Ipswich Town

If the opening weekend is anything to go by, you don't want to turn this one off early.

Kieran McKenna's Ipswich grabbed a point in the Championship curtain-raiser at Birmingham last Friday with George Hirst's 95th-minute penalty ensuring a 1-1 draw.

Will Still's Saints were trailing 1-0 at home to another newly-promoted side, Wrexham, until the 90th minute when Ryan Manning curled home a sublime free-kick to level it, and Manning then laid on a dramatic winner for Jack Stephens in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

This fixture was a Premier League one last season, but this time the three points might prove pivotal in deciding which, if either, of the clubs make it back to the top-flight this season.

• Ipswich Town have won just two of their past nine league games against Southampton (D4 L3), doing the double over the Saints the last time these two sides featured in the Championship in 2023-24.

• Southampton have won three of their past four away league games against Ipswich Town (L1), scoring 12 goals in total at Portman Road across that time.

• After drawing 1-1 with Birmingham in their opener, Ipswich will be looking to avoid going winless across their opening two Championship matchdays of a campaign for just the second time since 2009-10, also suffering that fate in 2018-19 when they were last relegated from the second tier.

• Against Wrexham, Southampton had the highest xG total (4.1), completed the most successful passes (527) and had the highest share of possession (74.4%) in the Championship.

• On his Championship debut last weekend, Southampton's Jay Robinson attempted six shots, the joint-most, and had an xG total of 1.1, the most of any player in the competition on the opening day.

"I think it's all about carrying the journey we're on. There is an endgame, it's to ensure there is a legacy of a football club that is established in the Football League that represents the town of Bromley."

Aaron Paul, Jobi McAnuff and Phil Brown are joined by Bromley owner Robin Stanton-Greaves to discuss the EFL after the Ravens' shock win against Ipswich in the Carabao Cup on penalties.

They discuss the season ahead for the clubs in the Championship, new signings for Ipswich and Queens Park Rangers, an all-time EFL starting XI and the goalkeeper howlers from the new season so far.

Listen to the full episode of 72+ and more on BBC Sounds.

Ipswich Town are willing to part with Iraq forward Ali Al-Hamadi, 23, amid interest from Luton Town and Cardiff City. (TeamTalk), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Thursday's gossip column here.

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Nottingham Forest are considering their next move for Ipswich winger Omari Hutchinson.

The Tractor Boys have rejected a £35m offer from Forest for the former Chelsea youngster, with the City Ground side now assessing their options.

Forest, who open their Premier League season at home to Brentford on Sunday, have already brought in winger Dan Ndoye from Bologna to replace Anthony Elanga, who has gone to Newcastle.

Brentford also had an bid worth £35m rejected for England Under-21 wideman Hutchinson, who won the European Championship in the summer with the Young Lions and scored in their final win over Germany.

It matched Hutchinson's release clause but because of the payment structure, with the money spread over time, Ipswich could turn it down and the clause has now expired.

Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna says that there have not been any offers for attacker Omari Hutchinson that would change the club's position on a potential sale.

The England Under-21 international, 21, has attracted interest from Premier League sides Nottingham Forest and Brentford but the Tractor Boys have not yet agreed a deal with either club.

"[Hutchinson has] made his desire to continue to play Premier League if the opportunity is there," McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"There hasn't been anything that has changed the club's position yet.

"It's known that Omari had a buy-out clause in his contract that was active for a few months.

"There was no serious or proper offers in that time so once that position is closed then it's the club's position to make the decision as they see fit."

Hutchinson has not played for Ipswich so far this season after making 31 Premier League appearances last term.

Listen to the full interview with McKenna and more on BBC Sounds.

Ipswich Town attacker Conor Chaplin said it is "business as normal" despite rumours linking him with a move away from the Championship club.

The 28-year-old has one year left on his contract and struggled for fitness during the club's fleeting tenure in the Premier League last season - with a single goal in his 22 top-flight appearances.

"If you've been in football a while, you know that's part of it," Chaplin told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"The earlier you can get things done the better, but it's not always the case, especially in summer transfer windows. It tends to be tough and long and [has] sagas and twists and turns.

"When it's closed, you can sort of dial in and look forward, but until then it's just business as normal."

Listen to the full interview with Chaplin and more on BBC Sounds.

Chuba Akpom's arrival at Ipswich could pave the way for 27-year-old Wales international Nathan Broadhead to make a £7.5m move to join Wrexham. (Evening Leader, external)

Italian club Sassuolo are in talks with the Tractor Boys over the signing of goalkeeper Arijanet Muric with the 26-year-old Kosovo international having been displaced by Alex Palmer at Portman Road (Sky Sports, external)

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Monday's gossip column here.

Image source, Rex Features

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna admits that he was relieved to pick up a point on a difficult night for his side at Birmingham City.

The Tractor Boys looked set to begin with a defeat until George Hirst's controversial penalty in the 95th minute rescued them.

They were second best for large parts of the game, but McKenna is happy they are up and running.

"It's important to get something on the opening day and this is going to be a difficult place to come this season for anyone, especially on the opening night," he told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"There is a lot of work to do with the group, but all of those factors considered, hopefully it's a good point come the end of the season and there are some things for us to build on and other things clearly to improve."

"The amount of new managers coming into the league this year, I have never seen anything like it".

Aaron Paul and Jobi McAnuff are joined by special guests Tommy Smith and Alex Bruce to preview the 2025-26 Championship season.

They discuss a range of topics including assessing chances of sides coming down from the Premier League, who the contenders might be for the top six and take a deep dive of each of the sides promoted from League One.

Listen to the full episode of 72+ and more on BBC Sounds.

The 2025-26 Championship season kicks-off on Friday (20:00 BST) with a mammoth game between promotion favourites Birmingham City and Ipswich Town.

The Blues are first to host in this year's campaign after a record-breaking spell in League One last season.

Meanwhile, Ipswich will be seeking a big win as they look to bounce right back into the Premier League after just one season in the top tier.

• Three of the last four league matches between Birmingham and Ipswich have ended in draws, with the Tractor Boys winning the other 3-1 in February 2024, the most recent meeting between the sides.

• Ipswich Town have won one of their last 19 away league matches against Birmingham (D8 L10), a 1-0 victory in the 2012-13 campaign in Mick McCarthy's first game in charge.

• Birmingham won the 2024-25 League One title with 34 wins and 111 points, both all-time records in a single season in Football League history. The Blues didn't lose a single home league game and are unbeaten in 25 overall (W21 D4), only having a longer unbeaten home run between October 1970 and April 1972 (36 games).

• Ipswich Town picked up just 22 points in the Premier League in 2024-25 (W4 D10 L24), their lowest ever in a single league season in their history. In 2025, only Southampton (6) have picked up fewer points than the Tractor Boys (7) among sides in the top four tiers of English football, while they also have the joint worst defensive record (49 goals conceded, level with Mansfield).

• This is the second time Birmingham are playing Ipswich at home in their first league game of the season. The other time was a 3-1 win in 1995-96 – when the Blues were newly promoted to the second tier, and Ipswich had just come down from the Premier League.