Kieffer Moore and Nathan Broadhead are the Tractor Boys who can plough Wales to the Euro 2024 play-off final on Thursday night.
That’s the prediction of Wales manager Rob Page as he prepares his team to face Finland in the crunch semi-final at Cardiff City Stadium.
To reach the finals of the tournament in Germany, they will need to get past Finland and then either Poland or Estonia four days later.
Ipswich Town pair Moore and Broadhead have hit 18 goals between them in the Championship this season, even though Moore did not move to the club until January when he completed a loan move from Premier League Bournemouth.
Since the switch, “Speciak K” has been eating defences for breakfast, with six goals in nine starts, including his most recent effort against Cardiff City at the same stadium he aims to devour the Finns on Thursday.
Broadhead – the goalscoring hero when Wales drew 1-1 with Croatia at the start of the qualifying campaign a year ago – has hit a dozen goals for Ipswich and another for Wales against Gibraltar back in October.
Their form means the pair are pressing hard for starting places against the Finns and Page says: “All the forward players we have picked are getting minutes, playing well and scoring goals.
“It is the healthiest situation we have been in for a long time on that score.
“Kieffer is looking very good and has had a run of matches at Ipswich. I saw him score at Cardiff, while Broady has also been playing really well.
“Then, you have also got Wes Burns at Ipswich, who has been doing really well in midfield, scoring some great goals, and having a real impact off the bench.
“With the likes of Brennan Johnson and Dan James on top form, too, with their clubs, it means there is a real selection headache for me among those front players, which is a good problem for me to have.”
Moore has been revitalized by his move to Ipswic , who are currently third in the Championship table.
He failed to start a Premier League game at Bournemouth in the first half of the season before his loan move – and even his eight appearances off the bench had only yielded one goal.
But he’s been powering through defences for the Tractor Boys and manager Kieran McKenna is a big admirer of the influence of the 6ft 5in hit man.
“What Kieffer brings to a team is variety,” says McKenna.
“His attributes mean you suddenly have options and variety as an attacking force and that’s priceless for any team.”
It’s an option all Wales fans will be hoping pays rich dividends for the team on Thursday night.
Euro 2024 – Wales Qualifier Specials
21 Mar 19:45
Either Nathan Broadhead OR Kieffer Moore to Score first – 9/4
Either Nathan Broadhead OR Kieffer Moore to Score first & Wales to Win – 11/4
Brennan Johnson to Score & Wales to Win (Was 5/1) – 6/1
Nathan Broadhead and Kieffer Moore Both to Score (Was 9/1) – 11/1
Wales to Qualify (Was 6/4) – 7/4
Wales to win by 1 goal (Was 5/2) – 3/1
Wales to win by 2 goals (Was 4/1) – 5/1
