George Hirst and Ivan Azon are competing to lead the line for Ipswich Town <i>(Image: Ross Halls)</i>
George Hirst and Ivan Azon are competing to lead the line for Ipswich Town (Image: Ross Halls)
Ipswich Town face some question marks over their striker situation ahead of the January transfer window. Alex Jones takes a look…
This has been a significant week in George Hirst’s life, despite the fact he has touched the ball just twice in that time.
The 26-year-old went away with the Scotland national team, who had work to do to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. They were beaten 3-2 by Greece and then earned a dramatic 4-2 win at home to Denmark to secure their spot at the tournament.
Hirst played two minutes against Greece and was an unused substitute against Denmark, yet he can say that he played a part in a historic World Cup qualifying campaign – one where he played just nine minutes in two cameo appearances.
He’ll return to Suffolk with a buzz, but also a sense of frustration. He, like his Scottish team-mates, will focus on club football until March, but there will be one eye on the World Cup until the tournament kicks off next summer.
At the moment, there are clear doubts that Hirst will be involved. He clearly isn’t someone that manager Steve Clarke is keen to turn to at the moment, and that means that he’ll need to work hard to make the 26-man squad.
There’s fierce competition. Lyndon Dykes started their last game while Che Adams and Lawrence Shankland both came on, the latter scoring a crucial goal. Oli McBurnie can’t be far out of the picture on current form at Hull City, nor Union Berlin’s Oliver Burke.
Hirst will be desperate to feature for Scotland at next summer’s World Cup (Image: PA)
But a strong campaign in a promotion-winning side would give him an excellent chance of a call-up and minutes. Consistency will be key to that, and he has all the attributes to achieve it.
There’s no guarantee. His form at club level hasn’t been what he, or those who follow Ipswich, would have hoped. Five goals and one assist isn’t a bad return, but he was the favourite to win the Golden Boot in pre-season after taking on the no.9 shirt. If he’d taken some of his missed chances, he’d be well in that mix.
His overall performance levels can’t be discredited. He battles defenders really well, keeping them occupied while allowing the likes of Jaden Philogene, Jack Clarke and Sindre Walle Egeli space to do damage instead.
But there’s more that Hirst can do, and more for him to show before fans are fully convinced he’s the man to start week in, week out, or for Scotland boss Clarke to give him regular international minutes.
Failing to do so will open the door for Ivan Azon, who is slowly finding his feet and showing real quality. His best performances have come off the bench, and his cameo goal at Swansea City should do him the world of good. With a busy run of fixtures coming up – seven games in 22 days – he will be given starts.
If he has ambitions of usurping Hirst, he’ll have to deliver when he starts, having struggled to do so against Bristol City and Charlton Athletic earlier in the campaign.
Azon will get opportunities to start games between now and Christmas (Image: Ross Halls)
There’s a clear element of misfortune. On another day, he scores against Norwich City instead of hitting the post. On another day, he buries at least one of his two headers against Watford.
What goes against Azon is that he’s different to Hirst. He doesn’t occupy centre-backs in the same way, he isn’t as aggressive and physical. He finds pockets of space and does damage with his movement and finishing.
He has just one goal from an xG of 3.40, which is a clear underperformance, but shows that he’s getting into the right positions and is likely to start finding the back of the net on a more consistent basis. His shots are good and he’s often just unlucky.
If he doesn’t, then all eyes will be on January. Town have two strikers and an alternative option in Chuba Akpom, who prefers to play as a no.10. That’s enough, but is it good enough? The next six weeks or so will give us a better understanding. There’s quite a lot of pressure on both men.
If question marks remain when the transfer window opens, don’t be surprised to see Ipswich go on the hunt for a new centre forward – something that would damage Hirst’s World Cup aspirations and Azon’s desire for regular minutes.
I’m not sure which way it’s going to go, but I really hope that Hirst and Azon have what it takes to kick on and deliver week in, week out.
They are both capable of it – now they just have to go out and prove it.
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