Town forward Nathan Broadhead says he wants to get to the Premier League with Ipswich and is eagerly awaiting the Blues’ Championship return next month.
Broadhead already has one promotion with Town following his January move from Everton and is keen to add another in a season where he expects the Blues to be competitive.
However, the Welshman played down Town’s promotion prospects and says supporters should expect a more up-and-down season than last season’s near-perfect League One campaign.
"Obviously the club want to get to the Premier League and I want to get to the Premier League,” he said following the pre-season friendly at Stevenage. "All we need to do is listen to the manager because he’s got the best knowledge.
"Everybody needs to stick to the plan and hopefully we can get to the Premier League with Ipswich.
"Hopefully we can start off like we ended last season and create many goals. The way we play is attractive for the fans, we just need to keep the ball out of our net as I believe we can score many goals in the Championship.
"I think the togetherness is still there, that’s going to help us this season. It’s not going to be perfect like last season when we went unbeaten for 15/20 games. We’re going to lose some games, so I think the fans need to expect an up-and-down season.
"I’ve only played in the Championship for half a season with Wigan. I’ve made an appearance for Everton but it’s completely different to the Championship. I believe this team is capable of playing in the Championship and doing well.
"We just need to believe in ourselves, believe in the manager and the backroom staff. All we need to do is try and win every game and we need the fans with us.”
Town will look to feed off the buzz of last season’s success, with Broadhead optimistic the Blues can carry their momentum into the new season.
He said: "As soon as I walked through the door, you look at the stats that we were the best team in the league by far and that’s why I came to Ipswich. The way that we play and the manager is the reason I came here. Hopefully we can do the same this season, I’m confident.
"I think playing against better players brings the best out of you. It pushes you mentally and physically. Everybody needs to be ready for it.”
Broadhead has predominantly been used on the left under Kieran McKenna but featured as a number nine in the first half at the Lamex Stadium.
On his role and development, the 25-year-old said: "I played striker today and across the front three so I’m getting asked to do different roles and different things on the pitch, which I expect to do that for myself. Today wasn’t my best there but if I get asked to play there I’ll play there.
"I expect myself to bring the best out of Ipswich Town and get them to the Premier League.”
The Blues’ pre-season programme continued with a double-header on Saturday, Broadhead playing the full 90 minutes in the second match against Stevenage in heavy rain, the game ending 2-1 to the League One side.
"It was a tough test,” Broadhead said on the clash with the Boro. "I thought they were really aggressive and made it tough for us so fair play [to them].
"I think we’re going to come up against it, obviously on a bigger pitch, but we need to get used to one-touch round the corners and quick play. We did it in the second half but the first half was a bit scrappy, so we need to work on that.
"It was tough to get that touch because it was so slidey off your foot. Many of the players tried to play one-touch round corners because it was that quick.
"I felt good, that’s the first 90 minutes I’ve had in ages so I’m happy to get that over the line. Hopefully I can get more in pre-season and start the season as I finished last season.”
New signings Jack Taylor and George Hirst featured, Hirst netting his second goal in as many pre-season fixtures since the former loanee was signed on a permanent basis last week.
"Buzzing to have him back,” Broadhead said of Hirst. "He’s a good player and I think he’s going to be important for us.
"We’ve definitely got good link-up play. He looks for me and I look for him so hopefully this season I can provide him some goals and he can provide me some goals.
"[Taylor]’s a good player, to be fair. A powerful runner, likes to get forward into the box. He was good for Peterborough last season and hopefully he can start scoring some goals for us.”
Earlier in the day, another Town side were beaten 2-1 at Cambridge United. Chelsea loanee and newest recruit Omari Hutchinson set up Leif Davis early on for the Blues’ goal.
Broadhead says he is excited by Hutchinson’s arrival and acknowledged the challenges a young player may face during their first senior loan spell.
He said: "I’ve only trained with him once so I haven’t seen him play but I’m looking forward to playing with him.
"It’s difficult to get used to the speed and the fitness, which is massive compared to [academy football]. There’s not much walking, it’s definitely tougher.”
Broadhead has spent much of the summer away on international duty with Wales and added two further substitute appearances in June to take his total number of caps to four, all this year.
As a result, he was given additional time off and returned to Playford Road later than his teammates having racked up a lot of air miles in recent weeks.
"The training was tough so I feel good,” he said. "There wasn’t [much of a break]. I think I had two camps over the summer so it’s been long but I’m buzzing to be back.
"We had Portugal, Turkey and obviously my holidays as well so I’ve been on a plane many times.”
A further trip to Austria on Town’s pre-season followed, with another visit to come next week, and Broadhead said McKenna’s training camp was one of the hardest of his career.
"Really tough,” he said. "The manager has worked us so hard, probably one of the hardest pre-seasons I’ve ever done. But I think it’s definitely going to put us in good stead for the season.”
When asked to reflect on last season, Broadhead was quick to stress that the focus has shifted and full focus is on the upcoming Championship campaign. He said: "Football moves on. I can’t wait for this season.”