Ivan Azon and Chuba Akpom are the options to replace suspended striker George Hirst in Ipswich Town’s home game against Stoke City.
Ivan Azon and Chuba Akpom are the options to replace suspended striker George Hirst in Ipswich Town’s home game against Stoke City.
Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna believes he’s got two good options to replace suspended striker George Hirst for tomorrow night’s visit of Stoke City.
Hirst took his goal tally for the season to six in Saturday’s 3-0 home win against league leaders Coventry, but he’ll now serve a one-game ban for collecting five bookings just before the 19-match amnesty.
Asked if he felt that suspension was harsh, given one of those cards was issued in September’s abandoned game at Blackburn, McKenna smiled and said: “I hadn’t really thought about one of them being at Blackburn. So there you go. And I thought the first one was maybe a little bit soft on Saturday, to be honest. It is what it is. It’s why we have a squad and why we have everyone now up to speed. So whoever’s picked, I’m sure will be ready to come in and do a good job.”
Como loanee Ivan Azon was the man who came on for Hirst at the weekend, the Spanish striker wrapping up the win with virtually the last kick of the game.
“It’s nice for him to get his first goal at Portman Road,” said McKenna. “I don’t think you can underestimate that for Ivan and Sindre (Walle Egeli) at the weekend, to get their first goals at the home stadium. That’s always a big one. He’ll feel better after that for sure.
“But we have some good options up there still and different types of forwards that we could use and that we plan to use over the course of the games coming up. So we’ll pick the best option for tomorrow night.”
Chuba Akpom is the other option to the lead the line. The Ajax loanee’s six intermittent starts have all come as a No.10 so far this season, but he has had some game time up front latter in matches.
Asked if he was still working out where the 30-year-old’s best role in the team was, McKenna replied: “I think there’s always a little bit of that when you have players who are versatile.
“He’s maybe had six, seven starts, or something like that, which is not too bad for someone who wasn’t really properly fit and ready to go until pretty much end of August. Even if you are a player who’s had experience and had success previously, it can still take time to settle.
“He’s had a couple of years playing in different competitions, different countries and is resettling back in to English football, playing in a different team, with different teammates. It’s not a wildly different role to what he played in his last year at Middlesbrough, but there are still some differences.
“We’re still trying to find the ways to get the best out of him, to get him in the best positions. He’s played nearly all his football so far as a number 10, but also played some key minutes for us as a number nine at Hull and then again at Oxford. And I think there’s a fair chance we’ll see some more of that as well in the games we have coming up.
“We know he’s a really good finisher and can be really dangerous around the opposition’s penalty box. It’s still pretty early days. I know we’re well into the midst of the season, but there’s still a great opportunity for him to have a big, big impact. He’ll have a big part to play with the games we have coming up and can hopefully have some big moments.”
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