Boss Paul Jewell says there’s plenty more to come from his side with key midfielder Jimmy Bullard one of a number of players still to reach full fitness. Bullard, who showed signs of getting back to his best before tiring at Middlesbrough on Saturday, and several other regular starters joined the club at the end of Town’s pre-season programme.

Jewell said: “We will get fitter with games. Jimmy missed the pre-season, Sonko missed the pre-season, Daryl Murphy the missed pre-season, Lee Bowyer hasn’t had a full pre-season, Keith Andrews as well.

“There are a lot of players in our team who are getting fit with games, which anyone who has played the game will tell you is not ideal. But it’s the way we are.”

The Blues manager says defender Ibrahima Sonko, who was a doubt for Saturday’s draw at Middlesbrough with a knee problem, has suffered more than most: “He had a fitness test on Friday and trained with us.

“He’s played more matches than he’s trained. He was out on his feet at the end [on Saturday] when we were getting a bit deep and a bit stretched, but we defended manfully and hopefully we can keep this mini-run we’re on with two clean sheets going.”

Jewell was delighted to prevent the opposition from scoring for the second successive game: “People always tell you the obvious — you don’t lose matches if you keep clean sheets.

“I thought that they had a couple of opportunities in the second half but it wasn’t as if our keeper was making save after save and the clean sheet is obviously a big positive."

Town now face a difficult couple of fixtures with games away at West Ham tomorrow and at home to Brighton on Saturday, but the Liverpudlian believes there are no easy matches in the Championship in any case: “There’s no such thing as a run which isn’t tricky - every game is difficult in this league.

“I was talking to [Peterborough boss] Darren Ferguson on Tuesday and he said Middlesbrough were the best team they played, so it was always going to be difficult. However, I felt we acquitted ourselves well.

“We’re a new team seven or eight games into the season, so it’s a work in progress. We’ve got a lot of experience there but we’ve added a lot of new players to the group, so it’s going to take time.”

Boro boss and former Blues skipper and coach Tony Mowbray feels Town are moving in the right direction: “I think they’ve obviously improved from their Peterborough experience and their Southampton at home experience. It seems as though they’ve tightened up at the back. ”

The man known as Mogga says Town have the squad to finish at the right end of the table: “Their midfield have all got a fair bit of Premier League experience. They've got some good, talented footballers.

"On paper you would think they’ve got every right to believe that they’re going to be at the top end of the table pushing.

“We’ll wait and see how well they do. I can’t sit here and say whether they are going to do great because they are where they are after eight games.

“But they have made some signings, have spent some money and generally spending money equates to a better league position because you’ve got better players. We’ll wait and see.”

Photo: Action Images

fallyblue added 09:20 - Sep 26 how come all the players we sign are never fit, do other teams not do fittness training?
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ArnieMsBigToe added 09:30 - Sep 26 fallyblue: I think that you'll find that there's significantly different levels of fitness. You can train all you like, but there is no substitute for actual games to get players where they need to be. On another point, I have a good feeling about ITFC now. I know that its only 2 games without defeat, but I feel PJ could've just got town round the corner. Most of all, I'm looking forward to the 'evaporation' of all the knockers.

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itfc1981 added 09:40 - Sep 26 Arm up, flag up, your offside!
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collis_itfc added 09:40 - Sep 26 I was there on saturday and overall it was a very good team performance. good going forward and really solid at the back with sonko and collins. this team has come along way since the thrashings from saints and posh, and i now believe we can get something from tomorrow nights game. Before the weekend i would have taken a point from these 2 away games and now we have that we should have a real go at west ham. we were lagging in last 15-20 mins on saturday which doesnt really stand us in good stead for tuesday night but hopefully the players who havent had a lot of pre season will be able to push through before getting 3 days off for brighton game. again i will be at upton park on tuesday with a few lads cheering the boys on, we need to keep same team, same formation and have a real go. if we get into them like we did at boro we will get some kind of result. i will take another point there.

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pmason added 09:50 - Sep 26 JEWELL, stop making excuses you john aldridge wannabe
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ArnieMsBigToe added 10:08 - Sep 26 VictoryWillHappen: I think PMason has just invoked the fine clause??
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AJblue added 10:08 - Sep 26 pmason....are you sure that you are not Jackie Mason, he too is in the business of people laughing at him!
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AJblue added 10:14 - Sep 26 I've gotta feeling we're gonna sneak a win in the far eastern land of 'Am tomorrow. We could blow the 'Ammers away, while they're busy blowing bubbles. COYB
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broomfield123 added 11:16 - Sep 26 If we get 4 points out of west ham and cardiff it won't be to bad but not brilliant
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RedDust added 11:20 - Sep 26 does anyone know how much tickets will be on the gate at west ham? regards in advance
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Garv added 11:50 - Sep 26 Not bad broomfield?
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broomfield123 added 12:01 - Sep 26 Bit like the school report must do better
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blue_em_away added 12:21 - Sep 26 pmason IS whoppit.
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Crock added 12:21 - Sep 26 Hehe. If you change the i for an a it will say: Players will get fatter!
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Pessimistic added 12:29 - Sep 26 Score prediction : West ham United 1 Ipswich Town 2 ( Goal scorers : Michael Chopra and Jimmy Bullard.)
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tomisamos added 12:45 - Sep 26 Yes Jewell, you really must do better than 3 points off the play offs with over 30 games to go, two clean sheets in a row and a raised club spirit. If you don't beat West Ham and Cardiff, you must be sacked. Some people...
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RetroBlue added 12:48 - Sep 26 I hope our players do get fitter very soon. We have a squad of experienced , but wrong side of 30yrs, players. These older players are our key players - but they cant continue to only play games amnd get by on adrenaline. Qith games coming thick and fast , and players such as Bowyer, Bullard, Ivar & Sonko all lacking match fitness and training, injuries will happen. WE aint got much else in the reserves for cover!!

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irishtim added 13:09 - Sep 26 keep it going we r moving in the right direction hopefully
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mpk1111 added 13:18 - Sep 26 Players over 30 will always be lacking general fitness when compared to younger players...it takes them longer to recover from games, they pick up more injuries, so we cannot rely on the likes of sonko, bullard, bowyer etc for every game...which makes me worried when I look at who else we have to replace them.
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Tillz9 added 13:23 - Sep 26 Red dust - my ticket cost me about 30 in advance. Pretty sure price will be the same on gate.
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mpk1111 added 13:37 - Sep 26 By the way Mogga is a class act, great person...unlike the dubious character of our current manager and chairman.
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ventilator added 13:41 - Sep 26 Jury's still out to a degree imo, as it sounded like Middlesborough may have had a bit of an off day. Still, progress is being made and there seems to be a better balance to the side. 2 tough games to come, especially home to Brighton, who are pretty good and quick on the counter I think. There is the chance that the team's lack of fitness and speed may be found out by them.

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pmason added 13:45 - Sep 26 "If you don't beat West Ham and Cardiff, you must be sacked. " For once i agree with somebody ..... JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT
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SpecialK79 added 13:48 - Sep 26 off to cheer on the lads at west ham tomorrow, cant wait. are you going to see them play tomorrow pmason? o sorry i forgot you probably dont actually go to any matches lol
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gav_g added 14:00 - Sep 26 To all those saying about a lack of cover...so JET, carson and martin (also mentionably hyam, ingy, kennedy and murphy) aren't good enough?
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