Where are Town's major weaknesses?

In the second part of Thursday's special Q&A, BBC Radio Suffolk's Graeme McLoughlin focuses on whether Gary O'Neil will be backed in this transfer window by owner Mark Ashton, and what he thinks are the biggest weaknesses in Town's squad.

Andy asked: Is Mr Ashton going to deliver exactly what the new manager wants in the transfer market ?

Graeme: I think the reality is no. The vast majority of football managers in the Premier League never get exactly what they want, and the fact remains that Town have had just one season in the top-flight since 2001-02.

Re-establishing a club at this level is extremely difficult and takes a lot of hard work. Ipswich are stronger commercially for sure, and numerous departments at the club have made huge strides since relegation two years ago. However, there will still be setbacks in the forthcoming transfer window and Town will have to move on from them quickly.

Both Gary O'Neil and Mark Ashton will have identified the parts of the field where they need to strengthen, and then it's a case of having two or three options for those positions. If you don't get your first choice, it's straight onto the next.

Simon asked: Where are the biggest weaknesses in the team?

Graeme: Town's biggest weakness at the moment is depth. Following Conor Townsend's departure, Leif Davis is currently the only natural senior left-back.

At centre half, Elkan Baggott – who played less than 90 minutes for Town last season and spent the campaign prior to that on loan with Blackpool – is next in the pecking order to Dara O'Shea, Jacob Greaves and Cedric Kipre at this moment in time.

We're still awaiting news as to whether Wes Burns will extend his stay at the club, if he doesn't, Kasey McAteer, Sindre Walle-Egeli and Chieo Ogbene are the current options on the right of midfield.

Meanwhile, in the much talked about number nine position, Town have George Hirst and Ali-Al Hamadi returning from their respective stints with Scotland and Iraq at the World Cup.

There is no shortage of options at number 10, but of them, only Sam Szmodics has recent experience of the Premier League, and question marks remain about his future at the club. In summary, there are very few areas of the field where Town won't be looking to strengthen.

Come back to this page later on Thursday for the third and final part of Graeme's Q&A, which will look at O'Neil's approach to using homegrown talent and which three teams he predicts to be worse than Town in order for them to stay up.