The forward spent around two years with Newcastle before leaving in 2012.
Ipswich Town’s Leon Best in action against Aston Villa’s James Chester (L)
Ahead of today’s game against Newcastle United, Ipswich Town striker Leon Best has commented on his upcoming return to St James’ Park, the Shields Gazette reports.
The 30-year-old joined the Magpies midway through their previous Championship campaign. Though he failed to score following his January switch, he did help Chris Hughton’s men secure promotion to the top flight at the first attempt.
And while injuries meant that he did not play until January during his first full season with the club, he did make up for lost time, scoring six times in 12 games, including a hat-trick in the 5-0 win over West Ham, before scoring four times during what proved to be his final year with the Magpies.
But while he has played for six clubs since his departure, today’s clash will be the first time that he has returned to St James’ Park. And he has been discussing the upcoming clash.
“It’s the first time I’ll be back there, so I’m definitely looking forward to it and hopefully we can get a win,” he said, as reported by the Shields Gazette.
“The crowd there’s massive and they’ve been on a good run, but the boys seem really up for it and we’ve scored goals and kept another clean sheet, so we’ll be going up there confident.”
Having failed to score in his first six appearances for the Tractor Boys, he would have naturally been determined to get on the scoresheet in today’s game, regardless of who the opponent was.
But the fact that the game is against a former club, who he will undoubtedly have an affection for – having helped them finish 12th and then 5th in the two seasons immediately following their promotion – will surely take Best’s determination to that next level.
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