Former Ipswich Town star Sam Parkin has insisted that the focus will be on Kieran McKenna and whether he can motivate his team to go on another run of positive results to get their automatic promotion hopes back on track.
Ipswich have one win in eight games and have fallen to fourth in the Championship table after being second in the standings for several months.
Results and performances have seen a downturn but the Tractor Boys are still just two points off second-placed Southampton.
Leeds and Southampton have usurped them in the race to seal second behind Leicester City and Parkin feels that it is now on McKenna to get Ipswich going again in the latter half of the season.
He conceded that Ipswich will need to pick up a massive number of points to keep Leeds and Southampton at bay and feels there is a sense of inevitability about those two teams.
However, the former Ipswich star is keen to see whether the players respond to the adversity with a positive performance against West Brom this weekend.
Parkin said on the What The EFL Podcast: “I just think a lot of it is down to Kieran McKenna now and his man-management and motivational skills.
“Can he turn them around now to go on another run when Southampton and Leeds are there now?
“It’s not a question of whether they will be able to maintain their form, they are going to have to pick up an incredible number of points to keep those two at bay.
“I am enthused to see how they respond in a really difficult game against West Brom
“It is important not to forget, this has been a hellish run for Ipswich.
“We knew going into this period that this was a horrendous run of games – the East Anglia derby, Leeds, Leicester – they have played them all in the last month.
“If they can get a maximum return in this game, it’s not over for them but it does feel like a sense of inevitability that the form of Leeds and Southampton is going to be too much.”
McKenna signed Kiefer Moore and Ali Al-Hamadi to bolster Ipswich’s attacking options in the winter window.
