Ipswich Town take on Gillingham in their fourth pre-season friendly of the summer tomorrow. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game at Priestfield.
Where and when?
Priestfield Stadium, Kent. Kick-off is at 3pm.
Pre-season recap
It’s been plain-sailing for the Blues so far this summer. They won 5-0 at Irish side Drogheda United, beat League One side Southend United 4-1 in a behind-closed-doors game at the training ground, then won 3-1 at League One side Peterborough United in an extended 120-minute match on Tuesday night.
New striker Joe Garner has scored five goals in three outings.
Who’s involved?
Summer signings Bersant Celina and Dominic Iorfa both made their first outings for the club at London Road on Tuesday night. Tricky winger Celina has missed a lot of training through illness, while athletic right-back Iorfa only arrived last Friday. Mick McCarthy admitted afterwards that there is a lot more to come from those two and they’ll be looking to show that.
Keeper Bartosz Bialowski (stomach bug), centre-back Adam Webster (ankle) and Emyr Huws (sore calf) were all left out on Tuesday night as a precaution, but should all play a part.
There could also be a first Town appearance for new boy Tom Adeyemi, the box-to-box midfielder having struggled with illness since arriving on a free transfer from Cardiff.
Clues to Mick’s opening XI?
McCarthy has so far played a completely different team in each half, mixing up his senior players and youngsters. Tomorrow he is likely to give those that start around an hour before making sweeping substitutions. Don’t read too much into that if that’s the case though. Those that only get half an hour or so are then likely to start in next Tuesday night’s game at Colchester United.
Opposition
The Gills finished one place and one point above the League One relegation zone back in May thanks to a nervy goalless draw at Northampton on the final day.
Ipswich-born manager Ady Pennock, who was appointed in January, said: “I’ve got a project in place to show the chairman. We’ve got to start again; we need to get people in who care about this football club. I want people to run through walls for the shirt.”
Star midfielder Bradley Dack, who was previously linked with Town, recently moved to Blackburn for £750k.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here