Ipswich Town

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Ipswich winger Jack Clarke says the club are "much better equipped" to be promoted again should they be relegated back to the Championship this season.

Kieran McKenna's side finished second and were promoted on 96 points in the 2023-24 campaign, but look resigned to an immediate return to the second tier, which could be confirmed this weekend.

When asked if the club are in a strong place to return, Clarke said: "Everybody does - you'd be stupid not to.

"They finished second last season and I think everybody at the club would argue they're very much better equipped now for if they were back in the Championship now to what they were last season.

"I think the trajectory of the club is always going to be on the up - it just depends if and when what exactly happens."

Clarke joined Ipswich for an initial fee of £15 last summer but has struggled for form in the top flight, managing just nine starts without scoring.

"Nobody had really played at this level before and its a case of learning what works, seeing what doesn't work and that has just come with time," the 24-year-old added.

"It's hard to dwell on games when you've always got another big one coming up.

"For everybody, it's just been a learning curve and hopefully we can be better for it.

"Sometimes you do feel a little bit starstruck when you line up against the top teams in these prestigious stadiums, but I think that's something you have to take while it's in front of you.

"Weirdly, its probably been one of the most enjoyable seasons without winning many games in terms of the experience and the level we have competed again. It will be one we can all appreciate much longer down the line in our lives."

Matthew Hobbs
BBC Sport multi-platform journalist

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Ipswich's relegation back to the Championship could be confirmed this weekend if results go against them, but it would likely have been sewn up earlier if not for the heroics of in-demand Liam Delap.

As the graphic shows, only Alexander Isak, Bruno Fernandes and Mohammed Salah have been more influential in terms of their teams' goal contributions than Delap in the Premier League this season.

In fact, Delap has scored a higher percentage of Ipswich's goals this season than any other player in their Premier League history.

Ben Ramsdale
BBC Sport journalist

Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Arsenal at Portman Road (kick-off 14:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• McKenna confirmed January signing Jaden Philogene will "pretty much definitely" not feature again this season after sustaining a knee injury in last weekend's draw at Chelsea.

• He also added that Omari Hutchinson and Kalvin Phillips both remain out for Sunday's fixture, but forward Liam Delap has trained and will be assessed.

• McKenna understands that Town are likely to "fall short" this season but even if they do, they will be in "a real strong position" going into 2025-26.

• On Ben Johnson's form: "He has built well over the course of the season and has certainly been in good form over the past few games. He is making good progress and getting his reward. Long may it continue."

• He expressed his desire to keep Axel Tuanzebe at the club beyond this season, labelling him as a "very important player" for the side.

• Finally, on the challenge of Arsenal: "We believe in ourselves and we believe if we execute every part of our game right then we have a chance and we can compete even with the best. If we do all that, and it's our day, then there is a chance we can get it on Sunday."

Listen to BBC Radio 5 Live commentary of Ipswich v Arsenal at 14:00 on Sunday

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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Ipswich have never won in 11 previous Premier League meetings with Arsenal (D2 L9). It is the most they have faced a side without a victory in the competition, while the Gunners have only faced Portsmouth more often without losing (14).

Arsenal have won their last 10 Premier League games against teams starting the day in the relegation zone by an aggregate score of 30-2.

Ipswich have dropped 27 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, more than any other side. They have only won one out of six games in 2025 when they have taken the lead (D3 L2).

Ipswich have seen an upturn in form with four points from their past three games, but it looks like too little, too late for their chances of Premier League survival.

Is there something else that is slipping under the radar? What is the one thing - good or bad - nobody is talking about in relation to Ipswich?

Let us know your thoughts here

Ipswich striker Liam Delap will turn down a move to Manchester United this summer. (Star), external

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Seb Brown
Fan writer

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The chant "10 more years Delap, 10 more years" rang out from the away end on Sunday as Ipswich gained an unlikely point away at Chelsea.

Liam Delap started on the bench at Stamford Bridge but has been the talking point all week after news broke of a £30m relegation release clause in his contract.

The reaction to this news amongst the fan base has been a mixture of anger and acceptance. Understandably, many are annoyed that one of the hottest young talents in English football will likely be moving on for a bargain fee.

Speculation around his valuation has been rife all season, with figures of £50-60m mentioned by the fans and the media. So to find out that he will most likely depart for about half of that figure is obviously frustrating.

While there is angst amongst the fan base, it is worth looking back at the situation the club found themselves in when Delap joined.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and very few fans would have predicted a player, who was coming in off an eight-goal Championship campaign at Hull City, would have turned out to be so impressive.

Delap has scored 12 Premier League goals this season, which is 36% of Ipswich's total, and his all-action displays are a throwback to a previous generation of centre forwards.

Unfortunately, however, if this relegation clause was a requirement of getting the initial deal done then in reality Ipswich had no choice.

Delap had already met with Southampton before signing for Town and newly-promoted sides rarely hold much advantage when trying to sign new players, because of the survival odds being stacked against them.

Town fans will get to enjoy Delap for six more games before he departs - and although £9m profit on a player after 12 months may be frustrating, it shows how quickly the club have progressed after years of poor player trading.

Trust must be given to the decision-makers at the club to always get the best deals possible and unearth another next gem for fans to serenade with songs from many away ends.

Find more from Seb Brown at the Blue Monday Podcast, external

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We asked for your views on Chelsea's Premier League game against Ipswich.

Here are some of your comments:

Chelsea fans

Dave: Rubbish, not much more to say - boring, negative, no flair, no style just backward sideways passing - the football we play deserves nothing. This manager is helping to kill football as an entertainment.

Stevie: Not good enough, no disrespect to Ipswich but taking only one point over two games from them is not enough. Not if we want to get Champions League and challenge for titles. Maresca-ball is boring and are we really any better than last year under Pochettino?

Peter: I've been a fan and a supporter of Chelsea for nearly 60 years now and even in the days of the 70s of relegations, I've never been so despondent towards a Chelsea team as I am now.

Ipswich fans

Tim: Good performance by Town, I was nervous at the start but we showed we can match the big clubs and Chelsea were fortunate to get the draw. We wasted first half of the season by dropping so many points against lower quality teams.

David: A gutsy display by a team who can only spend the same amount of money on their team as Chelsea spend on one player.

Saxon: Would have taken a draw before the game but gutted to lose points from a winning position yet again.

Highlights and analysis from Sunday's four Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from the rest of the weekend.

If you missed Match of the Day 2, catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

And you can watch Saturday's Match of the Day here.

Listen back to Sunday's full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Chelsea 2-2 Ipswich Town

• Liverpool 2-1 West Ham United

• Newcastle United 4-1 Manchester United

Everton are the latest club to join the race to sign 22-year-old striker Liam Delap from Ipswich Town. (Sun), external

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Kieran McKenna spoke to Premier League productions after Sunday's draw against Chelsea: "I thought it was a really good game. Really proud of the group again. First half was difficult and our resilience was really good. Second half we played well, really even. It was a big blow them getting a goal so early in second half. It took an incredible strike from Sancho off the bench. We gave everything and showed our quality.

On defensive lapses: "We know our record in first half is better than second half. I don't think today we did a load of things wrong. We didn't defend the moment well from the kick off. We defended right up to Sancho's goal really well. Can we get out quicker? Yes, we were half a yard off it. A top player sticks one in top corner from a really difficult angle.

On Julio Enciso's perfomance: "Big credit to him. It's been unfortunate for Julio. He could have made a huge impact for us in terms of results. He could have been a difference maker for us. I think the spirit we showed from Julio and the rest of the players summed up the group.

On Alex Palmer's saves: "Some great saves. The one at the end with his right arm was top drawer. He's made a big difference for us in the second half of the season."

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Ipswich Town have lost more points from winning positions than any other team in the Premier League this season (27), winning just one of the six league matches they've led in in 2025.

Were you at Stamford Bridge or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Chelsea's performance

Ipswich fans, what did you make of their display?

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

Four matches make up Sunday's Premier League action and BBC Sport will bring you every kick.

• Chelsea v Ipswich

• Liverpool v West Ham

• Wolves v Tottenham

• Newcastle United v Manchester United (16:30)

All kick-off times 14:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

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Ipswich defender Axel Tuanzebe says there is "still a positive energy" around the club, despite last weekend's damaging loss against Wolves.

The 2-1 home defeat left Kieran McKenna's side 12 points from safety with seven games to play and on the brink of relegation back to the Championship.

"There is still a positive energy," Tuanzebe said before Sunday's visit to Chelsea. "There's still seven games where we can affect our future and we're optimistic about that.

"Playing with freedom, expressing ourselves and that's when you see our best levels of football."

Tuanzebe's deal expires at the end of the season, but the former Manchester United player says there have not been discussions yet over his future.

"The club have got bigger things to focus on at the moment," he added. "Contractual situations, even for myself, have been put to the side and there's plenty of time in the summer to deal with that.

"Right now, the focus is on maintaining good performances, winning games and hopefully we can stay in the Premier League come next season."

Despite relegation looking likely, Tuanzebe believes there are reasons for Ipswich fans to be optimistic for the future.

"You can see the construction has begun for the new training ground, the club are really taking things seriously and the project is for the next few years," he said.

"I think it'll be one of the bigger clubs in England in the coming years. They really want to invest and push the team in the right direction and that message starts from the owners and goes all the way down to us players. We're all on board with it and all heading in the right direction."

Ipswich beat Chelsea at Portman Road earlier in the season so you cannot rule out them doing the double over Chelsea by winning at Stamford Bridge too.

Actually, I think you can. I'd love to back Ipswich to cheer up my daughter's teacher, Mr Fields, but I am done with predicting they will win. I am going to have to drop her off outside the school gates and let her walk in, because I can't risk going into the car park and seeing his sad face after another Tractor Boys defeat.

As we saw last week against Brentford, Chelsea are far from convincing in attack and can be flimsy defensively.

Cole Palmer is out of form too, but Chelsea should still have a host of chances here. If they take them, they will win comfortably.

Sutton's prediction: 3-0

Read the full predictions and have your say

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There are lots of different perspectives in terms of how you watch a game of football, and I think for the majority of time the people in the stadium get the best atmosphere, but the worst views of how a game has actually gone.

You don't really get the chance to see multiple replays and have discussions about things, because you just get caught up in the moment.

With the incoming semi automated offsides, they did promise it earlier in the season - but I think the caveat was they're only going to do it when it's ready.

It is a positive that they didn't do it when it wasn't ready.

One upside to to the new technology is some of the arguments disappear. Previously you could say 'but it looks like it's this to me' or 'it looks like it's that to me'. When it is presented now, there aren't many people that will then be looking at the animation, going back to the video, and then going down a proper conspiracy rabbit hole.

So, it ends more arguments, not all arguments, but more arguments.

I think people, as a consequence, will be more accepting of it.

But, I still do believe that there's things for people to understand, because it can't be used in every situation. There are certain decisions which can still be a little bit more complex, and there's certain times where human intervention will still need to be brought in.

I wouldn't say it's as clear as, say, goal line technology, but it's a step in the direction to where most people feel more comfortable accepting the outcome and the speed of it as well will be encouraged.

It's not to say that it's going to be instant. If you believe this is going to be perfect, and always extremely fast, ask yourself, why do you think that?

Unless somebody has told you that from PGMOL, then take it with a pinch of salt and you see how it goes.

I think it's something that many people have seen before so hopefully there will be fewer arguments.

But, because it's football, there'll always be something to argue about the end of the day.

Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Chelsea (kick-off 14:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• McKenna confirmed that his squad sustained "one or two knocks" from the loss to Wolves last week. Ben Godfrey is back training with the group but none of the club's long-term absentees are back yet.

• On his future: "I'm happy here. It felt the right thing to stay last summer and I wanted to take on the challenge of this Premier League season. This club has a fantastically bright future. Irrespective of a probable backwards step, there is potential to make big strides. I'm excited and proud to lead that."

• McKenna praised striker Liam Delap as he has done "fantastically well" for the club this season and believes there are "very few like him in world football". He reiterated that Delap is very happy at Ipswich and has missed training this week with a knock.

• McKenna said training has been good and that "good conversations" were had between his staff and the players. He added that "motivation is really high" and they are trying to control what they can control.

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Dutch club PSV Eindhoven are interested in a move for Ipswich's English winger Jack Clarke, 24, this summer. (Football Insider), external

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Ipswich have lost four of their six away games against London clubs in the Premier League this season (W1 D1); never before in their league history have they lost five matches in the capital in a single campaign.