"My gut feeling" - Exclusive: Sky Sports pundit reveals exciting Ipswich Town prediction | OneFootball

Lee Hendrie has made his forecast for the Tractor Boys’ 2025/26 season

Ipswich Town were unable to avoid the drop in the Premier League and are now gearing up for another season in the Championship.

At times, they looked the most likely to scrape survival, but late revivals for the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers resigned them to their fate.

Next term, we’ll learn whether they follow Burnley’s path of an instant bounce back, or suffer following the demotion like Luton Town.

We spoke to Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie, to see where he thinks the Tractor Boys may find themselves next season.

Ipswich Town backed to return straight back to the Premier League

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Hendrie said: “My gut feeling, do I think Ipswich will be top-two contenders in the Championship? Yes, I do.

“I think they’ll try and go again. I think they've had a taste of what it was. They’ve had that fantastic run of promotions, Kieran McKenna’s done an unbelievable job, and I think they'll go again, I really do.

“I think they'll be right in the thick of things. Obviously, league payments are always healthy and always nice to have, despite the relegation.

“I think they will be definitely, definitely among the top two.”

Much will depend on the Tractor Boys’ summer window

As with any drop from the Premier League, the summer will be important.

There is little doubt the Suffolk club will be raided for their best players, not least Liam Delap, who has been their primary goal threat and talisman throughout the 2024/25 campaign, but is now attracting plenty of Premier League interest from the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea.

Replacing him will not be easy as, although they don’t need someone to the same level for the second tier, there is not a huge surplus of top-class no.9s in world football currently.

Ipswich’s success next term will be linked to the performances of key replacements like the one likely needed for Delap.

Ipswich will also have another Championship benefit

The club will also benefit from parachute payments, which give teams a significant financial boost over their rivals.

It’s estimated by the Daily Echo that the teams relegated this season, who receive a cut of the payment made to the 20 Premier League clubs, could be in line for a windfall of around £49m, around five times that of a regular Championship club.

A smaller cut is also made available in the second year, so long as the club haven’t earned promotion again.

That system could have seen Ipswich battle the two sides relegated with them, plus the three relegated from the year before, all still receiving uplifted league revenue.

But with Burnley already promoted back to the top tier, Luton relegated, and Sheffield United potentially going up via the play-offs, it could mean that Ipswich only have Southampton and Leicester City to battle financially.

There will, of course, be other challengers thrown into the mix, but the situation as it’s landed means the Tractor Boys will, and their fellow relegated sides will have a significant advantage.

Again, however, it will depend heavily on how they spend that money.