Boss Mick McCarthy admits he has no idea how many points it will take to keep his side in the Championship this season with the division tighter than ever before.

McCarthy, whose team are currently in 19th place on 46 points, four away from the drop zone, says he has no idea how many it will ultimately take to stay up: “I haven’t got a clue, I can give you any number you want, 52. That’s two wins, will that be enough?

"Then you look at the others beneath us. We’re going to need a point more than everybody else because our goal difference is worse than the others.

“I’ll settle for beating Leeds on Saturday and I’ll worry about the next seven games after that.”

Burnley in 11th are only seven points ahead of Peterborough, who currently occupy 22nd, the final relegation place.

McCarthy thinks the Clarets, who have 49 points, are probably already safe but that there are plenty of others who will still be concerned about their situations: “They’re still in it mathematically or numerically but [there’s a gap of] seven points with eight games left and Burnley have been decent, so they’ll get two wins and two draws out of it - eight points. The bottom three would have to get 15 points.

“They will get them because they’ve been fairly consistent, Burnley. It’s the rest of us that are four points and five points clear, we need to be making sure we do our jobs. There are a few worried I’d imagine.”

Last season, Portsmouth — who were docked 10 points for going into administration — and Coventry were both relegated on 40, a total only Bristol City, on 39, are yet to already surpass this time around, which McCarthy says illustrates how tough this campaign has been: “There are two teams in the bottom three with 42 points now. There are none of them going down yet. That shows how difficult this year’s been.”

He also recalls one of his former clubs being relegated, not long after his departure, with a much higher total: “Millwall went down with 52 points in 1996, so we might need 53.”

Photo: Action Images

martleshamitfc added 08:23 - Mar 29 Agree 53 points is minimum to avoid that last relegation spot. Although nervy it is a great end to the season!
0

Kikapu added 08:23 - Mar 29 53 is what we need.
0

pazelle added 10:33 - Mar 29 Just try to win every game and we'll be fine!
0

theobald1985 added 11:21 - Mar 29 a decent LCFC club went down with 51 not long ago. this division is so tight and think the only differance between top and bottom is the top sides usually have in form forward players. This squad can stay up and kick on next season with Taylor back COYB
0

wkj added 13:10 - Mar 29 24 points from our last 8 should just about do it
0

ericclacton added 14:17 - Mar 29 I think we need more than 53 without a doubt, I'd say 55 will keep us up.
0

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls