Ipswich Town are now very interested in signing Cardiff City star Joel Bagan, and the Welsh side are desperately trying to renew his contract.
Although there have been a few jitters in recent weeks, with Ipswich losing at Portsmouth, before going on to draw against Middlesbrough at home, they remain in a strong position to return to the Premier League at the first attempt.
The Tractor Boys are three points clear of third-place Millwall and have a far superior goal difference to their promotion rivals, but they may be starting to fear fourth-place Southampton, who have mounted an automatic promotion push courtesy of fantastic form under Tonda Eckert.
Kieran McKenna‘s side still have to take on the Saints before the end of the campaign, which means it is far from guaranteed they will be promoted from the Championship.
|
Ipswich’s promotion run-in |
Date |
|
Charlton Athletic (a) |
April 22nd |
|
West Bromwich Albion (a) |
April 25th |
|
Southampton (a) |
April 28th |
|
QPR (h) |
May 2nd |
Cardiff, on the other hand, have already secured promotion to League One, with a 3-1 victory against Reading ensuring they will be playing Championship football once again next season.
It has been a fantastic campaign for the Bluebirds, having sealed promotion with three games still left to play, so it is little wonder they are keen to tie down one of their key players.
According to a report from Sports Boom, Cardiff are now working around the clock to extend Bagan’s contract, with the left-back missing just one of their League One games across the entire campaign.
The defender’s current deal is set to expire at the end of the season, which could pave the way for an exit, with Ipswich now seriously interested in a summer move, although there could be competition from Premier League side Sunderland.
Although the 24-year-old is a left-back by trade, he is also able to pitch in at centre-back, and he has amassed one goal and five assists in the third tier this season.
McKenna’s plans for Ipswich’s remaining four games
As we enter the business end of the season, the games are coming thick and fast for Ipswich, but McKenna has indicated he has no plans to rotate heavily, saying: “Let’s see. We’re not thinking too much about that. At this stage of the season you’re not rotating for fun, but physically it’s a big test and we have players who want to come in and make an impact.
“We’ll try and make the right decisions, but it’s not a stage of the season to talk about being tired or having niggles. Everybody has to get ready to go again. We’ll keep making what what we think are right decisions for the next game.”
Ipswich will have to get through some tests if they are to win promotion, given that West Bromwich Albion are unbeaten in eight and no Championship side has taken more points than Southampton (63) over the past 30 games.
Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna’s next destination named in big blow for Celtic
The Hoops have been linked with the Ipswich Town boss.
