Birmingham City v Ipswich Town: Championship opener – live
Championship updates from the 8pm BST kick-off
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Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna speaks to Sky, and is asked for his thoughts on his side being favourites for promotion. “It’s a positive … it reflects we’ve done some good things over the last few years … in the end it doesn’t mean very much, you have to earn the right every game, every week … there is a lot of work ahead of us … we are ready for the challenge … it’s not alien to us … in League One we were one of the promotion favourites … our depth isn’t what it needs to be in some positions … we’re pretty tight … we expect to be stronger in a few weeks’ time … [Ajax striker Chuba Akpom] has been well publicised … it’s one we’re trying to get done … we’re hoping for good news on that one.”
Birmingham name three debutants in their starting XI. Kyōgo, formerly of Celtic, starts up front, while Bright Osayi-Samuel and Phil Neumann line up at the back. Demarai Gray makes his second debut for his boyhood club, having since played for Leicester, Bayer Leverkusen, Everton and Al-Ittifaq.
