Ipswich Town v Preston North End 
Saturday 7th October 2023 – 15:00
Portman Road
Pre-Match Thoughts - Mike
I love reading all the online stuff following each round of Championship fixtures, a week or so back it was still quite commonly said that "Ipswich had started well but are in a false position", other comments along similar lines afforded us praise for our start to the season while keeping the firm belief we will fall away and while that may or may not prove to be the case the talk is suddenly turning in many quarters, rival fans are now starting to see us as "the real deal" blah blah blah.
Following on from our incredible performance to demolish Hull City Tuesday evening I have read comments from fans of the likes of Leicester, Leeds, Hull, Sheff Wed and dare I say it even Norwich lavishing praise on what we are doing right now, top Six, Automatic, the real deal, you name it, the praise is there and while it is true what Kieran Mckenna says in that we must stay grounded, take each game one at a time and not get to cocky etc you cannot help but think that we are virtually a quarter of the way through the season and are sweeping most of what is presented in front of us away, it is hard not to start to believe that we are going places.
Some of the Football we dished up against Hull was right from the very top drawer and against a team that had started the season in fine form themselves, we really did blow them away, the goals were all excellently worked and converted but for me the second one oozed class and it's not the first time in recent games we have gone from Hladky to Goalscorer with several passes and the opposition not even close to touching the ball, it is quality Football that would not look out of place at any level of the game, the finishes from Burns, Chaplin & Harness were all quality in their own way but Chappers hit in particular had me drooling. Another to heap praise on us was hull boss Liam Rosenior who admitted as good as Hull have been they are some distance behind us with much to do to get to that level, his words were very complimentary of the team and indeed the boss.
I think picking a MOTM Tuesday was nigh on impossible to be fair, just who do you go for ? Chaplin, Burns, Hirst, Harness, Hladky, Edmundson, Williams, Davis, Woolfy, they all stake a claim, that only leaves Morsy & Mass and we know they always deliver. I think it is fair to say we all rolled our eyes at the team sheet but lets be fair here, Edmundson & Harness were excellent and have definitely made things much tougher for KM where team selection is concerned, our bench every week just gets stronger and stronger which is going to set us in good stead for the long slog to come.
The win keeps us in a very healthy place indeed with just Leicester City and all their mega Millions above us by a couple of points, I will take that come May for sure, a few big teams are finding it hard to keep up just now as we blaze a trail, Sunderland trail by Six, WBA (9), Leeds (9), Norwich (9), Southampton (9), Middlesbrough (14), the list goes on and already at that early stage some of those gaps take some making up but as KM has said we have to keep improving to keep us where we have got to, complacency cannot be allowed to creep in and I for One just don't see this bunch allowing that to happen, I cannot impress enough the importance of our style of recruitment when it comes to players fitting in and being of a certain mould, McKenna & Ashton have been brilliant in what they have achieved thus far.
I said after the draw at Huddersfield that we were in an excellent position what with Two home games coming up and that has been born out, Hull could not live with us and next up it is Preston North End's turn to have a go, they started the season very well and led the early table but just lately have found a couple of games really tough, I must be honest having seen us outplay them in pre season I could not understand their good start, I know it was only a friendly but we looked better in every department which is partly why I do not fear coming up against them at Portman Road this weekend even if they do still sit in Third place with twenty points to their name, I don't see them staying there for long no matter what happens Saturday afternoon, they've just shipped Seven goals in Two games and we score for fun so why not be confident.
With an abundance of talent at his disposal Kieran McKenna has a few selection headaches to deal with< does Cameron Burgess return instead of Edmundson, has Harness earned his place or does Broadhead walk back in, did Williams impress more than Clarke and how on earth can Hladky do any more to keep his place over fit again Walton, good problems to have for sure but such is the c*ck-a-hoop feel around the club right now I fully expect whichever Eleven start to be good enough to get the job done with their brand of sexy football. Another Town win for me and still no sign of this dream ending any time soon. COYB'S
The Opposition – Preston North End - Honours
League
First Division
Champions: 1888–89, 1889–90
Runners-up: 1890–91, 1891–92, 1892–93, 1905–06, 1952–53, 1957–58
Second Division / Championship
Champions: 1903–04, 1912–13, 1950–51
Runners-up: 1914–15, 1933–34
Third Division / League One
Champions: 1970–71, 1999–2000
Play-off winners: 2015
Fourth Division / League Two
Champions: 1995–96
Runners-up: 1986–87
Cup
FA Cup
Winners: 1888–89, 1937–38
Runners-up: 1887–88, 1921–22, 1936–37, 1953–54, 1963–64
FA Charity Shield
Runners-up: 1938
Football League War Cup
Winners: 1940–41
Lancashire Senior Cup
Winners (6): 1886–87, 1892–93, 1894–95, 1899–1900, 1938–39, 1996–97
The Manager – Ryan Lowe
League Table as at 5th October 2023
Form Guide
Ipswich Town
16 Sep Sheffield Wed 0 - 1 Ipswich Town
19 Sep Southampton 0 - 1 Ipswich Town
23 Sep Ipswich Town 4 - 3 Blackburn
30 Sep Huddersfield 1 - 1 Ipswich Town
3 Oct Ipswich Town 3 - 0 Hull City
Preston North End
16 Sep Preston 2 - 1 Plymouth
19 Sep Preston 2 - 1 Birmingham City
23 Sep Rotherham 1 - 1 Preston
30 Sep Preston 0 - 4 West Brom
4 Oct Leicester City 3 - 0 Preston
Head to Head
Match Referee – David Webb
IPSWICH TOWN 2 PRESTON NORTH END 1
Hmmm. They’ll be looking to correct that asap. Could be a very interesting encounter. 
.
). On reflection a much closer scoreline of 2-0 was perhaps a wiser option (says the guy who scored a single point last weekend!!).
