Ipswich Town should have one eye on Luton Town striker's situation Ipswich Town should have one eye on Luton Town striker's situation

Ipswich Town have been flying high for much of the 2023-24 Championship season, taking to the second tier of English football once more like a duck to water.

There were some that expected the Tractor Boys to adapt very quickly, but not many would have predicted that at the halfway stage they would be in the top two and one of the favourites to be promoted to the Premier League.

A recent wobble has set in over the recent Christmas period though, and Kieran McKenna’s side have not won in their last five, drawing four of those matches, but the Town hierarchy are doing their best to help the Northern Irishman with extra bodies in his squad.

Ipswich desperately need striker to replace Hirst

Some smart additions have already been made in the loan market, with extra midfield muscle added with Lewis Travis and a new winger in the form of Jeremy Sarmiento from Brighton signed, but the current glaring hole in McKenna’s squad right now is at the very top end of the pitch.

George Hirst was one player that made the step up a division look very easy, but his recent serious hamstring injury, coupled with Dane Scarlett’s recall by Tottenham, has left Ipswich lacking quality bodies up-front, with just Freddie Ladapo and Kayden Jackson up there, as well as Nathan Broadhead who can play there too.

Ideally, Ipswich need someone who can hold the ball up well and create chances by himself – Jay Stansfield has been linked with a switch to Suffolk and that would mean Fulham recalling the 21-year-old and then re-loaning or selling him to Town.

Luton striker could be perfect short-term Hirst replacement at Ipswich Town

A more suitable option though in the Hirst mould who hasn’t been linked could be Cauley Woodrow though, who would be happy to get regular game-time after experiencing a difficult time of things at Luton Town.

Woodrow is pretty experienced at Championship level, having played his last four seasons at the level before his current Premier League stint with the Hatters, and he’s also had loan stints with Bristol City and Burton Albion as well as playing for Fulham in the second tier too.

His best scoring season came in 2019-20 when scoring 14 goals at that level for Barnsley, but he’d only netted four times in the whole of the 2021-22 season for the Tykes before Luton made their move to bring him back to Kenilworth Road that summer.

*George Hirst v Cauley Woodrow Championship Stats – 2023/24 v 2022/23*
	Hirst – Ipswich 23/24*	Woodrow – Luton 22.23
Appearances	22	27
Average Minutes Per Game	71	28
Goals	6	2
Assists	6	1
Shots Per Game	2.0	1.2
Big Chances Missed	9	5
Touches Per Game	21.4	17.6
Big Chances Created	4	0
Key Passes Per Game	1.0	0.3
Aerial Duels Won Per Game	1.6	0.9
Possession Lost Per Game	6.5	5.3
*Stats Correct As Of January 10, 2024

And with Edwards mainly playing a lone striker system this season in the top flight, Woodrow – aged 29 – has found his opportunities even more limited, with just the eight cameos off the bench in the Premier League this season.

Because of that, it’s likely that Woodrow would make the move – temporary or permanently – away from Luton if it meant regular game-time, and Hirst’s injury means there is a vacancy to lead the line as a complete forward at Portman Road.

Luton have the Premier League financial muscle to go out and replace Woodrow if they need to as well, so despite the fact he’s barely started many league matches since two seasons ago when at Barnsley, the 29-year-old would be a very good short-term fix for McKenna.