Call me the harbinger of doom if you wish but I am not looking forward to tomorrow. We lack the firepower up top and only James Norwood and Kayden Jackson can help us. Jackson is back in training but at best he will probably bench warm tomorrow and won’t be risked, and as for James Norwood, he is still struggling for fitness so, in attack, we are in a very sorry way.
Aaron Drinan’s groin injury has further exacerbated the situation and that hip injury means he could be out of action for some months. Ben Morris is also out for another extended period once again, so our striking options look exceedingly limited. Manager Paul Lambert must consider moving Freddie Sears into a central striking position, and perhaps put Tyreece Simpson on the bench. It is a real conundrum for the Ipswich boss who has been plagued with injuries since he arrived on the scene on October the 27th, 2018.
Lambert gave us a hint as to what he might contemplate doing when he said, “We’ve got a few injuries, so I need to look at certain things – whether that’s a change of system or personnel?” If he sticks with the same 4-3-3 formula then he has to play Sears down the middle and have Lankester and Judge on the flanks.
Conversely, he could start Oliver Hawkins up front again as he did against Fulham in midweek. He performed quite well in that encounter but he is not a natural goalscorer, so players need to feed off his flicks and movement.
Whatever Lambert finally decides I will be more than happy with a draw. Our lack of a threat going forward means I am not looking forward to tomorrow but football being football I might just be proved wrong but to even gain a point we need to be solid at the back.
We cannot expect our midfielders to continue to score every week but tomorrow we might just have to rely on them to continue to find the net. The same applies I guess to our defence, who rarely score important goals. Luke Chambers take a bow! You appear to be the exception to the rule.
