeds United left-back every Premier League match which is available to him this season.
However, moving back to the lone striker position, there is one back-up figure at Portman Road who would jump at the chance to start above Delap, with the aim of trying to prove his worth in goal and perhaps prevent Ipswich from feeling they have to fork over millions this January on a fresh centre-back. the attacker.
An “unreal” star that could shine instead of Delap
The striker in question is Ali Al-Hamadi, who is only average 13 minutes activities in the Premier League this season from his 11 appearances, zero from which they were started.
Obviously, Delap’s place in the XI is as concrete as it could be, but Al-Hamadi will still feel frustrated by his lack of minutes, having impressed last campaign when he joined from League Two side AFC Wimbledon in January.
The Iraqi international would shoot home four shots of 14 league outings for the Tractor Boys when used late in games, with the former Dons man not struggling at all to make the huge jump in quality from the fourth tier to a league just below the Premier League.
Once marked as “unreal” football analyst Tom Williams’ talent to watch as he regularly sacked them for Wimbledon in the EFL’s lower tiers could get a much-needed boost in confidence by facing Inigo Calderon’s men, knowing full well that he has what it takes to overcome a team of Bristol Rovers’ standard.
Al-Hamadi’s career club goals record |
|||
---|---|---|---|
The club he played for |
Games played |
Goals scored |
Assists |
Ipswich |
26 |
5 |
1 |
AFC Wimbledon |
48 |
27 |
8 |
Wycombe Wanderers |
13 |
1 |
0 |
Bromley |
10 |
3 |
0 |
Source: Transfermarkt |
It is clear from the table above that there is a dangerous striker within Al-Hamadi, with a devastating 27 successful strikes for the Dons, as he looks to prove his worth to McKenna although he is starting to be linked with postpone the loan.
He could provide that opportunity later today, with a positive performance from the forgotten 22-year-old perhaps making the Tractor Boys think twice about throwing loads of money at targets such as Igor Jesus worth £30mknowing that they already have competent cover for Delap at home.