Town will play newly promoted Championship Charlton Athletic in a friendly at Colchester United’s Jobserve Community Stadium on Tuesday 29th July (KO 7.30pm).
The game is the only friendly the Blues will play in England which will be open to the public this summer.
Matches in Austria against Blau-Weiß Linz, in Scotland at Aberdeen and away against French side AJ Auxerre have already been announced with Town also set to play some behind-closed-doors friendlies as part of their preparations for 2025/26.
Town won’t have time to host a Portman Road friendly this year with the annual scrape and seed of the pitch being carried out either side of the Ed Sheeran concerts.
Charlton were promoted from League One via the play-offs having finished fourth, beating Leyton Orient 1-0 in the final.
The Blues previously hosted a friendly at Colchester in the summer of 2023 when they took on Luton Town with the game ending 1-1.
It's unusual to play a team in the same division in pre-season, although Town faced Preston ahead of their return to the Championship two years ago when they beat the Lilywhites 2-1 at Deepdale.
A list of the friendlies which have been announced at various levels can be found here.
The Town squad return for pre-season training next Thursday with those who have been on international duty given additional time off.