Paraguayan ace Enciso, 22, scored his first goal of the season - and first in Suffolk - in Friday night’s battling 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest at Portman Road.

Town and England legend Butcher, 67, has loved watching Enciso play for Gary O’Neil’s side and hopes his exciting attacking talent can keep the club in the Premier League.

“Enciso has been a really exciting player,” said Butcher, speaking as part of a Royal British Legion and MatchWornShirt (MWS) campaign to help raise funds for the Poppy Appeal this Remembrance Sunday.

“He can win games on his own – he’s not quite a Diego Maradona or Lionel Messi but he still 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.”

Gary O'Neil's Blues have made a strong start to the Premier League season (Image: Ross Halls)

Town currently sit 12th in the Premier League table after collecting three wins and a draw from their first eight games.

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.

“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.”

Town legend Terry Butcher is working with the Royal British Legion and the Poppy Appeal (Image: SportsBeat)

This year’s Royal British Legion and MWS campaign features Butcher, whose son Chris died in 2017, aged 35, while suffering from PTSD after serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Across late October and November, clubs across the English football pyramid, including the Premier League, EFL and WSL, will wear shirts adorned with the poppy emblem, uniting football in a powerful act of respect.

These unique match-worn shirts will be signed by the players and made available to fans through a series of online auctions hosted exclusively on the MWS platform, with all net proceeds being donated to the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal.

Since June 2024, Butcher has been a patron of Combat2Coffee, a not-for-profit company that supports veterans and their families.

Butcher hailed the Poppy Appeal for making such a difference and hopes fans around the country can support it as it continues to go from strength to strength.

“The poppy represents pride and respect to those who have gone before,” he added.

“It’s a renowned and well-loved symbol and a symbol of hope and support.

“It’s something I love and something I have a lot of feeling for – when you look at what the Royal British Legion do and the amount of money they raise, it’s quite incredible.

“The Royal British Legion and their Poppy Appeal raise so much money, which really saves lives and is extremely powerful.”