Ipswich Town will be keeping tabs on the Saturday 3pm kick-offs with vested interest before their match at the Hawthorns gets underway, the Tractor Boys hoping that Leicester City trip up again and lose to Watford at home to then potentially leapfrog the Foxes to top spot in the Championship with a win.
West Bromwich Albion won’t just roll over for Kieran McKenna’s men to clinch a simple three points however, Carlos Corberan’s Baggies have promotion hopes of their own with the playoffs in sight.
McKenna could well spring a surprise with his team selection for the match in the West Midlands to catch the home side off-guard, there’s a case that Nathan Broadhead – although it’s likely that he will start this one – could be dropped after a rare below-par display versus Swansea City.
Broadhead’s numbers versus Swansea
Broadhead has been electric for the Tractor Boys this season – minus this Swans blip – as they aim for another promotion party come May to the Premier League, the former Everton youth prospect is a feared forward now for second-tier defenders to contain with six goals and one assist this season.
Yet, McKenna’s usually reliable star man had an off-day versus the Swans with his other Ipswich teammates thankfully bailing him out in the 3-2 win.
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Broadhead struggled throughout the high-intensity contest at Portman Road, only having one shot all afternoon, as per Sofascore, before being substituted off around the hour mark – the effort trailing wide, with the ex-Toffees man unable to add another goal to his ever-growing second-tier tally.
His accuracy on the ball too wasn’t up to its usual standards either, only completing 60% of his passes on the day which gave Swansea a momentary lift that they could mount a comeback whenever an interception was made.
Playing for Wales too in the round of International fixtures just finished, the 25-year-old could do with sitting out the game at the Hawthorns to just rest up.
In his place, McKenna could start Wes Burns who isn’t a natural left winger – Broadhead’s compatriot is often deployed down the opposite flank at right wing – but he should be able to do a job even in an unfamiliar role after recently coming back from injury.
Wes Burns as Broadhead’s replacement
Burns spoke to the Ipswich press in the build-up to the West Brom game, stating that he feels “strong” again after contending with a shoulder problem over the last couple of months.
McKenna will hope that his number seven can be a difference-maker for the Tractor Boys if selected, the former Fleetwood Town winger’s impressive eight goals and 14 assists were key in his side’s automatic promotion exploits last season but he’s yet to get up and running in the second tier this campaign.
The 29-year-old – who earns £5k-per-week, according to Capology – only has one goal and one assist to his name from 12 games played, but that nasty shoulder injury has gotten in the way.
He shone off the bench when substituted late on versus the Swans, however, replacing Omari Hutchinson and notching up three key passes for his team despite only being on the pitch 26 minutes.
There is a case to be made that both Burns and Broadhead can start alongside each other, yet equally for this matchday, the 29-year-old could well displace the left winger for the trip to the Baggies.
