Ticket sales for Tuesday’s England U21s Euro 2015 qualifier against Lithuania at Portman Road are closing in on the 15,000 mark with plenty more fans expected to pay at the gate on the night (KO 6pm, live on BT Sport).

Gareth Southgate's squad's morning training session relocated to Colchester United's Florence Park training ground in Tiptree due to waterlogging at their base at the Five Lakes Hotel near Maldon.

Southgate, pictured above with his assistant Steve Holland, told the club site that he is looking forward to the match, his first at Portman Road as a manager: “I have mixed memories in terms of results there as a player. I don’t remember winning too many times.

“As someone who loves their football history, I grew up watching the likes of Frans Thijssen, Arnold Muhren, Alan Brazil and those guys of that era.

“Whenever I go back to grounds like Portman Road I always think back to those who have trod there in the past.

“I know Ipswich fans are knowledgeable supporters and like the game played in a certain style and we will be doing everything we can to play in that fashion.”

Tickets for the game cost £10 for adults and £5 for concessions and can be bought online from ITFC Direct. A family ticket can be purchased for £20 by calling 0871 964 2116. Seats are now available in the East of England Co-Op Stand blocks Y, N and O.

They will also be on sale at Planet Blue until 4.30pm when they will be available for cash on the East of England Co-Op Stand turnstiles at no additional cost.

Town, who stand to make a low five-figure sum from the match, are advising fans to arrive in good time given the early start and usual rush hour traffic congestion. Portman Road and Sir Alf Ramsey Way will be closed from 4.15pm to 8.15pm.

Those attending will also be able to watch the England-Poland World Cup qualifier in Legends with kick-off at Wembley at 8pm.

The U21s beat San Marino 4-0 away on Thursday night in the first of the two Euro 2015 qualifiers with Tottenham’s Harry Kane netting a hat-trick and Manchester United’s Michael Keane grabbing the other goal.

The last U21 match at Portman Road was against Moldova in August 2006 and ended in a 2-2 draw with debutant Theo Walcott and David Nugent on the scoresheet.

Prior to that, Town hosted the full England side in August 2003 when they defeated Croatia 3-1 in a friendly.

Portman Road has also been the venue for England U21 matches against Switzerland (1980, 5-0), Romania (1985, 3-0), Albania (1989, 2-0) and the Czech Republic (1998, 0-1). An U23 side including ex-Blues boss Joe Royle drew 1-1 with Switzerland in 1971.

In 2001/02, an England U19s squad including Town’s Darren Bent and Matt Bloomfield beat Germany 3-1.

The ground also played host to a 1959 pre-Olympic Games friendly between Great Britain and the Caribbean FA ahead of the 1960 Games in Rome.

U21s: Jonathan Bond (Watford), Jack Butland (Barnsley, on loan from Stoke City), George Long (Sheffield United), Eric Dier (Sporting Lisbon), Carl Jenkinson (Arsenal), Michael Keane (Manchester United), Jack Robinson (Blackpool, on loan from Liverpool), Luke Shaw (Southampton), John Stones (Everton), Tom Carroll (QPR, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Nathaniel Chalobah (Nottingham Forest, on loan from Chelsea), Will Hughes (Derby County), Ravel Morrison (West Ham United), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton), Sammy Ameobi (Newcastle United), Tom Ince (Blackpool), Jesse Lingard (Birmingham City, on loan from Manchester United), Nathan Redmond (Norwich City), Wilfried Zaha (Manchester United), Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Danny Ings (Burnley), Nick Powell (Wigan Athletic, on loan from Manchester United).

Photo: Action Images

NITFC added 15:10 - Oct 14 Are the club supposed to be happy with selling just 15,000 tickets? Why is it on the same night as the biggest game that the England senior team have had for years. Personally I will be at Wembley tomorrow. Even if I wasn't, I would be watching the match on TV. No way would I have time to get home from Portman Road to see it, so either way I could not have gone to the U21's match Dreadful scheduling by UEFA (or FIFA) has cost Ipswich Town a guaranteed full house

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gypo added 15:31 - Oct 14 Town, who stand to make a low five-figure sum from the match, are advising fans to arrive in good time given the early start and usual rush hour traffic congestion. So why only release tickets for chartered clubs at midday on tuesday then FFS !! tickets should at least have been released last week so clubs could give tickets out to familys on saturday at there games. Now our clubs secretary has to go to ipswich and pick up the tickets get them to the managers so they can forward them onto players and parents. WHAT A COMPLETE JOKE

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JimmyJazz added 15:56 - Oct 14 Many fans expected to pay on the gate??? I thought ITFC had a strict policy to try and avoid such nonsense? Why is this game not for season ticket holders only with massively inflated prices for the plebs who aren't season ticket holders? Season ticket holders eh? Without them we wouldn't have a club, so don't say anything naughty about them
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Paulc added 16:21 - Oct 14 What exactly has ITFC Season Tickets got to do with this match? Try and keep your post a bit relevant eh.
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Michael11 added 16:30 - Oct 14 Remember kids, when you see Nathan Redmond....BOOOOOOOOO
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shoopdelang added 17:24 - Oct 14 Is the '' low five figures sum '' a fixed amount regardless how many tickets we sell ?
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Suffolk_n_Proud added 18:30 - Oct 14 Really good attendance for an under 21 England game. Will be a good night and welcome to all the portman road first timers
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fifeblue added 18:45 - Oct 14 Ridiculous scheduling for this match. Southgate should remember Portman Road well. He only took (and missed) two penalties in his career. THAT one for England in 96 and at the North Stand end for Crystal Palace. Town won that one 3-2.
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AdScHi9678 added 19:20 - Oct 14 Jack Butland's transfer to Stoke; it seemed stupid at the time, and it seems even more so now.
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Stewart27 added 20:49 - Oct 14 Jimmy Jazz. That is tongue in cheek right? Right?
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JimmyJazz added 21:34 - Oct 14 Stewart27, it is indeed. Although football seems to be heading towards a situation where the only people allowed to attend are those that are private members i.e. season ticket holders.
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Ipswich_Crazy added 21:36 - Oct 14 Look at you all! we havent had a U21 England game at portman road for 7 years and you moan about it and as soon as we get one you still moan. There is nothing that pleases you morons!
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NITFC added 22:17 - Oct 14 Ipswichcrazy - that's my point in the first post, above. From memory the last U21 game was a sell out? If the game had been played tonight I'm sure it would have been again. Playing it tomorrow means the ground will be half empty.
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murraybrunning added 08:49 - Oct 15 15k plus gate sales is comparably a very good attendance for an u21 game, There were 17k at Carrot Rd when they played Serbia last year and For all of you who are spouting that the 2006 game ns Moldova THE ATTENDANCE WAS 13.5K, pre credit crunch.-Hardly a sell out.
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ChrisMakin2012 added 10:16 - Oct 15 Not even 15,000! That's awful, get more in a championship game. Scheduling for this fixture was obviously done by Clegg himself.
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Fatboy added 14:01 - Oct 15 Live on BT Sport, so should be about another 15,000 watching on TV!
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