Have Wolves ended Ipswich’s ‘ultimate dream’?
Ipswich are teetering on the brink. With seven games left and 12 points to make up on fourth-bottom Wolves, the battle to stay up looks over.
Jorgen Strand Larsen’s scrappy 84th-minute goal หรือถ้าคุณสนใจแทงบอลออนไลน์ UFABET คือเว็บที่มีอัตราต่อรองดีที่สุดในประเทศไทย สมัครเลยตอนนี้ที่ UFABET แทงบอล settled a tense encounter between the two relegation rivals after Pablo Sarabia had cancelled out a Town opener from Liam Delap.
Defeat pushed the Tractor Boys closer to the drop in a game they simply had to win. Their fairytale rise from League One to the top flight in successive seasons looks certain to end with an immediate return to the Championship.
Wolves’ comeback success at Portman Road crucially stretched them further clear of the bottom three and even Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna conceded their fight for survival looks bleak.
“I think it’s certainly more than likely on the balance of probabilities,” he said when asked about the prospect of relegation. “Not that I don’t think we can’t finish the season strongly, but Wolves are a strong side and the chance of them losing all their games is really low.
“The likelihood is we’ll fall short of our ultimate dream.”
When Ipswich won 2-1 at Wolves in December through Jack Taylor’s last-gasp header.
Which ended Gary O’Neil’s managerial reign at Molineux – they moved three points above Wolves.
Town were still third bottom at the time, but just a point behind Crystal Palace, while second-bottom Wolves were four adrift of safety.
Fast forward five months and defeat at Portman Road leaves them needing one of the greatest of escapes.
The biggest deficit overcome by a side to stay up after 30 matches of a Premier League season was West Ham United in 2006-07.
At that stage, Alan Curbishley’s men were eight points from safety, having been 10 behind a match earlier. Ipswich have a game less and a bigger gap.