Town host Premier League Crystal Palace at Portman Road on Saturday as fans return for the first of two home pre-season friendlies (KO 3pm).
The Blues have played two pre-season games so far, the 1-0 win at Dartford and the 2-1 loss at Fulham last Saturday. A match against Stevenage at Needham on Tuesday was postponed due to Covid issues at the League Two club.
Against the Eagles, the Blues’ first-team players are likely to increase their involvement with Town having two further friendlies - at Colchester on Tuesday and at home to Millwall next Saturday - following this weekend’s game.
The Town squad trained at Portman Road on Friday with the players involved in that session - a mix of seniors and youngsters - presumably indicating who will be in the squad on Saturday.
Recent signings Joe Pigott and Scott Fraser could make their first appearances in Town shirts, while the other summer additions - Wes Burns, Rekeem Harper, Matt Penney, Vaclav Hladky, Macauley Bonne and Lee Evans - could make their first appearances for Town at Portman Road, although Evans has been a notable absentee from training photos this week and appears to have picked up a minor knock with no chances taken with players during pre-season.
Kane Vincent-Young could make his first friendly appearance having returned to training after undergoing shoulder injury at the end of 2020/21, while the game may come too soon for Jon Nolan, who picked up a calf problem early in pre-season having missed the end of the last campaign with a knee injury.
Palace won their first pre-season friendly 1-0 at Walsall last Saturday with Wilfried Zaha netting the goal.
Like Town, new Eagles manager Patrick Vieira fielded a side which was a mix of senior players and academy prospects against the Saddlers and it seems likely they’ll take a similar approach at Portman Road. Palace fielded a 4-3-3 system at the Bescot Stadium.
The Blues are anticipating a crowd in excess of 6,000 with most fans back at Portman Road for the first time since February 2020.
Last season’s games, aside from two watched by 2,000 midway through the campaign, were played behind closed doors.