The Ipswich Town faithful had a new hero to sing their praises to on Saturday, as Alex Palmer’s dramatic saves helped earn Town a hard-fought point at Aston Villa.

The former West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper was making his Premier League debut at the age of 28. He is the latest Town player to make their top-flight bow having gone the ‘long way round’ through the EFL pyramid.

As well as Championship experience with the Baggies, Palmer had a loan spell in the National League with hometown club Kidderminster, plus time in League Two at Oldham and Plymouth. He was part of Lincoln’s 2020-21 League One play-off side that narrowly fell short of promotion, alongside Brennan Johnson (now at Tottenham) and Morgan Rogers, who was in the Villa side on Saturday.

Town’s goalkeeper struggles this season have not gone unnoticed, especially of late. The inconsistency of big-money signing Aro Muric, not least in the galling defeat by Southampton, has been compounded by a serious injury to second-choice stopper Christian Walton.

Much credit must go to Kieran McKenna and chief executive Mark Ashton for acting so decisively on deadline day to address this increasingly problematic situation.

The Blues need a strong defensive foundation if they are to stand any chance of surviving in the Premier League. Palmer is hopefully, albeit belatedly, the final piece in that puzzle.

As Joe Hart analysed on Saturday’s Match of the Day, the minimum expectation for Palmer was to make saves – and he certainly did that against Villa. His counterparts had only managed a solitary clean sheet each before his arrival. While Palmer did not add to that number on Saturday, he looked assured, including with the ball to feet which has been a concern of both Muric and Walton.

If Town are to go on their now annual post-Valentine’s Day charge under McKenna, it will inevitably rely on more heroics from their new goalkeeper.

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