Ipswich Town would have been hoping to push on in League One this season following an underwhelming 2020/21 campaign.

However, although former manager Paul Cook did freshen up the club's squad by drafting in a host of fresh faces in the summer window, the Tractor Boys' lack of consistency during the opening months of the current term has hindered their progress in the third-tier.

One of the players who certainly didn't benefit from the influx of new arrivals was James Norwood who quickly fell out of favour at Portman Road.

After featuring in the club's clash with Morecambe on the opening day of the season, the 31-year-old lost his place in the starting eleven as Ipswich's decided to switch to a one-striker formation.

Fellow striker Macauley Bonne then went on to produce a superb run of form in-front of goal as he scored eight goals in 10 league games.

During this period, Norwood was only included in the club's match-day squad on three occasions as he failed to make any sort of impression at senior level.

Things went from bad to worse for the forward as he was forced to train with Ipswich's Under-23's last month.

A report by the East Anglian Daily Times revealed that Norwood had been placed on transfer list by the club's hierarchy who no longer wanted to include him as part of his plans for the future.

With Norwood seemingly set to depart in January, he has recently been handed a reprieve by Ipswich and has gone on to produce two incredibly promising performances for the club in third-tier.

After scoring his first league goal of the season against Wigan Athletic, Norwood backed this display up by finding the back of the net in last weekend's meeting with Sunderland at Portman Road.

Having recorded impressive WhoScored match ratings of 7.25 and 7.12 in these two fixtures, the forward will be brimming with confidence heading into the New Year.

Therefore, instead of allowing him to move on to pastures new, Ipswich ought to consider keeping him at the club for the remainder of the 2021/22 campaign.

 

 

By building a rapport with new boss Kieran McKenna, Norwood could potentially play a major role for the Tractor Boys as they look to mount a push for a play-off place.

Although Ipswich are currently 10 points adrift of Oxford United who are sixth in the League One standings, there is no reason why they cannot close this particular gap if the likes of Bonne and Norwood are able to fire them to success on a regular basis.

Considering that Norwood has provided 27 direct goal contributions at this level during his career, he may turn out to be a valuable asset for Ipswich as he clearly knows exactly what it takes to compete in this division.