Ipswich Town: Mark Ashton on Championship 2025/26 fixtures

The Blues discovered their schedule for the 2025/26 Championship campaign this lunchtime.

The season starts with a Friday night trip to newly-promoted Birmingham, while both Southampton (just relegated) and Sheffield United (beaten Play-Off Finalists) visit Portman Road inside the opening five fixtures.

"Tough season ahead, long season ahead," said Ashton, speaking to TownTV.

"You take the cup fixtures into account and it will be very close to a 50 game season. We've been in the Championship many times before - it's tough, it's entertaining and we need to be ready."

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On the opening game at Birmingham, he said: "Tough. They're all going to be tough. I think the beauty of the Championship, as we've seen, is that anyone can beat anyone on their given day. Birmingham will come into the division with high energy, high expectations and we've got to be the very best versions of ourselves. We've got to be ready because this season's going to be tough."

Asked what games jumped off the page for him, he replied: "There's a number, isn't there? You're always looking at the opening game, the local derby, the previous clubs that you've been at, the Christmas period and the run-in at the end of the season. It's going to be another tough season - it is.

"The Championship is so unforgiving, but I like the rhythm and the routine of it. Saturday-Tuesday-Sunday-Wednesday... The games come thick and fast, more so than in the Premier League - and I think that suits us. Kieran is good when he gets his players into that focus and into a rhythm. We're all going to have to be ready come the 8th (of August) because it's going to be very tough."

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On preparations for the season ahead, he said: "There have been no days off from well before the West Ham game. We are in work mode. It's very, very busy, we're in a transfer window, we've got work to do on the football side and we've got a training ground under construction. As ever, under this ownership, there's a lot going on.

"Everyone starts on that opening day of the season with huge optimism. We have to be the very best versions of ourselves. The plan's not going to change. Plan B is simply to do Plan A better and to be more effective. We know what to expect from the league and we know what we've got to do. We are working hard to retain the squad that we've built because we've got some really good players and we'll add to that over the coming weeks. That we'll happen. As an ownership group we've been active in every ingle transfer window. This will be no different."

He continued: "This is an amazing football club, a beautiful football club that we're still trying to rebuild. We're still at the early stages of that rebuild. We've had huge success in the last two or three years and we have to stay as one. If we do that then this cub will be unstoppable because it's such a big, powerful club."

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With Axel Tuanzebe set to reject a new contract and sign for Burnley, Ashton insists that player retention remains a vital part of this summer.

"We worked hard to build a really good squad last season," he said. "Ultimately we fell short, we've talked about that, there's a full stop now at the end of that season and we need to look forward.

"We want to retain our best players and that's not easy because we've recruited good players who are in demand. So we want to make sure we retain what we need to retain and then we want to recruit on the top."

More: Tuanzebe set to sign for Burnley on a Bosman free transfer

He added: "There's a real excitement on fixture release day, and I get that, but I'm in no mood for messing. This is focus. We've got work to do. We've got a squad and a team that needs to be prepared. This season will challenge us in every way. It will challenge the depth of the squad, it will challenge the staff, it will challenge the board, the ownership and, importantly, it will challenge fans. We are in work mode and we've got a job to do. We've got a long, hard season ahead."

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