Finidi George will be leaving his Town team-mates to the relegation struggle for some of January and February as he goes off to play for Nigeria in the African Nations Cup. However, he says he is confident Town can get themselves clear of the relegation zone.

Finidi says he might not have travelled to the African Nations Cup, held this year in Mali, had circumstances been different: "If the World Cup finals were not taking place next summer I would not go to the African Nations Cup. I know it is not as important as Ipswich staying in the Premiership. But it is a very difficult situation for me. Nigeria has a new national coach and he wants to use the African tournament to help prepare for the World Cup. If I am not there it will create problems for me. I have played in the World Cup before and I want to play in the competition again. But if Nigeria had not qualified I would stay with Ipswich and miss the African Nations Cup."

Finidi will miss the games with Tottenham, Derby, Fulham, Everton and Liverpool as well as a possible FA Cup fourth round game if he is away for both the pre-tournament training period and the cup itself.

Of Town's fortunes he is still upbeat: "I am always optimistic. It is not as if the season is nearly over and we only have two or three weeks left. It is not a good situation, but we still have time to get out of it. I thought we were a bit unlucky not to get a point out of the Newcastle game. But football is all about winning and you cannot win if you do not score goals. Sometimes it doesn't really matter how you play. Other teams are not playing that well, yet they are taking points. We are not putting in enough dangerous balls. We must work on it as a team and get it right as soon as possible."

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