Scotland striker continues hot streak in thriller as international teammate celebrates milestone with new deal

Trailing 2-0 at the break via strikes from Milan Smit and Bae Jun-Ho , Ipswich roared back in the second half and levelled the scores via goals from Eric Bocat (og) and Jack Taylor, before throwing Hirst into the fray with just 20 minutes remaining at the bet365 Stadium.

Latching onto a neat through ball from Cedric Kipre, the 27-year-old looked to have helped his side complete a remarkable turnaround when he placed home beyond Tommy Simkin to put the visitors 3-2 up with just seven minutes of regular time remaining. His third goal in his last four games off the bench - and his ninth of the season - Hirst is enjoying his most prolific season at Portman Road, having joined the club three-and-a-half seasons ago.

The Scotland international was denied a vital three points in injury time, though, when Stoke were awarded a penalty in the sixth minute of stoppage time for a foul by Kipre on Lamine Cisse. Dutch striker Smit stepped up to score his second of the game from the spot, rescuing a late draw for the Potters. A major blow to Ipswich’s hopes of automatic promotion, Kieran McKenna’s side are now four points behind Middlesbrough in second place.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of East Anglia, Norwich City have confirmed that long-serving captain and Scotland cult hero Kenny McLean has signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club until the summer of 2027.

The 34-year-old midfielder, who scored a memorable half-way line lob to seal Scotland’s place at this summer World Cup with a 4-2 win over Denmark in November, made his 300th appearance for the Canaries in the 3-0 FA Cup fifth round defeat to Leeds United at the weekend, and confirmed he had reached an agreement with the club that will take him into his ninth season at Carrow Road.

“I didn't want any attention on me. But yes, I'll be here next season," said McLean. “We've triggered that year. That was under [former manager] Johannes Hoff Thorup. I didn't think it was necessary to announce.” A regular under new manager, and former Rangers head coach, Philippe Clement, the Canaries have won 11 of the Belgian manager’s first 20 league games since his arrival in November to move well clear of the relegation spots.

“I've achieved a lot,” said McLean. “But it's not something that I can sit here and reminisce over what I've done. I want to do more for this football club. I want to improve as a player, as a person. I want to help the people around me, and I want to get back to the Premier League.

“That's what I want to do, and that's what the manager came in on his first day, and he asked everybody, ' Where do you want to play? Everybody says Premier League, but it's easy to say it. It's about going and doing it. The way we've gone over the last few months with the manager, the form table would tell you that we should be challenging. Norwich are a club where that should always be the ambition - it was at the start of the season, we put ourselves in a difficult position. But everything is in place. It's down to us as players to be better consistently.”

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