Credit: Imago

Jack Dawson

Sat 2 May 2026 17:29, UK

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Ipswich Town made an instant return to the Premier League on Saturday with a 3-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers at Portman Road.

It was a fantastic performance from Kieran McKenna’s men, with two early goals putting them in complete control, before adding a late third to seal the second-place spot in the Championship.

After being relegated from the Premier League last season, they will now spend the coming months attempting to build a team that will not repeat this fate.

While recently promoted sides have had some success, Chris Sutton does not believe the Tractor Boys will have a good time next season.

Despite Ipswich’s impressive campaign, Sutton has hinted at an instant relegation for the club next season.

Chris Sutton: Ipswich will probably have a miserable time next season

While Ipswich were one of the promotion favourites this season, it was still a difficult task to live up to these expectations.

The start of their Championship campaign was also slow. However, over these past few months, they have been sensational.

This was evident in their victory over QPR as they quickly and coolly dispatched the mid-table outfit to achieve promotion in style.

Yet, Sutton does not believe this success will continue in the Premier League.

Taking to X on 2 May, as soon as Ipswich’s promotion was confirmed, he wrote: “Fair play to Ipswich and Kieran McKenna. “They’ll probably have a thoroughly miserable time though next season …”

Can Ipswich Town stay in the Premier League next season?

As tough as it has been in recent campaigns for the newly promoted sides, Sunderland and Leeds United have proven this is possible this season in a fairly comfortable fashion.

The Black Cats could even still claim a European place if they have a fantastic end to the campaign.

Fair play to Ipswich and Kieran McKenna 👏👏 They’ll probably have a thoroughly miserable time though next season …

— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) May 2, 2026

However, Ipswich will likely have to hope for an established Premier League side to have also declined in the summer, like Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur have this season.

If this is repeated, the Tractor Boys will have an excellent shot of maintaining their stay as long as they have an excellent summer transfer window.

Nevertheless, it remains to be seen how Ipswich will get on in the Premier League after returning to the top-flight on Saturday.