Ipswich Town agreement with Oxford United has made sense for all parties: View

Ipswich Town agreement with Oxford United has made sense for all parties: View

Sometimes a transfer works, sometimes it doesn’t, and Greg Leigh knows this all too well from his failed term at Ipswich Town.

The Jamaica international signed the Tractor Boys from Morecambe in the summer of 2022,

having impressed for the Shrimpers in their debut season in League One with a number of standout performances.

Things didn’t go exactly as planned during his tenure at Portman Road,

with his season beginning with a series of substitute appearances until a fractured leg sidelined him for the majority of the season.

After joining Oxford United this summer, the 29-year-old has experienced a return to his old ways,

and has immediately established himself a fans’ favorite at the Kassam Stadium after a plethora of strong displays.

Greg Leigh Ipswich Town fortunes and Oxford United form

Leigh’s tenure in Suffolk never really got going last season,

with only one League One start to his name before suffering an injury that would keep him out for just shy of three months.

The defender sustained the injury in the closing minutes of a 2-2 tie with Sheffield Wednesday in September,

before returning to league play on the opening weekend of December with a 1-1 draw against Fleetwood Town.

By that point, Ipswich had really found their groove under Kieran McKenna,

leaving Leigh to face a future as a part-time player in the East Anglian club’s promotion campaign,

with only two more league starts between his reintroduction to the side and the end of the season.

With the Tractor Boys moving up a league, the defender was forced to find a new club after only a year in Suffolk,

with Brandon Williams’ arrival pushing the Jamaican further down the ladder in the race for a first-team berth.

Town’s loss proved to be Oxford United’s gain, as the U’s soon felt the influence of the all-action left-sided star’s performances,

with a goal against Port Vale in only his second game for the club.

That strike was the start of an unbelievable run of five goals in six matches after Liam Manning’s decision to use him further forward in a wing-back role,

with a brace against Stevenage being the perfect reward for realizing his potential as a striker  threat from the flanks.

His athleticism and dynamic play down the left earned him the League One Player of the Month award in September,

as the U’s continued to battle Portsmouth at the top of the league following a strong start to the season.

Greg Leigh Oxford United stats
Appearances	27
Starts	21
Goals	6
Shots/90	1.03
As of April 11th, 2024, Source: FBRef

Manager Manning was quickly replaced by Des Buckingham,

meaning the defender has had to settle for a more confined defensive role in recent times,

but that hasn’t stopped him from unleashing his full talent at both ends of the pitch.

Aside from a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Bolton Wanderers,

United have recently kept things tight at the back and are presently leading the race for the final playoff spot in the third division,

two points ahead of Lincoln City with four games remaining.

A late winner against Cheltenham Town last month proved he still has what it takes to get himself on the scoresheet,

despite having less liberty to press forward, but it is a system that is getting Buckingham’s side results as it stands,

following a shaky spell when the former Mumbai City man initially took charge.

One win in six games was not the homecoming the self-proclaimed Oxford fan had hoped for,

but he has turned the ship around to sustain a playoff push in the final stages of the season,

with the dependability of players like Leigh helping to keep standards high throughout the pitch.

Oxford United’s League One run-in

Leigh’s experience will be critical if United are to get across the finish line and secure a spot in the end-of-season lottery,

with four major games coming up that will play a significant role in the final standings at the top of the table.

The U’s have three home games in a row, all against sides vying for promotion this season,

with Peterborough United the first to visit the Kassam Stadium on Saturday.

Posh will still fancy their chances of automatic promotion from the third division,

as they are six points behind second-placed Derby County with two games in hand, and will go all out to earn a victory this weekend.

Leigh’s defensive abilities will be put to the test against Darren Ferguson’s side,

but the visitors’ proclivity to throw players forward may provide him with an opportunity to exploit defensive gaps,

as he has already demonstrated earlier in the season.

Next Tuesday, however, might be the encounter that decides Oxford’s destiny,

with nearest playoff opponents Lincoln City visiting and seeking to steal sixth place from them with a win.

Stevenage’s direct style of play will provide a different challenge the following weekend,

with Steve Evans’ side still in the playoff picture, before flying to Exeter City for what might be a pivotal end-of-season match in May.

Leigh has played a significant role in United’s playoff contention, and with four major games remaining,

he might play an even larger one in earning them the opportunity to compete for promotion.

Whether he is bombing ahead or holding the opponents out at the back, he has  proven himself to be a top performer in the third tier,

and if luck had been on his side, we could have seen more of that last season for Ipswich Town.

Oxford will not be moaning, though; they now have a goalscoring, dynamic defense,

and Leigh has plenty of minutes in the tank after a tough season last year,

and he’ll be hoping that transfer pays off with promotion at the end of the season.

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