Middlesbrough will be wary of big Ipswich Town update - There are 3 reasons why | OneFootball

Three reasons why Jaden Philogene's imminent return may be making Middlesbrough nervous

Ipswich Town received a big boost in their promotion push on Monday, as Jaden Philogene is set to return to training at some point this week.

Kieran McKenna delivered the news ahead of their trip to Stoke City on Tuesday night, with the midweek clash at the bet365 being the 10th consecutive Championship game that the 24-year-old wideman will have missed since going down with a knee injury.

Ipswich remain on the periphery of the top two, as they have done for the majority of the campaign now. As we head into the run-in, the Tractor Boys need all the help they can get if they are to catch up with Middlesbrough and secure an immediate return to the Premier League.

Kim Hellberg's side may be in the driver's seat right now, but here are three reasons the return of Philogene could make those at the Riverside a little tense in the coming months.

Jaden Philogene is one of the best wingers in the Championship

While it's rather blunt to say, the fact is that the return of a club's best player, and arguably the best winger in the Championship, will always be a boost for said club, and it's clear that, while Ipswich's depth has covered well for Philogene's absence, those at Portman Road can't wait for him to return.

The 24-year-old was playing Champions League football a little over a year ago at Aston Villa, and cost Ipswich around £20 million to bring him to the club last January.

It was a big deal that they were able to keep him for their Championship return, and he's more than shown his Premier League qualities so far this season.

Philogene has netted nine times in just 19 second-tier starts this season, with goals ranging from close-range efforts to long-range screamers. He can impact games from anywhere on the pitch, and Ipswich have missed that during his absence.

As the season winds down, Ipswich will start to come up against more and more sides who will happily take a point against them, and will do everything in their power to frustrate them. Having Philogene's influence back will make them a much more dangerous side going forward during the run-in.

Ipswich Town's already great depth just got even better

Ipswich's second-string of attacking midfielders wouldn't be out of place in a side looking to finish in the top two, and with the return of Philogene, it's arguably going to get even better.

And when you look specifically at Philogene's position off the left, his return may relegate Jack Clarke back to being an impact sub, a role in which the 25-year-old excelled at in the early-season.

Five of Clarke's first seven goals this season came off the bench, as defences who had just dealt with 70 minutes of defending against Philogene simply couldn't deal with the former Sunderland man's energy and direct style in the final 20.

While the 25-year-old has still been able to maintain a decent scoring rate since he began to start more games following the injury to his teammate, that's started to fade away a little, and he went the entire month of February without scoring.

The return of Philogene will give Clarke a new role for the final few months of the campaign, and in a run that will be incredibly congested, with trips to Portsmouth and Southampton still needing to be rearranged, everyone will need to be at their best, and the depth will help with that.

Middlesbrough still have to go to Ipswich Town towards the end of the season

While the return of Philogene makes Ipswich a better side, both through his presence and with the depth it creates in the wide areas at Portman Road, Middlesbrough wouldn't really mind if all they needed to do was to take care of their other business against sides outside the promotion race to maintain their top-two bid.

Unfortunately, though, towards the end of the campaign, these two sides are set to meet at Portman Road in what is shaping up right now to be a mammoth game in the promotion race.

That game will always be in the back of their minds, and with Philogene back, it gives Ipswich a massive boost going into it and something extra for Middlesbrough to mull over.

While unlikely, if Ipswich win every game between now and the end of the season, they'll go up ahead of Middlesbrough, and while that remains the case, those at the Riverside will be getting increasingly nervous at the prospect of Kieran McKenna's side finding that dominance of two years ago and leapfrogging them into the top two.

They'll hope that the trip to Portman Road won't be as important as it's looking to be, currently. But, with Philogene back shortly, the likelihood will be that the meeting on April 18th will be one of the most important games of the season.