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.

Photo: ITFC

Bad_Boy_Mark added 17:23 - Jul 23 It's going to really great to have fans back in Portman Road! Can't wait to see the boys in Blue once again! COYB!
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SickParrot added 18:07 - Jul 23 So despite all the sports science Jon Nolan picks up another injury in pre-season! With a small squad there's no room for players players made of glass but he has got rid of most of them.
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itsonlyme added 18:20 - Jul 23 Two weeks to go and still short of players?? Hopefully more to come and quickly.
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blues1 added 18:31 - Jul 23 SickParrot. No. Nolan pickeddvuo a bad injury towards the end of last season. Which hes not quite back from yet. If I were a real fan rather than a keyboard warrior, youd know that.
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BeattiesBackPocket added 18:35 - Jul 23 It's almost like people think we'll never have an injury again! 🙄
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meekreech added 18:36 - Jul 23 Nolan not worth keeping , should be called sick note or banknote as he is only here for the money. His work on the field is not up to the standard necessary to bring success to us.
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blues1 added 18:36 - Jul 23 Itsonkyme. How are we short of players? Still have a squad of over 30 players to call on. Yes, that likely includes the 4 players training with the u23s. Plus the likes of ndaba and baggott could be called up if absolutely necessary. And remember, Cook has already stated that he wants a smaller squad this year. We need to stop comparing the size of the squad to the ridiculous number of players we had last season. And with another 5 signings likely before the end of the window we will have plenty.

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DifferentGravy added 19:24 - Jul 23 Looking forward to it. Appreciate its a friendly but be great to see these new players in action
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Gforce added 19:27 - Jul 23 On another note, does anyone know when our new season tickets will be sent out, as I'm still waiting to receive mine??
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Help added 19:45 - Jul 23 Gforce don't worry the club have got till 7th Aug loads of time
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TractorFrog added 19:47 - Jul 23 GK - Hladky CB - Woolfenden CB - Nsiala RB - VincentYoung LB - Penney CDM - Harper CDM - El Mizouni RW - Burns LW - Fraser SS - Bonne ST - Piggott SUB - Holy SUB - Ndaba SUB - Donacien SUB - Dobra SUB - Norwood
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Bluearmy_81 added 19:49 - Jul 23 What's happened to Coulson? We also need another CB as Nsiala isn't reliable enough imho
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Gforce added 19:54 - Jul 23 Help.....thanks for that,your probably right. I just thought in previous years they sent them out a bit earlier,maybe my memory is playing games !!
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SickParrot added 19:54 - Jul 23 Blues1, I'm aware of Nolan's knee injury but the he has picked up a calf problem. My point about sports science and glass players is valid.
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Gforce added 20:10 - Jul 23 Blue army 81......you are spot on,except I think we need 2 new centre backs,both preferably with plenty of experience.It would only take an injury to Wolf to leave us looking very threadbare. Still also believe we may need a 4th striker brought in,most promotion chasing squads have 4 quality strikers.It would only take a suspension & an injury upfront to leave us with one forward.Unless of course young Ben Morris is good enough for that role.

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19781981twtd added 20:30 - Jul 23 Anyone know who will be club skipper now chamber has gone.
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Gforce added 21:18 - Jul 23 19781981twtd.....My guess would be either Evans or the unknown new experienced centre back we are all waiting for.
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Kuqishitsonpukki added 21:32 - Jul 23 Agree with blue army_81 - Toto just doesn't offer enough to be a 1st choice CB, he's got a handful of errors in him per game, distribution side of his game is very poor. He's a decent back up at best but I'm a little concerned PC is seeing a different side in training and somehow rates him as a starter. We need a decent CB as a must and the sooner the better. I like the character he brings but we need more quality.

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warkie added 21:34 - Jul 23 My God. Bluess 1. Why are you not managing a championship team? Or a Premier league team? You seem to know it all?
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algarvefan added 21:57 - Jul 23 As an overseas supporter is the game being streamed anywhere, don't mind paying!!
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Beattiesballbag added 22:29 - Jul 23 algarvefan , I did see somewhere that it will be on Palace TV...... if you can get that?
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Dog added 22:52 - Jul 23 Warkie - leave Blues1 alone. He does know a fair bit and whilst i disagree with his unblinkered enthusiasm for new owners, his contibutions are welcomed by me. We do need five more signings - at least 3 permanent. I suspect we will have another 3 by start of season with a loan signing or 2 after squads announced. My worry is net spend - not spent the money we were led to believe. The quality of player seems better than what we had. Would still like to keep Downes although we are haggling with Bournemouth for extra quarter of a million or so. Lets all be friends and chill. About to start a weeks holiday.

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dirtydingusmagee added 07:36 - Jul 24 whoever is appointed to be captain,i hope he can do the job,not just wear the armband,someone who can see whats going on around him and drive the team on, something Chambers seemed to have lost over the last few seasons.
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Northstandveteran added 07:54 - Jul 24 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-57840345 A good read on the BBC homepage this morning about the anniversary of Escape to Victory. The Beat winning an arm wrestle with Sylvester Stallone made me smile.
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bluesteel added 09:25 - Jul 24 looking at the potential team today i'd say we're currently weaker than last season we need to reinforce this squad through the spine with some centre backs, a dominant mid fielder/captain and a striker otherwise we're think we're looking at 14- 8th place again at best
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