Ipswich Town: £1m star must step up after new Kieffer Moore news: View | OneFootball

Ipswich Town will have been rocked by the news that Kieffer Moore is unlikely to feature in the East Anglian Derby against Norwich City this weekend, but the Welsh international’s absence could pave the way for another striker to fill the void.

Moore has scored six goals in 12 appearances since moving to Portman Road on loan from AFC Bournemouth in January but was forced off in the first half of Easter Monday’s 3-2 home win against Southampton with a back injury.

With boss Kieran McKenna claiming that it is "unlikely" that the forward will play a part in the clash at Carrow Road, the vacant striking position could be filled by Ali Al-Hamadi, with the fellow January recruit ready to make the most of his chance in the first team.

The Iraq international joined the club for a reported seven-figure fee from AFC Wimbledon in January but has had to play second fiddle to the likes of Moore and Conor Chaplin as the Tractor Boys strive for automatic promotion from the Championship.

Ali Al-Hamadi needs to take East Anglian Derby opportunity with both hands

Al-Hamadi moved to Suffolk for a fee of just over £1 million at the end of the January transfer window, having been finding the net for fun with the Dons in League Two, with 17 goals to his name after his last appearance for the side on New Year’s Day.

After being the main man at Plough Lane, the 22-year-old has had to make do with featuring off of the substitutes’ bench since moving to Portman Road, with each of his eleven appearances in the league coming as a replacement.

That hasn’t stopped him from producing the sort of exciting, powerful performances we had come to know from him in the fourth tier, with four goals for his new side from just 199 minutes of game time so far.

Unless McKenna is playing mind games with their local rivals, it looks as if Moore will miss out on the trip to Norfolk this Saturday lunchtime, with the Tractor Boys boss issuing the latest update on Thursday:

He said: "It was a pretty severe back spasm. He's not been able to play any part with the team this week. Knowing the personality that Kieffer is, he hasn't given up on some involvement. It's not impossible, but at the moment I would say it's unlikely.

"We don't think it's anything long-term. We've got two games next week (at home against Watford and Middlesbrough) and we would hope he'll have some involvement in those."

With George Hirst and Wes Burns also still on the sidelines, McKenna will be thanking his bosses for splashing the cash in the recent transfer window and bringing in attacking reinforcements to help with his side’s promotion push.

Fellow recent recruit Jeremy Sarmiento netted a late winner against Southampton on Easter Monday to continue the Suffolk side’s incredible run of nine wins from their last ten league games, while Al-Hamadi continues to cause all sorts of problems in his role off the bench.

It will be down to either one those two to get the nod from the start this Saturday, and if the Iraqi does indeed get to feature from the start for the first time, he will be all-action from the word go; and what they will lose in aerial threat they will make up for in energy.

Ali Al-Hamadi's Ipswich Town career

After getting off the mark from the penalty spot in a 4-0 victory over Millwall in February, the striker got his first goal in front of his new fans in last month’s dramatic turnaround 3-2 victory over Bristol City at Portman Road.

A brace in the 6-0 drubbing of Sheffield Wednesday followed as the young star started to live up to his price tag and find his feet as a Championship player.

Regular watchers of League Two will know all about Al-Hamadi’s playing style, with his power and poise regularly bamboozling defenders in the fourth tier, while he has pace to burn when his side are looking to counter.

With all the anticipation and tension that the East Anglian Derby brings, someone of his effervescent nature is exactly what you need when entering your rivals’ home turf; and he won’t care about spoiling City’s day either.

After playing almost an hour in the win against Southampton, the recent recruit will have gotten a taste for featuring in crucial clashes for his new side, and was desperately unlucky not to get on the scoresheet himself after crashing an effort against the post in the second-half.

In a promotion winning campaign there are many heroes that emerge over the course of the season; some for their consistency, and some for producing moments of magic that keep the momentum rolling.

It was Sarmiento’s time to shine last week, now it’s the time for Al-Hamadi to announce himself on the biggest stage, and help fire his side even closer to a Premier League return.