Brentford 4-3 Ipswich Town: Alan Shearer on need for improvements

Premier League legend and Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer says Ipswich Town ‘have got no chance’ of staying in the top tier unless they improve every aspect of their play.

Shearer, the all-time leading goal scorer in the Premier League, was speaking on last night’s MOTD after watching highlights of Town’s thrilling but heartbreaking 4-3 defeat at Brentford.

READ MORE: Stuart Watson’s verdict on heartbreaking defeat

The result leaves Kieran McKenna’s men still without a win after their first nine games – but they remain above the drop zone with four points, one more than Crystal Palace, who hosts Spurs at 2pm.

McKenna said after the game that there was much to be positive about, but Shearer disagreed, speaking as the show flashed up a graphic of Town’s lowly rankings across a number of key stats.

He said: “I understand why he’s trying to be as upbeat as possible with the psychology and trying to somehow keep his players believing that they can be competitive – but more importantly they can stay in this league.

“But when you look at the stats, unless every single thing improves, they’ve got no chance to stay in this league.

“Because if they’re not bottom, they’re second bottom in almost everything – shots, shots on target, expected goals, touches in the opposition box, goals conceded. Which we’ve seen, so many errors today and errors leading to goals.

“So those stats tell you everything you need to know.”