Town striker Daryl Murphy admits it will be a tough task to achieve automatic promotion to the Premier League in the new season that gets under way tomorrow with Barnsley’s opening-day visit to Portman Road.
But the Republic of Ireland international, who followed up his 27-goal haul of two seasons ago with just 10 last term, insists he and his colleagues can repeat their play-off finish of two years ago.
Murphy said: "It will be very hard to get into the top two but the top six is definitely very realistic for us, although nearly every club in the Championship probably thinks they can get into the top six.
"We’ve been there before and just missed out last year so hopefully we can get there again.”
Murphy knows the arrival of Grant Ward, who has joined permanently from Tottenham, and Everton loanee Conor Grant, both players who excel in providing the ammunition for the frontmen, should boost his chances of repeating the scoring feats of two seasons ago.
He added: "I think we’ve missed that in previous seasons, someone who likes to get at defenders and cross the ball in.
"Wardy has looked really sharp in training and hopefully he will deliver that. He knows what to do and has been showing it since he first arrived.
"I don’t think we needed to tell him but I definitely want to be getting into the box more often and getting chances, especially from crosses.
"David McGoldrick’s return is more good news. It’s easy to have a good understanding when you play alongside players of the quality of Didzy and Searsy.
"It’s easy to gel but with Didzy everything clicked straight away when we played together. He’s the type of player that will create a lot of chances for you.
"I’ve scored a number of goals from his assists and it’s great to have him back free of injury. I’m sure he’s raring to go.
"David and Teddy were a big miss when they were injured last season — the chances they create, the goals they score and the runs they make. It’s very hard to replace that quality.
"Andre [Dozzell] will play more games and the new lads look very good, so I’m really looking forward to it.
"Wardy has come in and looked really sharp. It gives us something different, a bit of pace, he runs at players, gets crosses into the box and I think that’s what we need, more delivery into the box.
"We will also be looking for more goals from midfield. The lack of goals hasn’t been for the want of trying and with the players we have coming back now — Teddy Bishop for example — that might change.
"There is always competition among the strikers to finish as top scorer but that’s the case at every club, not just here. It hasn’t been mentioned yet — but it will be!”