Football League World
·12 January 2024
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·12 January 2024
Ipswich Town are in a good position for promotion this season.
Kieran McKenna has done a fine job at Ipswich, after leading them to League One automatic promotion last season. The side currently sit second in the Championship, only behind the dominant Leicester City.
Despite the Tractor Boys' strong league position, they have hit an unfortunate run of form as they have failed to win in their last five league games. This was somewhat masked by a 3-1 FA Cup win over AFC Wimbledon, but Ipswich have work to do if they wish to stay in the top two.
Of those five winless games, just one was a loss, but it was a rather embarrassing one at that. Ipswich travelled to Elland Road and were stunned by Leeds United as they suffered a heavy 4-0 loss. Their last two draws were certainly avoidable, as a 0-0 draw against a struggling QPR side was followed by a 0-0 draw against 10-men Stoke City.
Ipswich must cut out results of that nature if they hope to push for the Premier League. McKenna is looking to bring in strong reinforcements this month in order to continue that push, and today, Football League World looks at the situation regarding three of his transfer targets.
At the start of the transfer window, Football Insider revealed that Ipswich Town were keen on securing a deal for Fulham's Jay Stansfield, who is currently on loan at Birmingham City.
The day before that interest was reported, Ipswich Town revealed that their starting striker, George Hirst, had suffered a hamstring injury that was going to see him sidelined for a significant amount of time. This is a huge blow for Ipswich, with Hirst having earned 12 goal contributions from 22 league starts this season.
Ipswich are undoubtedly in the market for a striker, and Stansfield would be the perfect option. The 21-year-old has scored seven league goals for Birmingham City this season, who have hugely struggled in recent months.
Despite Ipswich being able to offer him promotion-chasing football, Birmingham World reported that Stansfield is not pushing for a move away from St Andrews and his happy at his current loan club. Birmingham have recently appointed Tony Mowbray as their new manager, following the disastrous spell of Wayne Rooney, so Stansfield and the club could really kick on now.
As per Alan Nixon, Ipswich are among the Championship clubs eyeing a move for Leeds' Charlie Cresswell this month. The 21-year-old centre-back has seen very little first-team football this season under Daniel Farke, and it feels inevitable that he could soon depart.
Cresswell signed a long-term contract last summer which expires in 2027, so Leeds will not let him go for a small fee. According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds will be looking for a fee of around £4 million to £5 million, which could unfortunately price Ipswich out of a deal.
TEAMtalk revealed that Ipswich are one of many Championship clubs who are targeting Wolves' Lembikisa this month. The 20-year-old spent the first half of this season at Rotherham United, becoming a key player at right-back. He made 22 league starts for the Millers and was one of their shining lights.
Wolves have recently recalled Lembikisa from his loan spell, and will probably be looking to give him a better loan for the second half of the season, which is great news for Ipswich. He will provide superb competition for that right-back slot as McKenna has played several different players in that role this season.
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