Blues boss Paul Jewell says he’s not getting carried away by Town’s recent upturn in form which has seen his side take 10 points from the last 12. The Liverpudlian now faces an anxious fortnight while several of his players are away on international duty.

Jewell, whose team are up to 10th, a point from the play-off places, said: “We’ve made a turn for the better, we’ve got to say that. But we’re 10 games into the season and we’ve got three quarters of the season left and I would prefer to say that it’s a work in progress. I can say that when we’ve lost 7-1, so I can say that when we win 3-1.”

The former Wigan and Bradford manager says while the victory over Brighton is a good way to go into the break, he’d prefer the fixtures to keep coming: “It’s an ideal result if you’ve got two weeks without a game. You'd probably want a game on Tuesday, but we haven’t got one, so we’ll take a breather.

“Now it’s a nightmare because we’ve got so many players away and we don’t know whether there’ll come back tired or injured. But every manager’s got the same problem.”

Keeper David Stockdale (England), defenders Danny Collins (Wales [subsequently withdrawn]) and Damien Delaney (Republic of Ireland) and midfielder Keith Andrews (Republic of Ireland) are those from the current matchday 16 who will be with their international squads, while Tamás Priskin will be with Hungary and youngsters Josh Carson and Cormac Burke will be with the Northern Irish U19s.

In addition to the praise heaped on two-goal striker Michael Chopra, Jewell was also impressed with Collins at the heart of the defence: “I thought he was terrific, I don’t think he lost a header all day.

“He just gives us that composure and that balance at the back. Him and Sonko seem to have formed a decent partnership.”

Right-back Carlos Edwards put in another tireless display with Manchester City youngster Reece Wabara having come in at the end of last week to compete for his place in the side: “Carlos is a fit lad, there’s no doubt about it. We’ve brought Reece in for a while to push him.

"Certainly against Brighton, Carlos had lots of the ball, in the first half especially, but even in the second half he was still galloping forward and I thought he was terrific. I thought it was a good game, to be honest.”

On what was an excellent day for Town, even the subs impressed with Jewell pleased to see Nathan Ellington putting in his best display for the Blues when he came on: “He’s looked sharp in training.

“He got a hat-trick in the reserves about three weeks ago and his confidence has come on a ton. He held the ball up, he’s decent in the air and he’s getting better like everyone else, but we’re keeping our feet on the floor, there’s a long way to go.”

Striker Chopra says he ran to celebrate with Jewell after scoring his second goal because the Blues manager stuck with him during his recent barren run: “I went to him because he has shown a lot of faith in me.

“He brought me to the club to score goals and I’ve not been doing that in the past few weeks, but he kept picking me and showing faith and I feel I have repaid him a little.”

The former Cardiff man says the goal celebrations were in danger of embarrassing him: “Keith Andrews was trying to pull my shorts down and I was keeping tight hold of them.

“Then the lads grabbed my legs and things, but that is part and parcel of this football club. We have a lot of great lads with great banter.”

Meanwhile, Brighton boss Gus Poyet praised his assistant manager and former Blue Mauricio Taricco in the wake of the Argentinian’s decision to hang up his boots.

The Uruguayan says the 38-year-old, who has struggled to play a full 90 minutes lately, is better than anyone else in his squad at Brighton: “Without any doubt he’s the best player by far. You don’t only look at what players do with the ball or without the ball, it’s about the whole package, how you understand the game, how much you affect the game.

“The other day [against Crystal Palace] he was outstanding, he was the best player on the pitch for 55 minutes. Then the cramps came and we had to make a change. Now with only five subs on the bench it’s a problem.”

Poyet says the Seagulls players have tried to persuade Taricco to keep going, although not all of them: “The central defenders and the goalkeepers were especially asking why he is retiring, they were trying to convince him to keep going. Not the full-backs, they want him out!”

Photo: Action Images

Bleedingblue added 09:17 - Oct 3 Andrews Wales and Collins Ireland?
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We8Norwich added 09:19 - Oct 3 Wales wish they could have Keith Andrews!
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PhilTWTD added 09:22 - Oct 3 Oops, amended!
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Frase1987 added 09:33 - Oct 3 Great to see ipswich listed in the england squad, even if just a loan.
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Bleedingblue added 09:34 - Oct 3 No worries, is Monday morning after all.
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Pessimistic added 09:42 - Oct 3 What a nice way to star the working week with another splendid Town performance. Thanks Paul and the boys!
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IvorFeeling added 09:56 - Oct 3 I am not getting carried away just re setting my sat nav from Aug 2012 for Old Trafford, The Emirates, Britannia Stadium, Stamford Bridge etc (not Farrow rd though as it will not be needed) Lol. PJ - Bobble is the one you need to worry about getting carried away :-)
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26_Paz added 10:41 - Oct 3 Good result but need to keep grounded, just keep putting the performances in and I think we will be in the play-offs this season. Keep it up Town from the Ipswich Punishment Squad
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jas0999 added 11:24 - Oct 3 Agree completely. Hopefully we will continue to play 4-4-2.
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oldelsworthyfan added 11:56 - Oct 3 What a difference a few key players have made! Sonko and Collins have locked the defence. Cresswell shows the exuberence of youth plus skills. Bullard and Andrews have added to the creativity. Result........many more scoring opportunities. Alf Ramsey used to reckon that we must 'put away' at least one in three. This side is now well capable of finishing in the top two because the players are now ENJOYING their game. A great spirit running through the club!

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26_Paz added 12:08 - Oct 3 oldelsworthyfan - what is the article saying about not getting carried away?!
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BotesdaleBlue added 12:26 - Oct 3 One of the things I loved about Saturday was the superb team spirit, which has been bourne out by some of the subsequent player comments. Can anyone imagine a playing running over and jumping into the arms of a stern, stubble faced, Keane last year. No neither can I!! I remember seeing TV pictures of how the Norwich players ran over to celebrate with the bench for many of their goals last year and it contrasted so much with our bench under the previous "manager". Now the fear has gone, I feel we have got genuine mutual respect and togetherness between the management team and players which is essential for every sucessful team at any level. The fans are playing thier part now as well, which is lovely to see. It is about time our star starts to rise again, after almost a decade of decline (save a good couple of seasons under Royle who worked wonders with no cash). Come on you blues...

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blue_em_away added 12:27 - Oct 3 You not getting carried away Paul? I am...... Whoever finishes above us (if anyone) will be automaticly promoted.
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suffolkpoker added 12:29 - Oct 3 very impressive just a shame of the mini break. roll on cardiff i say.. teams will start to look to lock up against us. with the fear of being played off the park
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GTRKing added 13:02 - Oct 3 Very good game & I think for the rest of the season we will be battling for 1st & 2nd with derby Southampton & Midlesbrough & West ham & on the last day of the season it will be the number of goals we score that decide play offs or automatic keep up the good work
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banburyblue12 added 13:22 - Oct 3 the article is about us not getting carried away, i think a few people have got more than carried away, all we need to do is concentrate on performance and focus on winning, game by game. and sign andrews and collins permanently.
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ooaahpennyfather added 13:40 - Oct 3 The dark days under RK are surely now a distant memory. With this squad, and avoiding injuries, top two is definitely achievable. Make all loans permanent where possible and the happy days are bound to continue. The final piece in the jigsaw...... 26k + in PR for every home match!!
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Ebantiass added 13:59 - Oct 3 Good to see the players and management are keeping feet firmly on the ground. The recent upturn is fantastic but there is an awful long way to go. COYBs
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brogansnose added 15:27 - Oct 3 Its good that Jewell is trying to keep everyones feet on the ground as the resurgence has only come just recently and undoubtably there will be hic cups along the way but we all know now what we are capable of and I still feel that we can get better than this. We need to continue to be consistent and keep the momentum going because there will be a lot of clubs that don't fancy playing us.

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Garv added 16:31 - Oct 3 If people want us to be challenging for the top spots they've got to get their arses to Portman road and back the team. Not many clubs get promoted with grounds 2/3 full.
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TurinBlue added 17:46 - Oct 3 Its a sound well balanced assessment but it does look like we have turned a corner and we do have a very promising line up if it can be kept together. I like the smile on PJ's face thats also a big improvement. I'll go for cautiously optimistic and we mustn't worry too much if the odd result goes the wrong way. There are some good teams in the championship but suddenly we are beating one or two of them. Cardiff is a very important match.

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Pip50 added 18:44 - Oct 3 Whilst being a merchant of doom early season, hands up I have been impressed over the past few weeks. I bought my 2 year old son an Ipswich kit after the Peterborough game and told him this is where it starts!
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IvorFeeling added 19:22 - Oct 3 Garv - People will start to come again if the performance and results are repeated. There will always be a hardcore group of around 12-14k and the rest depends on the team but there are other factors. I also feel I am in a lucky position to afford to come to almost every home game and a few away - some are not in the same financial position, especially at the moment. When I was growing up (in the 80's) the Saturday match was the biggest and best thing you can do - now there are so many alternatives both in and out. The bottom line is that winning breeds traffic and as much as we want more in PR that will only happen when the Sats like Brighton are a regular event. I have two young girls, my yougest is a die-hard but taking her under the Keane era was almost a no-no as it would have sucked the life out her - She has been three times this year and whilst Hull (grim) and Leeds were not ideal, things are now looking up.

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h32 added 21:00 - Oct 3 Garv - you need a reality check, and your comment is off the mark. IvorFeeling makes some very good points in his recent post - PEOPLE NEED VALUE FOR MONEY TODAY - AND THEY HAVEN'T BEEN GETTING IT. Todays world is full of choices remember. Now the 'winning ways' have returned - so will the crowd - myself included. Don't tell me I'm not a real supporter - I'm just a sensible one who is not in the habit of throwing hard earned money away, just for the sake of it. SUCCESSFUL - this Club always has, and will be, very well supported. No worries there. COYB.

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Garv added 22:07 - Oct 3 h32 I completely agree with you. If someone else had said what I have a while ago I would have reacted the same way you have. I agree, once we start putting in consistant perfomances the crowd will return. I believe we are starting to, I would just like too see 25,000 in the ground in the next couple of home matches before we get to the top of the league (fingers crossed). I wasn't referring to any other posters or their comments, it was just a general thought.

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