Ipswich Town will have one big Norwich City motivation if they are relegated | OneFootball

Ipswich Town will be desperate to end their wait for a victory against Norwich City if they get relegated.

Ipswich Town's return to the Premier League hasn’t gone entirely to plan, with the East Anglian club struggling in their battle for top-flight survival.

Having secured successive promotions from League One and the Championship, the Tractor Boys went in search of securing a regular spot in the division above with heavy spending in the summer.

In total, their net spend was £107.6 million - the second-largest figure in the league last summer. However, this hasn't translated into league positioning and, with nine games remaining, they are sitting in 18th place, nine points from safety.

Kieran McKenna's side have managed just three wins all season and, although they have mostly suffered narrow defeats, survival now looks like a long shot.

This is a similar pattern for their promotion counterparts from last season, with both Leicester City and Southampton sitting below them in the table. The Saints have endured a particularly dreadful campaign, and if they fail to secure three more points, they could claim the unwanted title of the 'worst Premier League side ever' in terms of points tally.

Nevertheless, the Tractor Boys' head coach will feel he has a squad that can tackle the Championship, and he will be hoping to end 16 years of hurt against Ipswich's bitter rivals Norwich City.

Ipswich Town need to end Norwich City nightmare

Many Ipswich supporters had hoped their promotion-winning side would finally end their dreadful run against Norwich last season, but that failed to materialise.

In the first meeting of the campaign at Portman Road, the two sides played out a 2-2 draw. However, in the return fixture at Carrow Road, the Canaries claimed a 1-0 victory thanks to a Marcelino Núñez free-kick.

That extended Norwich's unbeaten run in the East Anglian Derby to 14 matches, and it seems likely the fixture will return in 2025 to capture our attention once again.

As mentioned earlier, Ipswich's relegation is close to being confirmed, while Norwich's chances of reaching the play-offs appear slim. Currently sitting in 13th place, the Canaries would need to overturn an eight-point deficit in as many games to break into the top six.

So, in all likelihood, the fixture will return to the calendar, and the Tractor Boys must see this as their best opportunity in years. Having invested heavily in the summer and January, they should only need minor additions to their squad to mount a strong promotion challenge.

Norwich will also have ambitions of competing at the top end of the table, but their financial resources and current squad appear modest compared to what McKenna has at his disposal.

Ipswich's woeful run against Norwich

Ipswich will be desperate to prevent the run from extending to 15 games, having endured some dreadful moments against their rivals over the years.

Their two heaviest defeats during this period came in the 2010-11 season, when they were thrashed 4-1 at Carrow Road before suffering a humiliating 5-1 defeat in the reverse fixture.

They also experienced play-off heartbreak in 2015 when second-half goals from Nathan Redmond and Cameron Jerome sent Norwich to Wembley at Ipswich’s expense.

The closest they have come to ending Norwich’s dominance was in 2018 when Luke Chambers' 89th-minute header appeared to have sealed a long-awaited derby victory. However, just minutes later, a superb cross from Grant Hanley was met by Timm Klose, who nodded home to snatch a 1-1 draw.