IPSWICH Town legend Chris Kiwomya believes next month’s transfer window is “massively important” in the club’s quest to avoid relegation.

The former striker has great faith in both manager Paul Lambert and owner Marcus Evans to keep the Blues in the Championship.

However, he admits the team lacks cutting edge and believes the pair must work together to bring in new faces and get the club out of their current predicament.

“Another two or three players will make a big difference because they’re not a bad side,” said the speedy frontman, who terrorised defences in the early 1990s.

“They’re not a bottom-three team, if you go through the squad.

“It’s just that the balance isn’t quite right at the moment.

“Paul can keep them up, though. I’m confident of that.

“He’s a student of the game with the knowledge and hunger to succeed.

“He’s shown he can deliver results.

“He’s got huge experience and knows what he’s doing.

“More than anything, he’s a winner but the next transfer window will be massively important.

“Marcus needs to back him in order for the club to get out of this predicament and I believe he will.

“I spoke to him at half-time in last season’s match at QPR.

“He really cares about the club and I think it’s a bit unfair when people suggest otherwise.

“He spoke about my time coaching at the club and about his desire to see more young players coming through.

“He definitely has a vision and a dream for the club and he’s determined to fulfil those ambitions.

“I really like him and I know he wants to take the club forward.”

Town are bottom of the Championship table after Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to Sheffield United, heading into their match at QPR on Boxing Day.

Kiwomya will be at there to see two of his former sides go head-to-head.

“The Championship is such a hard division and every game is so difficult,” said the 49-year-old, who lives on the Essex-Suffolk border and has been back to Portman Road twice this season, for the matches against QPR and West Bromwich Albion.

“But the fighting spirit is there, if you look at the Ipswich team.

“They’re just lacking cutting edge and if you’re not scoring goals, it affects your confidence because you know that if you concede it’s a long way back.

“It becomes a bit of a mental block, although the responsibility doesn’t just lie with the centre-forwards.

“You need your defenders, midfielders and wingers to chip in with goals and that’s why it’s so great to see Freddie Sears scoring again. He’s doing very well after an indifferent spell.”

Huddersfield-born Kiwomya will always be remembered by Town fans for his goals in their 1991/92 promotion-winning campaign, in which they booked their place in the inaugural Premier League.

He finished as top-scorer in the old Second Division, working in tandem with another great from yesteryear, Jason Dozzell.

“The real star of our success was (manager) John Lyall,” he said.

“He was the architect and so good at getting the best out of his players.

“Somehow, he managed to get an extra twenty to thirty per cent out of all of us.

“He got us playing a certain way, to our strengths, and we worked on our weaknesses.

"I liked his personality. We got on very well and that’s why I flourished.

“When I chat to Ipswich fans, they very kindly tell me I gave them a lot of happy memories and thank me for my goals in 91/92.

“But they were the ones who created great memories for me by making my time at the club so special.

"What we achieved together that season was massive.”

While Ipswich will always have a special place in Kiwomya’s heart, so too will their next opponents, QPR.

He scored 30 goals in 86 appearances for the Hoops, between 1998 and 2001.

“QPR are also really special to me,” said the former England Under-21 international, who started as a trainee at Portman Road before plundering 62 goals in over 250 appearances.

“They’re another family club and I really enjoyed my time there, playing at Loftus Road.

“It’s a really nice, tight ground and there’s always a good atmosphere.”

Kiwomya, who signed his first-ever professional contract at Portman Road on the same day as David Gregory, now press and communications officer at Colchester United, is still involved in football.

He left Ipswich to join Arsenal in a £1.25million deal in February 1995.

After that he had spells on loan at Le Havre, in France, and with Selangor, in the Malaysian league, before joining the Hoops on a free transfer in August 1998.

He hung up his boots after a short stay in Denmark, with AaB Aalborg.

His coaching career has included a successful spell back at Ipswich, working in the Academy with the club’s under-18s.

Ex-Town boss Roy Keane appointed him reserve-team manager for the 2010-11 season in which his side won the Football Combination East Division.

Kiwomya also had a spell as manager of Notts County in 2013.

During his time at Meadow Lane, he spotted the talent of Aston Villa's Jack Grealish and Scottish international Callum McGregor, now shining at Celtic.

He took both players on loan and handed them their Football League debuts.