West Ham United begin their preparations for the upcoming Premier League campaign with a trip to Ipswich Town on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Tractor Boys play their fourth pre-season fixture fresh off the back of losing 3-0 at Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend.
Match preview
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Having provided his squad with some time off until the middle of this month, David Moyes is now pressed with getting his players into condition for a start date of September 12.
With a number of pre-season fixtures to come, including two being played on Tuesday, the Scot will hope that a training camp in Scotland has shaken off the cobwebs ahead of their encounter at Portman Road.
As it stands, no fresh faces have arrived at the London Stadium, but the next couple of weeks represent an opportunity for this group of players to build on their strong end to the last campaign.
Twelve points from their remaining seven matches led to the club eventually finishing five points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.
However, heading into the final year of an 18-month contract, Moyes is aware that the same end result will not be enough to earn a longer stay at the London Stadium.
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As far as Ipswich are concerned, Paul Lambert has been eager for his first-team squad to get some minutes under their belt after the early curtailment of League One in March.
Ahead of an EFL Cup tie with Bristol Rovers on September 5, the East Anglian side have already played three games, two of which came on the same night at Colchester United.
While Lambert would have undoubtedly been delighted with two wins on that occasion, the Scot will probably have taken more from the meeting with Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Disappointingly for Lambert, his team conceded all three goals in the opening 30 minutes, but 23 members of his squad were all provided with more game time ahead of the restart.
Right now, that is the most important thing as they prepare to begin an unrelenting schedule, although that will not prevent Lambert from demanding improvements in their second meeting with Premier League opposition in less than 72 hours.
Ipswich Town form (friendlies): WWL
West Ham United form (friendlies): N/A
Head To Head
These two clubs have previously squared off in 68 competitive fixtures, the last of which took place in the Championship at the beginning of 2012.
On that occasion, Ipswich prevailed by a 5-1 scoreline at Portman Road, ensuring that they completed the double over West Ham that season.
However, the East Londoners hold the advantage from an historical perspective, claiming 27 wins in comparison to Ipswich's return of 21.
We say: Ipswich Town 1-2 West Ham United
While Ipswich will be considerably sharper than the Hammers at this stage of pre-season, we are still backing an away win. Moyes has raised standards since his arrival midway through the last campaign, and his players will want to impress in this contest.
Darren Plant
