Town boss Mick McCarthy wasn’t getting carried away despite the Blues’ 3-0 win at Doncaster taking them into the top six for the first time under his management. McCarthy’s side went fifth, although they’re likely to fall back after the Championship’s evening fixtures.

“Recent performances have been good, but this league is so bonkers that you could have that good run and get into the top six and you could lose three on the bounce,” he said.

“Didn’t they beat Leicester here, Donny? And they beat QPR here. That’s the league. And I see Charlton have beaten Brighton today.

“If you remember it last year, when we were in the bottom three, we’d come off the pitch and we’d won and everybody else had won as well.

“That’s just the way it is. You’ve just got to keep picking up points wherever you can. I thought last week’s point against Watford was a great point. Weren’t beaten, we drew, and we’ve consolidated that with an away victory.”

The Blues boss was pleased with his three strikers as he again employed his 4-3-3 system: “We’ve played that now for a number of weeks and it’s worked well for us.

“I thought they were very good, although I don’t think we played very well in the first half and I think 2-0 flattered us at half-time.

“We had a lot of the play but didn’t really do enough with it, I think their goalkeeper made one save very early on.

“But then we’ve scored from two great deliveries from corners, which is important, but I can’t say that we were making their keeper save all the time.”

He added: “I thought in the second half we could have done a bit more damage really. I don’t know if Frank’s goal is offside.

“I think at that time if it goes to 4-0 [we might have scored more], but I thought they kept going, Donny, they had a good header which went by the post.”

He played down suggestions that it was a comfortable victory: “I’ve been 4-1 up at half-time and managed not to win it so I tend not to rest on my laurels and think it’s over until the final whistle’s gone.”

McCarthy had praise for his keeper for a vital stop from Mark Duffy’s freekick shortly before half-time: “I thought Dean Gerken made the match-winning save for us.

“He’s a good keeper, which is why when he dropped one at Wigan and I was asked whether I’d leave him in the side for the next game I said I would.

“He’s turned out to be a really, really good goalkeeper for us, a part of that back five which is doing ever so well.”

The Town boss was similarly glowing regarding man of the match David McGoldrick: “He’s been terrific. His all-round contribution, he’s not just a goalscorer, he gets back and defends, he goes back and defends corners. He’s been a proper bloke for us, a good player, but a good guy.

“I thought Murph had scored [the first goal] but it went in off Dids and I’m not bothered as long as it went in.”

Doncaster boss Paul Dickov was unhappy to concede the two goals from corners: “I was really disappointed with the result and the performance.

"I thought it was a scrappy game and then to concede two goals from set pieces the way we did really put us up against it against a team which is full of confidence with good players in it.

“As a management team and a group of players we can work as much as we can on formations and on tactics with and without the ball, but you can’t legislate for people switching off at set pieces, especially against a big, physical team with the aerial strength that they’ve got, and concede two goals and expect to get back in the game.”

Rovers have nine first team players currently out injured which Dickov admits has been tough: “The one thing I don’t want to do is make excuses, but when you’ve got five of your defenders out, three centre-backs and two full-backs, it’s going to make it difficult for you.”

Photo: Action Images

Coco added 19:33 - Dec 26 Good pic.
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bluefeast added 20:08 - Dec 26 wonderful ..
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Mark added 20:24 - Dec 26 Superb result today and I had forgotten what it felt like to be in the top six! Well done to all involved. We should absolutely keep level headed and just enjoy being in contention for the play-offs. Even if we miss out, it'll still be a far better season that we've had for years. Ipswich winning away (3-0, moving up to 6th) and Norwich losing at home (after leading with several rivals winning), fantastic.

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jonwatson75 added 20:49 - Dec 26 Well done super mick and tc. Top team effort today. Clear spirit and discipline in the squad. Proud to be a blue! Did me a huge favour today. All of my in laws or Donny fans and were in the home library/stand today so I've loved the evening with them all!!!! Thanks boys! Coyb!
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LiamCP123 added 21:03 - Dec 26 Another great away win for the blues! COMON IPSWICH!!!
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Cloddyseedbed added 21:08 - Dec 26 I would never have thought I would hear ITFC being described as a big physical team with aerial strength. It is nice that ITFC have that bit of physicality - something we have missed over the years. Excellent result today on what is normally a banana skin for Town!
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Michael11 added 21:09 - Dec 26 Brilliant result. I was there today and I can't fault any of our players as they played very well, but I think Doncaster were one of the worst Championship sides I've ever seen today. Think Bournemouth will be a much tougher task st the weekend. Chambers, Murphy and McGoldrick were outstanding today.
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ian_marshall added 21:13 - Dec 26 7th now Forrest 2-0 up, well done town today!
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Warkys_Tash added 21:43 - Dec 26 Great result, well done ITFC
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nadytractor added 22:26 - Dec 26 2nd in the form table only to Derby. Beautiful!
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TractorBeezer added 23:14 - Dec 26 Initially posted under wrong topic so will try again! Took a look at the goalscorers in our league. David Mc is joint 4th and guess who at #2. Its been a long time since we had a potential 20+ per year man. Pos Player Club Goals Games Ratio 1 Ross McCormack 16 22 0.73 2 Jordan Rhodes 13 22 0.59 3 Danny Ings 12 21 0.57 4 Troy Deeney 11 20 0.55 5 David Nugent 11 21 0.52 6 Craig Bryson 11 22 0.50 7 David McGoldrick 11 22 0.50

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bluemikey100 added 00:29 - Dec 27 enjoyed our brief stay in playoffs lol we be back in there at weekend the way we playin thou
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BlueSwede added 10:31 - Dec 27 Love to see McGoldrick up there among the topscorers and would love to see him net 20 goals this season. What I like to see as well - maybe even more - is that Cresswell is top of the assiststable. He has assisted 10 of the goals this season, three more assists than any other player in the Championship. And with Ebanks-Blake coming in there will be even more firepower to aim for. I have a good feeling about this, better than I have had in many a long season.

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Ipswich121 added 11:13 - Dec 27 Goalscorer this season- Mcgoldrick-20 Murphy-10 Ebanks-Blake-10 Back 4-15 Not many from the midfield Assists- Cresswell-20 Murphy-5 Mcgoldrick-5 To me this shows if we don't make the playoffs this year, our midfield seriously needs to be strengthened in the summer, unless we can have regular wingers in the form of players like the attacking minded Taylor and hunt on the wings, to complement the defensive hyam and skuse in the centre, although this depends on the tunnicliffe situation too.

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BuckieBlue added 13:54 - Dec 27 Momentum is vital, only us and Derby currently have it. (Burnley and Reading in particular looking shaky, even the Clarets are catchable). 4 pts out of next two games should get us into top 6. That brings its own pressure but on other hand MM is an experienced Championship promotion getter, so could be the vital ingredient. Maybe now media will start giving him more credit for top 6 on a shoestring, compared to others like NF who have splashed out. Don't know exact stats but we seem to have a great points haul from our games against the 'lesser' sides, so even if we don't get much from return fixs with bigger boys we can still be in the mix. Should be some next few months. PS Bit late to comment I know, but great to see Tyrone MIngs Christmas gesture.

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JLCitfc added 23:15 - Dec 27 Yes I would agree with Mick. We should not get to cocky about being where we are in the league. After all look at Blackpool at the start of the season, they were around first or second place for the first 5 games. Now they are nowhere to be seen. But if we keep banging in the goals like we did against Donny, we will have a chance to finally maybe get up to the prem after 10-12 long years of waiting :)

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