Town manager Jim Magilton: "Our home form was obviously the catalyst for us making great strides forward last year and any team that wants to be successful has to be strong on their home ground, it's important that we continue to make Portman Road the same sort of difficult place to come for the opposition that it was last year.

"I hope the crowd comes flooding in through the gates. They know how important they are to us. It's important that we get their full backing. It will be down to us to show that we've got real intent.

"Last season was proof that we are heading in the right direction but it's vital that we continue that upward trend this season, the target is simple. We need to keep improving and if we were one point shy of the top six last season then improvement means a place in the top six this year."

Preston are unlikely to use striker Chris Brown who has a hip injury, Ross Wallace and Barry Nicholson could make their debuts.

Preston boss Alan Irvine: "It is going to be an extremely competitive league, even more so than last season, and it will be tighter I think.

"I don't see anyone running away with it at the top or getting dropped off at the bottom, it will be as unpredictable as last season as to where you finish.

"I believe there will be as many as 16 or 18 teams who will think they should be challenging at the top of the table, if you take in the play-offs as well as the two automatic promotion positions.

"I'm obviously looking for Preston to be as high as possible, but I'm not going to make any daft comments about where we want to get to.

"To start with our aim is to get to 53 points as quickly as possible - that would mean you're pretty certain to stay in the division.

"If you can get those points on the board early in the season then you can look at what to aim for next.

"When I was at Everton, the aim was to get 40 points as quickly as we could - obviously there are less games in the Premier League.

"If you got those before Christmas you had got yourself into a good position at the right end of the table. But if you were nowhere near, then you had a problem.

"It's one of the toughest starts we could have got - Ipswich's home record was excellent last season.

"But we will certainly be going there full of confidence."

Sources: LEP.co.uk and Ipswich Town - the official website

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Ipswich Town Poll