Ipswich Town star makes a daring £70 million claim for Leeds United as the promotion race heats up

If Ipswich Town defeats bottom-of-the-table Rotherham United at Portman Road this evening, they will draw level with Leeds United.

Ipswich Town midfielder Sam Morsy admits it is difficult to compete with Leeds United’s “£70 million front line” and Southampton’s ‘Premier League strikers’ in the race for automatic promotion. Back-to-back away victories against Millwall and Swansea City have maintained the Tractor Boys firmly in contention for a top-two finish.

Kieran McKenna’s side return to action tonight, hosting Rotherham United at Portman Road. Three points would bring them level with second-placed United and maybe lift them ahead of Southampton, who face Hull City tonight, to third place.

It appears increasingly conceivable that four teams will reach 90 points this season, with Leicester City leading the way. The Foxes travel to Elland Road on Friday evening hoping to prevent a second consecutive defeat.

Morsy told TWTD: “They’re tough teams, no doubt about it, but so are we.” We all have various traits – people speak about Leeds having a £70 million frontline, Southampton’s Premier League attackers, and so on, but we know what we have: very good players, a terrific management, and a great team spirit.

“We’ve been together for a few years, and we’ve learned from our experience last season of going on a long unbeaten streak and remaining together. Everyone has their excellent points that they will hold onto, but I appreciate where we are now.

“We’re really strong, and we realize we’ll have to dig deep and accomplish a lot of things correctly. But we also understand that we must enjoy the road because we are nearing the end of February and the season will be over before we realize it.

“We have to enjoy every moment, but we must first focus on ourselves.” Why would we focus on Southampton’s performance? We would be depressed every week! It was the longest unbeaten streak in their history.

“Obviously, we are aware of the other teams’ results, but we don’t put much effort into it. It would be a waste of our energy, which we need for our own games. That’s what we’ve been doing, and we’ve won the past two.”