Ipswich Town could buckle under the strain of the battle to stay up in the Premier League over the course of the next few contests, with two tough clashes against Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United coming the way of the Tractor Boys in quick succession.

However, both reverse fixtures did see Kieran McKenna‘s men impressively pick up a stunning away victory at Spurs, whilst also collecting a deserved point during Ruben Amorim’s first clash in the Red Devils dug-out.

Off the back of a battling draw with Aston Villa too, McKenna’s men won’t go into either encounter riddled with fear, especially if Liam Delap is on top form attempting to cause both inconsistent teams trouble.

Delap’s red-hot form for Ipswich

It goes without saying now that the £20m capture of Delap last summer was a masterstroke of a buy on the newly promoted side’s end, with the ex-Manchester City wonderkid turning into a deadly Premier League centre-forward in Suffolk.

Indeed, as a result of his opener against Unai Emery’s shellshocked Villa, Delap is now up to ten goals for the season in the league, with Sammie Szmodics way behind his bumper total with four as Ipswich’s second top scorer.

McKenna will be hoping Delap’s continued excellence in front of goal gives his underdogs a fighting chance at survival, because if Ipswich do go down, there will be a whole host of higher-up suitors wanting to win the exceptional 22-year-old’s services.

But, whilst his bumper goal total is an obvious joy to behold for the Portman Road masses, there is one former Tractor Boys attacker who is actually bettering the 6 foot 1 forward’s electric goalscoring form now all the way down in League Two.

The unexpected star who’s outscoring Delap

This ex-Ipswich man did have the unfortunate reality of being in a side that was languishing all the way down in League One, instead of one punching above its weight in the top flight.

Still, Armando Dobra’s lacklustre output of two goals and four assists from 30 largely forgettable appearances would see the Albanian attacker be moved onto Chesterfield in 2022 on a free transfer, with McKenna the cutthroat manager to finally wave him on his way.

Ipswich lineup from Dobra’s final ever start

Burton Albion 2-1 Ipswich, 14th of August 2021

1. GK -Vaclav Hladky

2. RB – Kane Vincent-Young

3. CB – Janoi Donacien

4. CB – Luke Woolfenden

5. LB – Matt Penney

6. RM – Armando Dobra

7. CM – Rekeem Harper

8. CM – Lee Evans

9. LM – Scott Fraser

10. AM – Louie Barry

11. ST – Joe Pigott

Sourced by Transfermarkt

Whilst Vaclav Hladky and Luke Woolfenden would go on to be key parts of the jigsaw under McKenna – who both lined up alongside Dobra during his final ever Tractor Boys start – the 23-year-old had to go and repair his career with the Spireites and he has done just that based off his superb showings in League Two this campaign.

Where Are They Now

In all competitions, the one-time Ipswich reject is amazingly trumping Delap’s weighty ten goals with 11 of his own, alongside also boasting two assists as a constantly creative option for Paul Cook’s lower league side.

As assistant manager Danny Webb has stated, amid January interest in the forward, he is “a massive player” for the lower league outfit.

It’s not as if Dobra has suddenly sparked into life for Chesterfield either and become this rejuvenated presence, having now collected a bumper 32 goals and 15 assists from 116 clashes donning a more comfortable shade of blue.

Cook and Co even have an outside shot of the League Two playoffs in their sights, whilst Dobra’s former club have one simple survival aim etched into their brains all the way up in the Premier League.