Ipswich Town have had another disappointing month, crashing out of the FA Cup before losing to Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. Alex Jones picks his award winners for March.

Player of the Month

An incredibly small sample size for this one, but, for me, it has to be Jens Cajuste.

Benched for the cup defeat at Nottingham Forest, the midfielder was brought on with just over 20 minutes of normal time to play, adding extra quality in the centre of the park up until the penalty shoot-out. He then comfortably dispatched his spot-kick.

He wasn’t quite as sharp at Crystal Palace, but made up for it with a man-of-the-match display in the league game against Forest at Portman Road.

Cajuste was clearly a level or two above his team-mates last weekend, running past opponents like they weren’t there. He was strong into tackles and capped off his display with a stunning strike towards the end of the match.

He’s the clear winner this month, has been Ipswich’s best performer in 2025 and, possibly, the most consistent throughout the entire campaign.

Surprise package

There has to be a serious conversation about George Hirst now.

The striker unsurprisingly started in the cup game at Forest, battling hard against Brazilian centre-back duo Murillo and Morato. He ran the channels and held the ball up really well, but his goalscoring opportunities were limited.

He did get his goal, however, popping up unmarked at the back post to head Ben Johnson’s corner into the back of the net. It was his second in the FA Cup and his third for the season in all competitions – but he wasn’t done there.

Hirst wasn’t given a proper opportunity to impact the game off the bench against Palace, but did have around 14 minutes against Forest at Portman Road last weekend. Deep into stoppage time, he expertly directed Dara O’Shea’s cross into the net with a leaping header to reduce the deficit.

Of course, it was too little, too late, but in limited minutes across three matches, he’s shown what he can offer.

The 26-year-old will head off on senior international duty for the first time in his career now, joining up with Scotland, which should do his confidence the world of good. When he comes back, some believe he should replace top-scorer Liam Delap in the starting line-up.

Goal of the Month

We’ve got to talk about Cajuste again. His strike against Nottingham Forest is quite easily the goal of the month, especially with just three to choose from.

The midfielder picked up a pass from Jack Clarke and turned into a congested area. Up against Ryan Yates, he pirouetted past the Forest man before curling a nonchalant right-footed strike into the top corner from outside the box.

For Ipswich, it has to go down as a goal-of-the-season contender. It was a magnificent piece of play, made even more special by the fact that it was Cajuste’s first in the Premier League and for Ipswich.

Unfortunately, it counted for nothing in the end, but offers a reminder to everyone of what the Napoli loanee has in his locker.

Standout moment

In a month of three defeats in three games, there aren’t many standout moments. March has been disappointing for Ipswich, and their hopes of surviving in the Premier League now seem incredibly slim.

For a few weeks, the FA Cup was a distraction from that. Fans didn’t feel overly optimistic travelling to the City Ground – a stadium where Town have really struggled in recent years – but knew that they were just two wins from a first-ever visit to new Wembley.

The first half was a tight, low-quality affair, but Hirst’s header broke the deadlock, arguably against the run of play. It caused pandemonium in a packed-out away end, filled up with around 3,000 travelling supporters on a mild Monday night.

The scenes from behind the goal picked up quite a bit of traction on social media. Blues fans were praised for their loud support on a night where their team failed to get over the line. That goal will live long in the memory.

Anthony Elanga notched two goals and an assist in two games against Ipswich

Best opposition player

Ipswich will be sick of the sight of Anthony Elanga.

In the first match at the City Ground, he grabbed the assist for Ryan Yates’ equaliser. It was a well-delivered ball into the box which the skipper couldn’t miss. Other than that, he had plenty of lively moments in a competitive battle with Conor Townsend.

He then added a brace in the league game at Portman Road. His first was a fine strike into the bottom corner, although Jacob Greaves allowed him plenty of space to get his shot away. He then added a second by capitalising on a bouncing ball as Town’s defence switched off, firing past Alex Palmer to put his side 3-0 up.

It felt like he was involved in everything Forest did going forward in those two games. Their wide players are clearly a big threat, but the way Nuno wants his side to play on the counter-attack helps them as well.

Elanga has the top-level quality to be a real nuisance. Five goals and eight assists in 29 Premier League matches so far this season shows exactly that.

to use this part of the awards to talk about Delap and Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad.

Internally, there was a debate among Ipswich fans about whether the 22-year-old should earn his first senior call-up. His form in the first half of the campaign was red-hot, but he has certainly tailed off since the start of 2025, scoring just twice.

That being said, with Ollie Watkins nursing a knock and Dominic Solanke only just returning from an injury of his own, there was an opportunity for Delap to be involved. In fact, many expected him to be in the squad, and that his absence would be one of the big talking points if he wasn’t.

Tuchel attended two Town games just before naming his first squad. In the end, he chose Harry Kane and Solanke as his out-and-out striker options. Delap was picked for the Under-21s instead.

But there was no real conversation about him. It was all about Morgan Gibbs-White, Elliot Anderson, Jarrad Branthwaite and Adam Wharton, who were all initially left out.

The sphere of the Premier League is huge and Delap’s omission is a timely reminder of that. Unless you’re established at the level, or performing so well that you simply can’t be ignored, then there’s always a bigger story or a stronger narrative.

His time will come, but it won’t be this season, and it might not be as an Ipswich player.

Luke Woolfenden believes that Ipswich need to be better at ‘the dark arts’ (Image: Steve Waller)

Quote of the month

An easy pick to end with. Luke Woolfenden’s comments after Town’s defeat at Crystal Palace really stood out.

Many players are quite reserved after defeats. They will often echo what the manager says in the dressing room, making sure to keep a positive mentality that is focused on improvement no matter how bleak a particular situation may look.

Woolfenden did that, to an extent, but also offered his own insight into why Ipswich have struggled this season. He claimed that the players should have surrounded the referee asking for the Eagles’ winner to be disallowed for a foul on Kalvin Phillips, adding that his team need to improve their use of ‘the dark arts’.

“It’s a tackle that falls the wrong way,” Woolfenden explain Ed. “I think it’s a tackle that we win. To be honest with you, if we’re all smarter and we run up to the ref and appeal it, they’d probably overturn it.

“There’s so many times where there’s a bit of pressure on the ref, then VAR gets involved. It’s probably a bit of that.

“We need to learn the dark arts. Only two of us go over to the ref. If we all run over to the ref and say it’s a foul, I think we probably get it.”