Ipswich Town’s season opener against Birmingham City is a clash that the whole squad are looking forward to, according to forward Conor Chaplin.

The sides were two divisions apart last campaign, but following Town’s relegation from the Premier League and Birmingham’s League One title victory, Kieran McKenna’s side will travel to St Andrew’s as equals.

The Midlanders are returning to the second tier with high expectations after setting a new EFL record of 111 points in League One last season and have continued to be financially backed by their American ownership group fronted by Tom Wagner and Tom Brady.

Sky Sports have selected the fixture to be their Championship curtain-raiser on Friday 8th August and Chaplin believes it will be an excellent advert for the division.

“It’s going to be a brilliant evening for football,” he told TWTD in an exclusive interview. “It’s going to be a great crowd, they’ll be fired up for it, we’ll be fired up for it, live on the telly. It’s going to be one to look forward to.

“There’s three weeks to get some good work done, some good game time, some good training time and make sure we’re firing and ready to go for that game.

“It’s a completely different group now and I think different expectations from the League One team.

“We were in League One for four years until we got this football club back out of there so I think it’s even more than the League One team. I think it’s something we need to lean into rather than shy away from.

“We all know our goal, we want to be back in the Premier League this time next season. That’s something all of us have got to take on and in terms of the whole football club face that challenge front on and be excited by it.

“I don’t feel like it’s a pressure thing, it’s one to lean into and be excited about.”

Town’s pre-season preparation is shorter than last season ahead of a more intense and demanding fixture calendar than in the Premier League last term.

Chaplin has previously stated how much he enjoys the testing schedule the Championship provides, and a year in the top flight has not changed his mentality.

Speaking after the training camp in Austria, which ended with a 4-1 friendly victory over Blau-Weiß Linz, the 28-year-old said: “It’s a different pre-season even though it’s shorter. Last year we had a seven-and-a-half week pre-season and this year it’s been five-and-a-half weeks so it’s a lot different and there’s a lot of games now.

“We’ve got Saturday-Friday-Tuesday games for the rest of the pre-season schedule so it’s going to mirror the EFL schedule which is one that I absolutely love. I think it’s incredible for players, it’s tough but it’s brilliant just playing games, suffering, recovering and going again.

“It’s exciting, it’s what it’s all about, testing the body and seeing how quickly the body can recover. I love that and I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to stuff like that, I enjoy all that stuff.

“You adapt to the schedule you’re in as long as you utilise the time well. Obviously there’s more emphasis on recovery with this schedule but maybe the games are more hard and intense in the Premier League so you do maybe need an extra day or half-day of recovery, but then you also get more time on the training pitch as well.

“There’s definitely differences in the way that we’ve approached it as a team and the way the manager and coaching staff have approached it. I love the game, game, game, game structure, I really like it.”

During the Blues’ Championship promotion campaign two seasons ago Chaplin started 42 of the 46 league games and was the club’s joint-top scorer with 13 goals.

The former Portsmouth man finds himself in a competitive area of the pitch this time around with Nathan Broadhead, Omari Hutchinson and Sammie Szmodics fighting over similar positions on the pitch.

“I’m ready for the challenge in the same way I’ve been the whole four years here,” Chaplin said.

“I’m excited to bring what I can bring to the team and then also learn from the other players as well. That’s something I’ve tried to do wherever I’ve been, learning different bits from different people’s games and also supporting my teammates in the best way possible.”

Part one of the interview in which Chaplin talks about skipper Sam Morsy’s impending departure can be found here and part two on the Austria training camp and new signings here.

Photo: TownTV

flykickingbybgunn added 13:10 - Jul 22 It will be a sad day when Chappers goes. But not for a long time yet I hope. As has been said on here before Captain/management material.
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ringwoodblue added 13:39 - Jul 22 Brum will be a very different opponent compared to the last time we played them 18 months ago.
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bluesissy added 13:48 - Jul 22 Definitely looking forward to it but with a little trepidation
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del45 added 14:45 - Jul 22 Bit of old news fimed at the training centre.
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Bazza8564 added 14:52 - Jul 22 Tough starting game but as Conor says, different group. We are becoming more equipped than ever for the future, and by the time we play B'rum, we will hopefully have added 2-3 more
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WhoisJimmyJuan added 15:00 - Jul 22 He hasn't moved for days now Chappers.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 16:03 - Jul 22 Must admit, I'm pretty nervous about this one.
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blueboy1981 added 16:15 - Jul 22 Trepidation season ahead all you deluded with Squeaky Bums right now ! - lets hope, maybe above hope being necessary, that the Grind proves not too difficult. No doubt the ‘norms’ will have prepared their excuses - just in case of such an event/s to follow. ‘ What a difference a year makes’ ??
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Ebantiass added 16:42 - Jul 22 I know we are not in the premiere league anymore, but for me Chappers and Burns tbh looked well out of their depths. It was LITERALLY men against children. Seems a good guy and a team player but would NEVER be premiere league quality. Wishing him and the team the very best for the forthcoming season.
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armchaircritic59 added 18:11 - Jul 22 No squeaky bum here blueboy1981, just looking forward to the dogfight of the championship, anyway we'll probably be sold before we get much further, and will have far greater things to worry about :)
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carsey added 18:26 - Jul 22 This is going to be a tough season and ideally Town need to get off to a winning start at Birmingham.
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Tampa_Florida_Blue added 18:46 - Jul 22 While this game do look tough, I can also see how many new players they have bought, and how fast will they gel. I can see the PR home game being tougher.
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