We’re back in Box 19 having had a short break for the summer. This week we see Town face two opponents in pre season friendlies in preparation for the Premiership kicking off in a few week’s time.
Tuesday night, we took on Le Havre in a friendly at Portman Road and it was a great opportunity for Gary O’Neil to try out the majority of the full squad, replacing almost all of his first team line up for the second half.
The game started off relatively quiet, it certainly wasn’t a disappointing first half but just lacked a little excitment.
Things livened up in the second half thanks to Chuba Akpom heading home a beautiful gaving Ipswich Town a 1-0 friendly victory.
Gary O’Neil gave new signings Emersonn, Daizen Maeda, Issa Diop, Abdul Fatawu and Kayne van Oevelen a good run out. He described the game as a “decent performance” but his side could have “created more chances” against Le Havre.
It was quite clear, and rightly so, the team were playing very carefully to protect themselves from injury for the first game of our premiership season. “The aim is to get everybody ready for Sunderland,” said O’Neil.
“Today was another good step towards that. We are in a good spot now to go into Rayo, which will be a test, and it will feel more like a real game.”
