Sheffield Wednesday promotion rivals bring in former Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United man in League One promotion race twist

Ambitious Ipswich Town, who sacked sometime Wednesday managerial option Paul Cook earlier this month, are sat a little way back in the table in 12th place, nine points back on the top six.

But the expectation of their new ownership is to make strides towards a promotion charge and highly-rated young coach Kieran McKenna is the man chosen to take the club forward.

Northern Irishman McKenna, 35, recently left Manchester United after five years having served under both Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the senior coaching staff at Old Trafford. He previously served as their under-18s coach and takes with him Martyn Pert, who will act as his assistant manager.

McKenna went into coaching in his early 20s having retired early from playing with a hip injury and started out at Tottenham Hotspur.

“I’d like to thank Mark Ashton and the owners for putting their faith in me and Martyn to take the Club forward,” Kieran told Ipswich’s official club website.

“Leaving a club like Manchester United was obviously a difficult decision, but I strongly believe in the opportunity to build something here.

“It feels like the right time, project and Club to make my first step into first-team management.

“For now, the focus for the team has to be on a huge game on Saturday. After that, I cannot wait to meet everyone and get to work.”

Wednesday are scheduled to face up against McKenna on January 29 at Hillsborough.