Play-offs will be 'tough ask' for Ipswich - Mathie

Former Ipswich Town striker Alex Mathie said it will be boss Kieran McKenna's "biggest achievement" if he can get the side in contention at the top end of the Championship this season.

McKenna led a settled squad to successive promotions, taking Ipswich back to the Premier League, but last season's relegation from the top flight was followed by a significant churn of players over the summer.

They took six points from five games prior to Saturday's rain abandonment at Blackburn Rovers, when 10-man Town were losing 1-0 with 10 minutes to go.

"It's going to take time for McKenna to mould his team the way he wants them to play," Mathie told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"It will be a his biggest achievement to get this team up there challenging.

"At this moment in time, if we got to the play-offs, I'd be delighted with that - but it's going to be a tough ask for them. There's a lot of teams have got a head start on them, but who knows what they can do?

"I can't see us getting in the top two, we've not hit the ground running. But if we get to the play-offs, we might be able to peak at the right time."

Jacob Greaves and Dara O'Shea started the Blackburn game in central defence - prior to Greaves being sent off - and Mathie said he was not yet convinced by them as a pairing.

"They seem to get caught out. They go galloping forward and leave one there on their own, and that's what happened for the [Blackburn] goal," Mathie said.

"One ball over the top killed us, so I think they need to work on that together - as individuals. They are two very good centre-halves, but as a pairing, they are still to gel for me."