Goals from Luke Hyam and Daryl Murphy see the Blues lead Notts County 2-1 at half-time, ex-Town striker Danny Haynes netting the home side’s goal.
Paul Anderson and Cole Skuse both started in which looked like the side Mick McCarthy plans to field at Reading in next week’s Championship opener.
The former Nottingham Forest man missed the last two games with a hamstring problem, while Skuse was subbed with a knee injury at Colchester on Tuesday.
New loan signing Ryan Tunnicliffe was on the bench, while skipper Carlos Edwards is still absent after his spell away with Trinidad and Tobago and midfielder Josh Carson was also absent.
Ex-Blue Danny Haynes and former loanee Bartosz Bialkowski were in Chris Kiwomya's Notts County side, while on-trial ex-Town striker Ronan Murray and former U18s captain Callum Bennett were on the Magpies’ bench.
The first chance of the game in the second minute when Mark Fotheringham played in Enoch Showunmi but Blues keeper Scott Loach blocked. The ball looped to Haynes who headed well over.
Town went straight up the other end and went even closer. Aaron Cresswell crossed from the left and Daryl Murphy’s bouncing header beat Bialkowski but struck the Polish keeper’s right post.
The Irishman ought to have done better a minute later when he flicked a header wide after good work from David McGoldrick, who started his career with home town club County, on the left.
The early flurry of chances continued with Cresswell finding Hyam well placed inside the area, but the midfielder screwed his shot well wide and too far in front of Murphy.
On nine Cresswell signalled that the game was up for him and made his way off the field. The left-back has been suffering with a thigh injury throughout pre-season. Tyrone Mings took over.
Town went in front in the 15th minute through Luke Hyam. McGoldrick nodded a long ball down to Murphy, who held off a defender before backheeling into the path of Jay Tabb. The midfielder crossed from the left and Hyam stooped to nod a six-yard header across Bialkowski and into the net for a well-crafted goal.
Eight minutes later it was 2-0. Mings played the ball down the line, McGoldrick crossed and Murphy tapped home from six yards for his fifth goal of pre-season.
On 25 Fotheringham turned a weak shot to Loach, back in his home town, from the edge of the box, then winger Jamal Campbell-Ryce saw a powerful strike deflect wide. But in the main Town had been comfortable and they had had enough chances to be further ahead.
Just after the half hour a simmering spat between Hyam and Joss Labadie briefly spilled over into a bout of handbags, but referee Andy Woolmer restored order without showing cards which would have been inevitable in a competitive fixture.
However, only a minute or so later the two challenged for the ball and Hyam, probably harshly as he looked to have been pulled the ground by the Magpies player, along with stand-in skipper Luke Chambers, was spoken to further by the referee.
The home side pulled a goal back in the 35th minute. Campbell-Ryce’s low cross from the right deflected to Haynes, who hit a low shot beyond Loach from just inside the area.
Chambers headed an Anderson corner straight at Bialkowski in the 43rd minute with the Blues still on top despite the County goal.
At the break, the Blues deserved their lead and looked well on course to continue the 100% record the club has enjoyed at every level during pre-season.
Town: Loach, Hewitt, Chambers, Smith, Cresswell (Mings 10), Anderson, Hyam, Skuse, Tabb, Murphy, McGoldrick. Subs: Gerken, Veseli, Berra, Wordsworth, Tunnicliffe, Taylor, Nouble, Hammond, Berkane, October.