Will there be bad blood when Rotherham United renew acquaintances with Freddie Ladapo at Ipswich Town? Matt Taylor has his say

Ladapo joined Ipswich Town on a free transfer last summer, having courted controversy when he handed in a transfer request at Rotherham exactly 12 months ago.

The bid was accepted, but no clubs came in for the unsettled forward in the last winter window.

The Londoner scored 15 times in the Millers' promotion campaign of 2021-22, but was not involved towards the end of the season - and is not thought to have attended the club's lap of appreciation at the end of their final home game last term.

Rotherham had the option of triggering an additional 12-month option in Ladapo's deal that expired last June - to potentially secure a fee for the player in the market - but elected to allow him to leave for free.

Ladapo, who joined from Plymouth in 2019, scored 40 goals in 123 appearances for the Millers.

The 29-year-old has found the net 10 times so far this term at Ipswich.

On facing the Millers facing Ladapo relatively soon after his departure, Millers boss Taylor said: "We accept and understand it. There will be a connection there. Obviously it was previous to my time here, so I have not got a personal connection.

"But a lot of the players will have a personal connection with Freddie. Hopefully, it's a nice connection, although I am not privy to those relationships previously, but I am sure that they got on as team-mates.

"It happens a lot in football. They have got a stronger squad and I think they are going to strengthen again.

"This is not Ipswich of the past couple of seasons, this is a different animal in relation to the opposition this weekend - it is the best version that they have been in League One so far.

"We fully expect them to be challenging for promotion as they have been doing. He (Ladapo) is one of a number of good players who the opposition have got - certainly in terms of their frontline."