England icon and Ipswich Town legend Terry Butcher has hailed the Premier League star capable of 'Diego Maradona' magic - the Tractor Boys' shining light, Julio Enciso

Terry Butcher believes Julio Enciso’s ‘Diego Maradona’-esque magic can propel Ipswich Town to safety.

Paraguayan ace Enciso, 22, has been the Tractor Boys’ brightest spark so far this season and scored in Friday night’s 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest at Portman Road. The former Brighton midfielder arrived from Strasbourg in the summer and has caught the eye in Town’s impressive early wins against Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Fulham.

Ipswich and England legend Butcher, 67, was part of the Three Lions team that played against Maradona in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final at Mexico City’s iconic Estadio Azteca. The Argentinian followed up his infamous Hand of God goal with that sensational solo strike that saw him waltz past an England defence that included Butcher. The Argentinian followed up his infamous Hand of God goal with that sensational solo strike that saw him waltz past an England defence that included Butcher.

And while still a distance off Maradona in the pantheon of greats, Butcher sees similarities in the Tractor Boys' talisman.

“Enciso is a really exciting player,” he said. “He can win games on his own – he’s not quite a Diego Maradona or Lionel Messi but like them, he plays football with a smile on his face. He’s very, very talented – and I think that’s what we want to see from players.

“It’s changed a lot from my era – we liked the hard men, the tackles and the real commitment and passion. But you get something different with Enciso that’s still fluid, still attractive to watch and exciting.

“You want players to excite you – hopefully we excited with our physicality, but now it’s gone back to technique and ability. I like Enciso a lot.”

Butcher was speaking on behalf of a Royal British Legion and MatchWornShirt (MWS) campaign to help raise funds for the Poppy Appeal this Remembrance Sunday. This year’s initiative features Butcher, whose son Chris died in 2017, aged 35, while suffering from PTSD after serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ipswich currently sit 12th in the Premier League table and four points clear of safety.

And Butcher, who played over 250 times for the club across a storied 10-year period, added: “We look in better shape than we did before. We’ve got players who have Premier League experience, know what to do and what it takes to stay in the Premier League.

“I think we can do very well – we’re over halfway to the total number of wins already to what we got last time we were in the league. It’s exciting, but the expectation isn’t as high as it was two years ago – that lower sense of expectation helps the players and makes sure everyone is singing off the same hymn sheet.

“It’s been a really frustrating time, but you’ve only got to look back four or five years before the new ownership came in, there was no hope for us.

“Now there’s a lot of hope – that’s the same as the Royal British Legion and the Poppy Appeal, who are giving hope to so many.”