Town boosted their confidence for their return to the Championship with an impressive 2-1 win at Deepdale thanks to goals from Conor Chaplin and George Hirst.

This was a step up in class of pre-season opposition for Kieran McKenna's squad but they handled it well despite numerous changes in the second half in a game that saw them use 23 players in all.

The Lilywhites were Championship play-off contenders for much of last season, eventually finishing 12th after their hopes fizzled out when they took only one point from their last five games.

But Ryan Lowe's team provided a good test for Town who have now won four and drawn one of their pre-season matches. Only in the finals stages did their much-changed team look in any trouble.

In the first half in particular Town were very much in the ascendancy with last season's tip scorer Chaplin causing Preston all manner of problems as well as firing home an excellent goal.

And McKenna will be delighted that Hirst was on target in his first appearance since sealing his permanent move from Leicester.

Town started with Dominic Ball at right-back with Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess at the centre of the defence with Leif Davis at left-back.

Skipper Sam Morsy and Massimo Luongo were deployed in central midfielders with Kayden Jackson, Chaplin and Nathan Broadhead behind lone striker Freddie Ladapo.

Town's three summer signings Jack Taylor, Cieran Slicker and Hirst were all on the bench.

Former Blues striker Will Keane, a summer signing from Wigan, made his debut for the Lilywhites as did fellow new boy Mads Frokjaer-Jensen. But Preston's two other signings Duane Holmes, from Huddersfield, and on-loan Liverpool full-back Calvin Ramsay - who is recovering from injury - were not involved.

Playing in their all-orange away strip, Town dominated from the kick-off on a sun-lit evening in Lancashire.

Their slick passing and high press pinned the hosts back for long periods and was appreciated by the 200-odd Town fans who had made the long trip north from Suffolk.

Luongo set the tone after only 10 minutes with a fierce 20-yard drive that forced a fine save from home keeper Freddie Woodman. It was the start of a busy first half for Woodman.

Two minutes later he had to move smartly to collect an ambitious curling effort from Chaplin and five minutes after that he denied Chaplin again, parrying a powerful drive with Luongo blazing the loose ball high over the bar. It followed a delightful Town move with Broadhead's clever back heel giving Jackson the space to play the ball back into Chaplin's path.

Woodman denied Chaplin for a third time saving another fierce shot from the Town striker clover back heel by Broadhead had had given Jackson the space to set up Chaplin.

Such was Town's dominance, keeper Walton was not forced into any sort of action until the 21st minute when he comfortably caught Jacob Slater's cross.

That rare foray into Town's half seemed to encourage the home side who exerted some pressure for the first time with Keane going to close to giving them an undeserved lead when his close range effort hit the outside of the post.

But moments later Town took the lead thanks to a superbly hit strike by the ever-dangerous Chaplin after Broadhead had set him up. It was his fourth shot of the game and this time it gave Woodman no chance. Chaplin clearly had the scent of goals in his nostrils but was well off target with another shot before half-time.

As expected McKenna made seven changes at half-time, with new signing Jack Taylor among them. And he made five more as the half progressed.

But it didn't stop Town's flow with Kyle Edwards and Greg Leigh seeing shots deflected wide.

Preston sub Ben Woodburn went close to equalising with a close range header with a header in a rare but Town were soon back on the offensive especially after Hirst's introduction after 62 minutes.

He was quickly into the action and twice went close, first when his close range shot was brilliantly saved by the busy Woodman and then when he sent a header just wide from Edwards's cross.

But Hirst was not to be denied and added Town's second after 78 minutes. He celebrated his permanent move from Leicester with a cool chip over the advancing Woodman after being put through by Marcus Harness.

Preston pulled one back when one of their nine second-half subsitutes, Felipe Rodriguez-Gentile, turned sharply inside the box and fired in a shot that beat Walton's despairing dive and crept just inside the post.

The home side pressed strongly for an equaliser towards the end and only a couple of fine saves by sub keeper Vaclav Hladky dened them an equaliser.

And Town breathed a huge sigh of relief when a last-gasp 'goal' by Rodriguez-Gentile was ruled out for offside.

Had it been given, it would have have earned Preston an undeserved draw after being second best for much of a game that will surely encourage McKenna and his squad for what lies ahead.

Ipswich first half team: Walton; Davis, Woolfenden, Burgess, Ball, Morsy, Luongo, Broadhead, Jackson, Ladapo, Chaplin.

Ipswich second half team: Walton (Hladky 62); Leigh, Woolfenden (Baggott 85), Burgess (Barbrook 85), Humphreys (Carr 70; Edwards, Evans, Taylor, Harness, Aluko, Ladapo (Hirst 62). Referee: Andrew Kitchen.

Photo: Matchday Images

Bluearmy_81 added 21:17 - Jul 19 It’s an absolute joy and a pleasure to be an Ipswich fan right now. Really excited for the season ahead. Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart to all responsible
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Umros added 21:28 - Jul 19 Watched on ifollow, dominant performance, particularly 1st half. If Preston got ball it was pretty much ‘ can we have our ball back please ‘ delightful crisp passing and cracking goals, little bit of a wobble at end but so many changes at that point can.t have been easy. Must have been terrible to watch as a Preston fan.
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ArnieM added 21:28 - Jul 19 A VERY competent , silky smooth performance tonight : Harness impressed me , and Hirst took his goal very well ( should have had a hat trick tbh) … we keep the ball so well. Noticeable difference at this level, is the first touch has to be spot on or the opposition will punish you. If we’re good in both boxes we’ll have no problem in this division. Bring it in : COYBs
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Broadbent23 added 21:29 - Jul 19 We are going into the championship after tonite with fear and we were not at full strength. Well done.
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Broadbent23 added 21:32 - Jul 19 We are going into the championship after tonite with no fear and we were not at full strength. well done (correction). Let's see how we get against Luton.
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dubblue added 21:48 - Jul 19 Nice to see Chaplin and Hurst goals hope this means last year’s form will continue. Harness’s pre season good form continues. COYB!
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Help added 21:52 - Jul 19 Anyone notice Ladapo's reaction to Chaplin goal????
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Cadiar added 22:21 - Jul 19 Help. What about it?
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Cadiar added 22:21 - Jul 19 Help. What about it?
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Cadiar added 22:21 - Jul 19 Help. What about it?
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Cadiar added 22:21 - Jul 19 Help. What about it?
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eddiespearitt03 added 22:21 - Jul 19 Wonderful. Simply wonderful !!! Oh boy...that little set up and Chaplin goal was pure class. Pure joy to watch this club come alive again after years of poor ownership, poor decisions, carrying poor players and gutless performances.
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eddiespearitt03 added 22:21 - Jul 19 Wonderful. Simply wonderful !!! Oh boy...that little set up and Chaplin goal was pure class. Pure joy to watch this club come alive again after years of poor ownership, poor decisions, carrying poor players and gutless performances.
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eddiespearitt03 added 22:21 - Jul 19 Wonderful. Simply wonderful !!! Oh boy...that little set up and Chaplin goal was pure class. Pure joy to watch this club come alive again after years of poor ownership, poor decisions, carrying poor players and gutless performances.
3

algarvefan added 22:33 - Jul 19 We have shown tonight that we will be difficult to beat and can compete in the Championship, it's a great time to be a Town fan, thought Woolfie was outstanding at the back, we have good strength in depth, would like to see another CB brought in in case of injury and if Edmunson doesn't hold up? Harness seems to have found his mojo and Hirst is looking like a natural leader up front. Looking forward to the first game!!

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blueboy1981 added 22:52 - Jul 19 All looking promising for life in the Championship - not allowed to say this BUT - Will our Defence be strong enough for the Championship, where most, if not every, failing will be punished ? Just asking the Question - not being Negative, for those that don’t know the difference. Would love to see a commanding no nonsense CB signed …. !! - it may be necessary.
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michaeldownunder added 06:28 - Jul 20 Great to get a good win under our belts, last time I came over from Australia I went to Preston to see us loose 4-1 with most of our players having a don't care attitude.
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Dissboyitfc added 07:03 - Jul 20 Been saying for a while we need a commanding CB to play along side Wolfie, Burgess can have good games, but not good enough on too many occasions, its an area we could get punished!
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Bazza8564 added 07:27 - Jul 20 Great performance by all accounts and just the confidence booster we needed. It's good to see the whole squad making a contribution, but I do agree that additions can only make us stronger, especially at CB where there will be tougher tests than in L1. Loving the positivity though
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ArnieM added 07:46 - Jul 20 Totally agree with you Blueboy 1. Again not intending to come across as negative. I watched our defensive unit , team defence closely last night. As a team we are outstanding in how we keep possession. I’d the opposition don’t have ( can’t get) the ball, they can’t hurt us. It’s how we are defensively as a unit IN our own box which had always concerned me. Because opponents rarely get the ball in our box we don’t see this frailty. Better teams will punish us if we don’t deal with the ball better in our box. This includes CB’s AND the keeper. On the rare occasions in the first half when pne did get the ball into our box ALL our defensive players tended to flap at it. End of second half, well, we had a real mish mash of young snd I experienced defenders in there tbh , so no bad reflection on them and they did well to hold out. Ps sign that Fillepe lad up , quick! Overall, I thought we were bloody outstanding ..

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blues1 added 08:44 - Jul 20 Dissboyitfc. Really? Burgess was outstanding last season, when he got into the team. Was no coincidence that when he took over from edmondson, that we stopped conceding goals.
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IpswichT62OldBoy added 09:31 - Jul 20 Its all going to be awesome. Not long to wait, I think we are going to be THE team, the one that flourishes and grows and gets promoted. 20 years of pain, let the joy begin.
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IpswichT62OldBoy added 09:31 - Jul 20 Its all going to be awesome. Not long to wait, I think we are going to be THE team, the one that flourishes and grows and gets promoted. 20 years of pain, let the joy begin.
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IpswichT62OldBoy added 09:31 - Jul 20 Its all going to be awesome. Not long to wait, I think we are going to be THE team, the one that flourishes and grows and gets promoted. 20 years of pain, let the joy begin.
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barrystedmunds added 09:53 - Jul 20 Amongst all the euphoria here, I think we have to remember it was only a friendly. We are a long way ahead in our preparations than PNE. Far greater tests to come but it just feels that at last we seem to be heading in the right direction to meet the challenges.COYBs
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