Ipswich Town’s opening pre-season friendly ended in a 3-2 defeat by Bundesliga side Paderborn this afternoon.
Manager Paul Lambert used different sides in either half at Stadion Laumeskamp, with new signing James Norwood not featuring given he only began pre-season training on Wednesday.
Jon Nolan, Gwion Edwards, Alan Judge and Freddie Sears were all with the squad but didn't feature in the game as they continue to nurse injury problems, but there was the welcome sight of Emyr Huws in an Ipswich Town shirt once again as the Welshman continues his journey back from a knee injury. He looked neat and tidy and wasn't shy of going to ground to win the ball, with a superb sliding tackle in the final minutes stopping Paderborn adding to their tally.
Three goals in the first half flew past new goalkeeper Tomas Holy, though he could do little about them in truth as the hosts found joy through the middle of the Town defence, while there was obvious rust that needed shaking off after the summer break.
But Andre Dozzell and Teddy Bishop combined well on a number of occasions to create openings, while Cole Skuse looked sharp in the centre of midfield.
Jordan Roberts, playing as a central striker, scored the Blues' first-half goal and there was promise in the second period, too, with Kayden Jackson and Danny Rowe linking up well to ensure the Blues offered a threat.
Jackson's penalty reduced the deficit but that's as good as it got for the Blues before the full-time whistle went.
After kick-off was delayed by 15-minutes due to the Blues' late arrival following a two-and-a-half hour journey from their training base, the Blues were on the attack early on as the set-pieces of Dozzell caused trouble on a few occasions.
Roberts and Toto Nsiala both headed wide but, just eight minutes in, Ipswich fell behind as Kai Proger fired a fierce shot past new goalkeeper Holy.
The second came as Tobias Schwede found space on the left side of the box to roll the ball home, as Ipswich once again gave their opponents too much space in which to work.
Another superb Dozzell ball almost set Myles Kenlock away, with the home grown midfielder making things tick for the tourists as he combined superbly with Bishop, but it was soon three.
This time a ball from front to back from former Brighton man Uwe Hunemeier completely split the Ipswich defence in two, allowing Babacar Gueye to beat Holy.
The Blues did get one back before half-time though, as Roberts profited on a mistake from goalkeeper Michael Ratajczak allowed him to pounce and bundle the ball home.
Mass challenges followed at the break, with both sides changing their entire teams and the second period starting slowly as a result.
Bartosz Bialkowski was called into action to claim a dangerous ball into the area, as the Blues found themselves on the back foot, but they were soon pushing forward as a number of good moments between Danny Rowe and Kayden Jackson threatened in the final third.
The latter's drive into the box won a penalty as he was clattered to the turf, with the striker picking himself up and sending the goalkeeper the wrong way to reduce the deficit.
There was a late nervy moment as, after Huws had got back superbly to tackle an advancing Paderborn forward, Ndaba stumbled in possession, but Bialkowski saved well to get his defender off the hook.
Next up for the Blues is next weekend's Interwetten Cup in Meppen, where they will play Fortuna Dusseldorf in a 45-minute semi-final before then facing either the hosts or Utrecht in a final or third-place play-off.
SC Paderborn 07 first half: Ratajczak; Hünemeier, Drinkuth, Strohdiek, Gjasula, Pröger, Schwede, Gueye, Mamba, Holtmann, Vasiliadis:
Second half: Huth, Rumpf, Ritter, Souza, Schonlau, Shelton, Kilian, Antwi-Adjei, Tawiah, Kapic, Hilßner
Ipswich Town first half: Holy; Emmanuel, Nsiala, Woolfenden, Kenlock; Skuse, Bishop; Lankester, Dobra, Dozzell; Robert's
Second half: Bialkowski, Donacien, Chambers, Ndaba, Nydam; Downes, Huws; Rowe, El Mizouni, Clements; Jackson
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