The Ipswich Town factor that means McKenna will trump any Leicester City achievement: View | OneFootball

It has been an outstanding start to life back in the Championship for Ipswich Town.

The Tractor Boys extended their unbeaten run to nine games, and secured their fourth consecutive victory, with a 3-2 win over Plymouth Argyle at Portman Road on Saturday.

Kieran McKenna's side currently sit second in the table, nine points clear of third-placed Leeds United, with a game in hand on the Whites.

Ipswich have lost just once all season, while they are the joint-highest scorers in the Championship having netted 29 times, and they have conceded the joint-third fewest goals in the division having been breached on just 15 occasions.

The Tractor Boys are five points behind leaders Leicester City, and while it is still early in the season, the pair are in an incredibly commanding position.

Would Ipswich Town winning promotion be a bigger achievement than Leicester City?

Given Leicester's dominance of the Championship so far this season, much of the attention has been on the Foxes, and Enzo Maresca's side look on course to beat Reading's 106-point record.

However, while Leicester are rightly earning many plaudits, Ipswich's start to the season has been even more impressive than the Foxes.

McKenna has stuck largely with the same players that achieved promotion from League One last season, bringing in seven new signings this summer to add depth and quality to the squad.

Of the team that started against Plymouth on Saturday, nine players were at the club last season, and Wes Burns would likely have featured instead of Omari Hutchinson had he been fit.

The fact his squad have adapted seamlessly to the Championship is a testament to McKenna's coaching ability, further underlining his reputation as one of the most exciting young managers in the EFL,

Ipswich paid transfer fees for just three of their seven summer recruits, Jack Taylor, George Hirst and Cieran Slicker, and this is in contrast to Leicester, who spent significant sums of money during the window.

The Foxes' most expensive signing was Harry Winks, who arrived from Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £10 million, but Conor Coady (£7.5 million, potentially rising to £8.5 million), Tom Cannon (£7.5 million), Stephy Mavididi (£6.4 million) and Mads Hermansen (£6 million) were among the other big money arrivals at the King Power Stadium.

Leicester also managed to keep hold of the likes of Ricardo Pereira, Wilfred Ndidi, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Kelechi Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy, and while the Foxes' fine start to the season should not be discredited, they would have been expected to be at the top of the table given the quality in their squad.

Ipswich do have vast financial resources, but they have taken a sensible approach on their return to the Championship, and considering the value of the Tractor Boys' squad compared to Leicester's, it is remarkable that they have kept pace with the Foxes.

Leicester already look destined to win the title this season, but should Ipswich join them in securing promotion to the Premier League, it would be a much greater achievement.