Boss Roy Keane says Town have been handed a tough start to the season, particularly with trips to Middlesbrough and Exeter in the Carling Cup in the opening week. The Blues 2010/11 npower Championship fixtures were announced this morning.
Keane told the club site: "It's going to be a busy first week with plenty of travelling. On paper it's a tough start. Middlesbrough had a disappointing season last year, like ourselves, but their manager [Gordon Strachan] will have his first pre-season and sometimes it takes a club a year to adapt to being in the Championship.
"I expect them to be among the pre-season favourites for promotion, just as Burnley will be. They budgeted well in the Premier League and I don't think they have sold too many players.
"They will probably be able to invest in their squad as well, so they will be among the fancied teams.
"We have also got Crystal Palace early on and they beat us twice last year, so it looks a tough start for us, but we have certainly got to begin better than we did last year."
Boro boss Strachan expects half the division to be chasing the promotion places: "Ipswich will want to go up, like ourselves, as will Leicester and Sheffield United, who we also play early on.
"But there'll be about 12 teams saying the same things and believing they can win promotion."
Meanwhile, the Teessiders are reported to be the favourites to land Charlton midfielder Nicky Bailey, who is also believed to be interesting Town and Norwich City.
Celtic are also claimed to be chasing the former Southend man with his price now claimed to be somewhere around £1.5 million, double the price previously reported.
Elsewhere, central defender Gareth McAuley has helped launch a new £725,000 multi-sports arena in Larne back home in Northern Ireland.
Former boss George Burley has been confirmed as the new manager of Crystal Palace with Dougie Freedman as his assistant.