Football League World
·19 March 2024
In partnership with
Yahoo sportsFootball League World
·19 March 2024
Ipswich Town are strong contenders for promotion to the Premier League.
Following last season's automatic promotion to the Championship, Ipswich have continued their superb form all season as they suddenly find themselves in another thrilling promotion race, this time to the top flight.
The Tractor Boys did recently hit a slight bump in the road, but they appear to be back on track after winning seven of their last eight Championship games, and now sit a point behind league leaders, Leeds United.
On Saturday, Ipswich earned their most dominant victory of the season, thrashing relegation-threatened Sheffield Wednesday by six goals to nil. Omari Hutchinson and January signing, Ali Al-Hamadi both scored a brace, with Nathan Broadhead and Cameron Burgess also getting on the scoresheet.
It was a positive afternoon for the Tractor Boys, and with just eight games remaining, it will give the club plenty of hope as they push for those automatic promotion places.
Today, Football League World rounds up the latest from Portman Road following their comfortable 6-0 victory.
Despite such a thrilling afternoon for Ipswich Town, there was some bad news for the club when Wes Burns was substituted in the first half after suffering an injury. He started the game incredibly brightly, grabbing an assist for Ipswich's opening goal, but his appearance unfortunately ended after 38 minutes.
After full-time, manager Kieran McKenna was asked about the severity of Burns' injury, to which he answered "It doesn't look great, it's a hamstring."
"It doesn’t look like a minor one, I don’t think it feels like a minor one. Of course, we’ll scan it over the next few days and assess it, but that’s the undoubted low point of today."
“Everyone’s gutted for Wes down in the dressing room and we just have our fingers crossed that the severity isn’t as bad as it possibly could be.”
The hope for Ipswich will be that he returns before the end of the season, as he is such a vital player. He has been one of Ipswich's leading men in attack this season, so missing him for the remainder of the campaign could be absolutely detrimental to their promotion hopes.
The Ipswich stopper will have been delighted to earn yet another clean sheet; his 12th of the season, but more importantly, he was thrilled with the overall performance and result.
Speaking after the game, he said "At the end of the day, it looks like an easy game but you have to go from minute one and you have to go through some difficulties, which there were,"
After the side's heartbreaking defeat to Cardiff the weekend prior, it was vital that they immediately returned to winning ways and stay within that automatic promotion, which they did to perfection.
"6-0 is really positive and the best way we could finish the block (of fixtures). It was a great response from the team. It's not easy when you lose a game in extra time."
"We learnt from the previous game, we start again and it was a great day for everybody."
The victory sees Ipswich sit third in the Championship, just a point behind Leicester and Leeds as the campaign reaches its business end, but Hladky is only focused on the next game, as they travel to Blackburn on Good Friday.
"Obviously we look at the table, but we just want to go and be ready for another game. We've been doing it all season and for sure we want to do it for the last eight games and where we end up, we'll see."
The 20-year-old, on loan from Chelsea, has been mightily impressive this season, and it has led many to wonder whether he would make a return next season. Hutchinson hasn't always found himself in the starting eleven, but seven goals and six assists suggests he has a superb impact when he does feature.
On Saturday, he played the full ninety minutes and scored twice as Ipswich dominated Sheffield Wednesday. After full-time, he spoke to the media and was asked about a potential return next season, following the expiration of his loan deal.
"It’s going to be a difficult one, I don’t know the answer to that. But maybe – I hope so."
"Listen, I can’t tell you where I’m going to play. We’ll see in the summer what the right move is and what the best decision is for myself. I love it here, 100%. I’m glad I came.”
"It will be one of my options, if everyone agrees with it. I couldn’t give you the right answer now, you’ll just have to wait and see in the summer."
“I’ll talk to my family and my agency, and we’ll see what the best decision is for me.”