Ipswich Town will know that their chances of staying up in the Premier League this campaign are somewhat slim, but Kieran McKenna’s Tractor Boys have always thrived when being an underdog under the manager’s stellar tenure to date.
Ipswich managed to achieve back-to-back promotions to the top-flight against heavy odds, and minus their humbling 4-1 defeat to West Ham United last time out on the road haven’t looked completely out of their depth dining at the elite table.
It will be a long and gruelling campaign ahead though that will test his side’s resolve, which will be made even harder if McKenna can’t manage to get a tune out of more of his attackers, away from Liam Delap’s heroics up top.
Szmodics and Chaplin's form this season
Whilst Delap has been an instant rip-roaring success in Suffolk, with the £20m summer recruit hammering home an impressive four strikes from seven games for his new relegation-threatened outfit, Sammie Szmodics has struggled to nail down a starting spot since his major move from Blackburn Rovers.
The current Championship golden boot holder has averaged only 44 minutes of action per game in the Premier League, with his showing against Southampton last month a real concern, as the Republic of Ireland international only managed to make a dire seven accurate passes alongside only being able to register one shot on target at Aaron Ramsdale’s shaky goal.
Of course, the ex-Peterborough United star did manage to score away at Manchester City to send the Tractor Boys away faithful into raptures back in August, but it’s been extremely stop-start since with no more goals coming his way.
It’s a similar story for Conor Chaplin too in McKenna’s current ranks, who has only managed to make the first-team from the get-go once this season in the top-flight, despite being crucial to Ipswich’s automatic promotion heroics last campaign.
The ex-Barnsley man does have one goal next to his name like Szmodics, but that was on a far less glamorous stage than his counterpart, with Chaplin firing home a strike in an EFL Cup tie versus League Two outfit AFC Wimbledon.
Registering 13 goals and eight assists in second-tier action throughout 2023/24, the 27-year-old will just pray his campaign this time around is a slow burner and he can eventually acclimatise to the pressures of the Premier League.
McKenna will hope these two can come good over time, with one ex-Tractor Boys player currently outperforming the out-of-sorts duo away from Suffolk.
How Dobra is performing after leaving Ipswich
The player in question is Chesterfield star Armando Dobra, who is a firm fan favourite to those with associations with the Spireites.
Funnily enough, the tricky Albania U21 international has come into his own at Chesterfield under the guidance of ex-Ipswich manager Paul Cook, with Dobra now a top performer for his team all the way down in League Two.
Season
Games played
Goals scored
Assists
24/25
12
3
0
23/24
46
10
10
22/23
33
11
3
Sourced by Transfermarkt
Only managing to make 30 forgettable first-team appearances at Portman Road before exiting in 2022 on a free transfer, there must be some anguish now that Ipswich didn’t persist more with the 23-year-old, who constantly gets fans out of their seats at Chesterfield with entertaining displays.
Last campaign, Dobra amassed a stunning 20 goal contributions as his team finally returned to the EFL, with Spireites coach Danny Webb labelling the explosive number 17 as a “great” talent right after he penned a new deal to stay put with this side on the rise until 2026.
He has taken to being back in the EFL well too, with three strikes managed in all competitions from 12 games this campaign so far, surpassing both Szmodics and Chaplin’s goal tallies in the process.
Of course, the gulf in quality is huge between League Two and the very pinnacle of the English game, but there will still be some regrets at the end of the Tractor Boys all the same about potentially ditching Dobra too prematurely.
McKenna and Co won’t actively lose too much sleep over this situation, however, as Dobra continues to shine in the fourth tier, whilst Ipswich aim to stay put in the top flight.
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1 ByKelan Sarson