Meet the opposition | Ipswich Town
As Swansea City prepare to host Ipswich Town at the Swansea.com Stadium, we take a closer look at the Tractor Boys.
What's their story?
Founded in 1878, this is the Tractor Boys first season in the Championship since the 2018-19 campaign.
Aside from their four-year spell in League One, they have spent the majority of the last 65 years in the top two divisions of English football, and were in the Premier League for four seasons across two spells.
Ipswich were last in the top-flight in 2002, but their true golden period came under Bobby Robson in the late 1970s and early 1980s as they finished runners-up in the First Division in 1981 and 1982, as well as winning the FA Cup in 1978 and the Uefa Cup in 1981.
How's their form?
For most of the season, Ipswich had joined leaders Leicester in opening a handsome gap over the chasing pack in the race for automatic promotion, but a small dip in form – allied to excellent runs from Southampton and Leeds – had seen them drop to fourth in the table.
They had won just one of their last eight Championship games, but bounced back with an excellent 4-0 win at Millwall in midweek.
Who's the gaffer?
Kieran McKenna. This is Mckenna’s first senior management job, with the 37-year-old having previously coached the Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United under 18 teams, before becoming assistant manager to Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford in 2018.
Mckenna started his footballing career at Spurs in 2002. However in 2009, at the age of just 22, Mckenna had to retire due to a recurring hip injury.
He then looked to move into coaching and joined the Spurs academy, taking on that under-18s' role in 2015 before heading to the Red Devils a year later.
Mckenna was appointed Ipswich boss in December 2021. Since then he has managed 115 games across all competitions, winning 64, losing only 18 and securing promotion by finishing second to Plymouth in League One last season.
Who's the captain?
Sam Morsy. The Egypt international has made over 100 league appearances for the club since signing from Middlesbrough in August 2021.
The midfielder started his career at Port Vale, where he spent over four years before moving to Chesterfield in 2013, helping the Spireites to the League Two title in his first season at the club before heading to Wiagn Athletic.
He was named Latics captain in 2017 ahead of a season where he scored three goals in 47 appearances during their League One title success.
Morsy then joined Championship side Middlesbrough, where he made 32 league appearances for the Teesside club during the 2020-21 season before joining Ipswich the following summer.
He was named club captain in October 2021 and led the team to promotion from League One in the 2022-23 season, he was also named in the PFA League One Team of the Season.
This term, Morsy has made 27 league appearances this season, scoring three goals.
Who are the key men?
The Tractor Boys' top goalscorer so far this season, Conor Chaplin has found the back of the net nine times in the league this season and created six assists in 30 games.
Chaplin started his career on the south coast at Portsmouth, where he came through the youth ranks to make over 100 league appearances for the club, scoring 22 goals.
He also had a loan spell at Coventry during the 2018-19 season which turned into a permanent move in January of that season.
However, he was on the move again the following summer as he headed to Barnsley, and he was part of the Tykes squad that lost out to the Swans in the 2021 Championship play-off semi-finals.
Chaplin joined Ipswich later that year and has been an integral figure since, proving a key part of last season's promotion and their strong return to Championship level. His form last season saw him named in the PFA League One Team of the Year.
A product of Leeds academy, Newcastle-born defender Leif Davis has also been key in Ipswich’s impressive showings back in the second tier. The left-back has 11 assists so far this season.
Davis made nine appearances for Leeds although eight of those appearances coming from the bench, he also had a short loan spell with Bournemouth during the 2021-22 season where he made 13 appearances for the club as the Cherries secured promotion, before joining the Tractor Boys in July 2022.
Davis played in all 46 league games during their promotion campaign, creating 14 goals and scoring three. Like Chaplin, Davis also appeared in the PFA League One Team of the Year last season.
Wales international Kieffer Moore recently joined Ipswich on loan, and marked his second debut for the club - having previously been at Portman Road during the 2017-18 campaign - with two goals in 12 minutes as a substitute in defeat to Preston North End.
He was also in the scoresheet in the midweek win at Millwall.
Moore started his career in non-league before joining Yeovil in 2013, the striker spent two years at the club before moving to Norway when he joined Viking, Moore then moved back to England with Forest Green Rovers.
Moore had something of a nomadic existence as he had spells Torquay United, Ipswich, Rotherham United, Barnsley and Wigan Athletic before moving to Cardiff City for £2 million in August 2020.
Twenty-five goals in 64 league appearances for Cardiff attracted the interest of Bournemouth, for who he has scored nine goals in 39 league appearances.