Ipswich Town keeper Christian Walton says the club's players have to embrace promotion pressure.

The Blues, who finished 11th last season, have been installed as one of the bookies' favourites for the League One title following Kieran McKenna's impressive start to senior management and some solid summer signings.

"I don’t think that’s any surprise," said Walton, speaking ahead of Saturday's opener against Bolton at Portman Road.

"I think that was always going to be the case, given the size of the club, the players we have signed and the quality that we already had here.

"Yes, the expectation is going to be there, but I’ll thrive on it. I enjoy being part of a big club and I think it’s the same with the rest of the players.

"When you sign for Ipswich you know what you’re getting into. This is something you dream about when you are growing up, playing for a big outfit."

East Anglian Daily Times: Christian Walton has proved a big hit at Ipswich Town since arriving from Brighton.Christian Walton has proved a big hit at Ipswich Town since arriving from Brighton. (Image: © Copyright Stephen Waller)

The 26-year-old continued: "When you look at last summer, what was it, 19 new signings? A few of us, myself included, didn't arrive until late August. It was never going to be easy. I know it’s an old cliché but Rome wasn’t built in a day.

"When the new manager came in he changed the style of play to one that we really enjoy and really turned it around.

“I think I saw a stat that said if we had been able to play the whole season the way we played the games under the new manager we would have finished second in the table and gone up.

"Last season was difficult, but it will be a lot different this year. This summer feels a lot more settled to last.

"We haven’t lost any of our best players like other clubs have. In fact, we have been able to take other clubs’ best players and bring them here."

He added: "We know the target. I want promotion and so does everyone else. The fans want it, the owners want it, everyone at the club wants it.

“But while we have targets that we want to meet we don’t want to put too much pressure on ourselves and then everyone panic if we’re not matching targets. Put it this way – we all know what we have to do to get this club promotion back to the Championship."