McKenna must boldly drop Delap and unleash Ipswich’s “fantastic” star vs Aston Villa – opinion

All things considered, it’s been a relatively positive start to the season for Ipswich Town.

Kieran McKenna’s side played Liverpool and Manchester City in their opening games of the Premier League season, and while they lost both, they weren’t utterly blown away and have since picked up a point against Fulham, Brighton & Hove Albion and Southampton.

However, with the Saints the only team to have scored fewer goals than them so far, it would be fair to say that the Tractor Boys haven’t been the most effective unit going forward.

So, with another challenging game against Unai Emery’s impressive Aston Villa coming this afternoon, it might be time for McKenna to make a few changes, especially up front.

Why Liam Delap should be dropped

So, if McKenna is looking to improve his misfiring attack ahead of today’s game, the logical place to start is in the centre-forward position with Liam Delap.

Now, the summer signing has not been particularly poor for the Blues so far, but like the attack overall, he has been underwhelming.

In his six appearances so far, five of which have been starts, the Winchester-born poacher has scored just one goal and failed to provide any assists, and in the game against Southampton last week, the East Anglian Daily Times’ Alex Jones awarded him just a 5/10 for his display.

It is far too early in his Ipswich career to make any significant judgments over his quality and long-term future at the club, but it’s clear that the former Manchester City gem is struggling somewhat at the moment, and so it makes sense to take him out of the starting lineup today, both for him and the team overall.

Why Conor Chaplin should start

Yes, the player McKenna should turn to in Delap’s stead later today is a player who’s come up the league with Ipswich, Conor Chaplin.

The Englishman has been used all over the pitch throughout his career so far, but his most played positions are second striker and centre-forward, and with an impressive track record of finding the back of the net, he deserves a chance to make just his second start of the campaign against Villa.

So far this season, he has only played 180 minutes of football in six appearances, yet, like the former City gem, he also has a goal to his name. On top of that, his form last season was far more impressive.

In 47 appearances, the “fantastic” attacker, as McKenna dubbed him, scored 13 goals and provided nine assists, meaning he maintained an average of a goal involvement every 2.13 games.

In contrast, the 21-year-old marksman scored eight goals and provided two assists in 32 appearances for Hull City, equating to a decent but less impressive average of a goal involvement every 3.2 games.

Ultimately, Delap may well prove to be the long-term striker for Ipswich, but at the moment, he is struggling to find the back of the net. Therefore, a player as talented as Chaplin deserves a chance to come in and make just his second start of the season.