Former Blues midfielder Andre Dozzell says it will be strange facing his old club for the first time when Town travel to take on his current club QPR at Loftus Road on Saturday.
Dozzell, 24, joined the Hoops from the Blues for £1 million in the summer of 2021 after coming through the academy at Playford Road and making 78 senior starts and 15 sub appearances for Town, scoring three times, including a debut goal aged 16, following in his father Jason’s footsteps.
"It’s going to be very strange playing Ipswich for the first time in my career!” he told the QPR club site.
"But I’m looking forward to it and my family are, too. Hopefully we can get the three points.
"Obviously Ipswich is a club heavily invested in me and my family, but I’m a QPR player now and once we cross that white line, I’ll be wanting the three points.
"It’s going to be a great atmosphere. I’m sure the fans are buzzing to get back here for the first home league game of the season and we certainly are, too. The stadium will be packed and I’m sure it’s going to be a great day.”
Dozzell has started all three of QPR’s game so far this season, the opening-day 4-0 loss at Watford, last Saturday’s 2-1 victory at Cardiff, both in the Championship, and then the last-gasp 1-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Norwich City at home on Wednesday.
"It was a blow,” Dozzell reflected on the cup exit. "Everyone put a shift in and there were a lot of debutants who have worked hard for their opportunity and left everything out there.
"To concede right at the death was disappointing for all of us, but – like the gaffer said – we can be proud of our performance. We have to go again and get three points on Saturday.
"Obviously, we got off to a bad start. But we’ve regrouped and I think you’ve seen a real visible change in us over the last two games, a real togetherness. We’ve got to keep it going and keep building.”