Town host French Ligue 1 side OGC Nice at Portman Road in their final game of pre-season on Saturday afternoon (KO 12.30pm).

The Blues go into the match following last Saturday’s impressive 1-0 victory over Bundesliga club Hoffenheim at the Kufstein Arena in Austria.

Manager Kieran McKenna is looking forward to another tough workout against the team which finished fifth in Ligue 1 last season and like Hoffenheim qualified for this season’s Europa League.

“A really good fixture for us, a really good side,” McKenna said, speaking after the victory in Austria. “I watched a fair bit of them last year.

“Of course, they’ve got a new manager [former Lens boss Franck Haise] but they’re in a good style in pre-season, they’re a good team and will bring some of the same aspects we’re going to face in the weeks to come and after that.

“A great chance to finish off the pre-season fixtures in our home stadium and I think we can all really look forward to the next few weeks.”

Nice, whose season proper starts next Sunday when they host Auxerre, have played four friendlies so far.

They started with back-to-back home 2-2 draws with Swiss top flight side Lausanne and La Liga Leganes, before another stalemate with the same scoreline against Turkish side Rizespor in Slovenia. Last Sunday they won 3-2 away against Italian Serie A side Lecce. Details regarding the Nice squad can be found in a TWTD Blog here.

Blues boss McKenna seems likely to field a starting XI close to the one which will line up against Liverpool in the club’s first Premier League match in 22 years next Saturday.

Fitness-wise, Nathan Broadhead (hamstring), George Hirst (knee) and Cameron Humphreys (thigh) are all sidelined, while Harry Clarke (achilles) and Ali Al-Hamadi (adductor) are still recovering from surgery early in the summer.

Wes Burns was fit enough to come off the bench against Hoffenheim last week after rolling his ankle in the 2-1 defeat in the Blues’ previous pre-season friendly against Fortuna Düsseldorf a fortnight ago and may well be included from the start this weekend.

Aro Muric looks set to be in goal with McKenna having to choose between Ben Johnson and Axel Tuanzebe at right-back.

The former Manchester United man is also an option for right centre-half along with Luke Woolfenden, while new signing Jacob Greaves is likely to be the left-sided central defender. Leif Davis will be at left-back.

Skipper Sam Morsy will be partnered by either Massimo Luongo or Jack Taylor in the centre of midfield.

Burns could start on the right of the three ahead of the pivot with Conor Chaplin in the middle and Omari Hutchinson perhaps again on the left with Marcus Harness another option, the former Portsmouth man having impressed in pre-season. Liam Delap will be the lone central striker.

Many of the rest of the squad are likely to have some involvement from the bench in the second half.

Saturday’s referee is James Bell from Sheffield, who was the official set to referee the April 2023 game at home to Charlton before being replaced after it emerged he is a supporter of Sheffield Wednesday, then vying with the Blues for promotion from League One.

Photo: TWTD

BeattiesBackPocket added 12:00 - Aug 9 Definitely our toughest pre season game against a top 5 French side with a talented squad one of which is on his way to West Ham for 40 mill. Great test but still a game for improving fitness and match sharpness
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Vic added 12:12 - Aug 9 That's probably what the Gladback coach said about the prospect of playing us - until we played the kids! I wonder if Keiran will be saying the same when Nice change the whole of their starting 11!!! Not a criticism BTW - just being ironic.
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Scuzzer added 12:22 - Aug 9 Shouldn't it have been..." a really 'nice' fixture"
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BlueNomad added 12:38 - Aug 9 Not really a necessary comment though Vic
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E_I_E_I_E_I_O added 13:22 - Aug 9 BeattiesBackPocket - Sorry pressed downvote by mistake!
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paris_mitchell_in_oz added 14:01 - Aug 9 VIC. That would, perhaps, be unfortunate, I fail to see the irony.
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Blue_Blooded_Boy added 14:08 - Aug 9 Final blow out before the big kick off. Good work out and pray for injuries - uppa towen!!
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flykickingbybgunn added 14:25 - Aug 9 Corrected for you. BeattiesBackPocket - Sorry pressed downvote by mistake!
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gosblue added 14:36 - Aug 9 Scuzzer- I’ll bring the biscuits.
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Facefacts added 14:36 - Aug 9 We were not very good at some of the 12.30pm kickoffs (preparation?, caught cold?, up for it?) last season, so it's noticeable that the friendlies this pre-season have kicked off at around this time of day as we have to get used to it. We then take on Liverpool at home at 12.30pm in a week's time.
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muhrensleftfoot added 15:25 - Aug 9 No update on the Hirst knee injury then.
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Bazza8564 added 16:09 - Aug 9 Personally Id like to see Jack Taylor starting with Sam again tomorrow. In know Massimo has given us a huge lift over the last 18 months but jack has youth on his side and looked good against Hoffenhiem.
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Marinersnose added 17:54 - Aug 9 Bazza whilst Taylor is a good passer of the ball , quick and a decent finisher his ball retention is poor which is why he didn’t start many games in the Championship. Having watched pre season games he’s still making those mistakes in dangerous areas which will result in goals in the PL. Mass keeps the ball very well but both he and Morsy aren’t the quickest across the ground. McKenna is clearly looking to strengthen this area.

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Linkboy13 added 18:33 - Aug 9 Playing well in friendlies and playing well in a competitive league game are world's apart. Jack Taylor is a player i like but can he go from a championship squad player to a Premier league player in just a few months. McKenna will know friendlies are no reflection on a players ability to play Premier league football and he's already said they are just for getting game time in the legs and new players are required to be competitive in the Premier league.

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Marinersnose added 21:08 - Aug 9 Linkboy agree friendlies are all about getting minutes in legs and implementing patterns of play from training but standards and basics such as ball retention are a gimme at PL level. if you give the ball away in the Championship and fail to force a starting birth it’s highly unlikely that a player will cope with the huge demand of PL football. These are basic fundamentals as is a good touch. The PL is a huge step up but thankfully we have a good coach who I’m sure will address the obvious areas of weakness

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