Kieran McKenna believes Ipswich Town's League One opener against Bolton Wanderers is an 'exciting' game and that Ian Evatt's side are a 'high level' opponent.
Wanderers finished last season ninth in League One, a good achievement for a newly promoted side to the division. But this campaign, Wanderers have their sights firmly set on a promotion challenge and are seeking to return to the Championship for the first time since 2019.
The 2022/23 fixtures were confirmed yesterday morning and Evatt's men will begin their campaign on the road against the Tractor Boys on July 30, whom they defeated 5-2 at Portman Road early last season in emphatic fashion. Wanderers completed the double over Ipswich with a 2-0 win at the University of Bolton Stadium in January.
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The latter came with McKenna in charge of the East Anglian side and he is well aware of how Wanderers performed in the second portion of last season. But he is pleased his side begin their campaign at home and will be aiming to start the campaign with three points.
Speaking to iFollow Ipswich, McKenna said: "It’s an exciting fixture. Bolton are a really strong team who finished the second half of the season really well, so it’s a high level opponent.
"We are really pleased to be at home. We finished last season off at home against Charlton and there was a fantastic energy and atmosphere in the stadium. We’ll look to pick up where we left off with that.
"We spoke to the players earlier today and everyone is excited for Bolton in the first game, but Forest Green in the second would be the same three points. That’s the key mentality for us to have through the year.
"It’s a long slog of a season with a lot of tough fixtures and there’s going to be good days and bad days. We need to prepare as well as what we can and work really hard to make sure that we’re mentality and physically robust so we can then come out on top of that 46-game season with a good outcome."
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