Boss Mick McCarthy believes his Town side are well worth their second place in the Championship at the halfway point in their season.

The Blues briefly went top of the table following their 4-2 Boxing Day win at Brentford, their 23rd game of the season, before dropping back into second after Bournemouth beat Fulham 2-0 later that day.

Town, who face Charlton at Portman Road on Tuesday evening, remain second following yesterday’s games with third-placed Middlesbrough drawing 0-0 at Blackburn to move a point behind the Blues. The Cherries won 2-0 at Millwall and are now four points ahead of McCarthy's men.

“Results don’t tell lies at the end of it,” the Town manager said. “That’s where we are whatever we’ve been doing. We’ve got the points, nobody can take them off us and we’ll go again on the 30th.”

He outlined which teams he believes will be battling the Blues for an automatic promotion place during the second half of the campaign: “Bournemouth are the best team in the league, in my view. And I think Derby and Middlesbrough were also amongst the best teams we’ve played.

“We had a really tough game against Watford, I think they’re one of the best teams in the league. And the league table shows that, doesn’t it really?

“I still think Norwich are a real threat, Fulham are, they’re still creeping up. And the play-offs aren’t beyond anybody who are anywhere near halfway.”

Town are now undefeated in their last 10 games - winning seven - and McCarthy says dealing with a loss when it finally comes will be a test of his team and warns that the Addicks can't be taken lightly despite their current run of six games without a victory.

“I said last week, it’s when we don’t win a game and we’re at home on the 30th against Charlton, who we beat in the 95th minute and everybody will think we should win.

“But that’s nonsense because the league is so tough and we’ve got to be as ruthless and relentless as the league is.”

Photo: Action Images

BrandonsBlues added 07:14 - Dec 29 How good does it feel to have not palyed and still remain in 2nd place, with a game in hand. So long as we keep on the coat tails of Bournemouth, only Derby can get in the mix if they win. Well Done all at ITFC
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Mark added 07:43 - Dec 29 It's great to see us with no red boxes on www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/championship/table, as along with Bournemouth we are undefeated in the last ten games. Watford have lost half their last ten, yet are still only three points behind us. We need to keep winning, but looking at our fixtures I think we can. Derby will be tough but we are the home side, and the others on paper are games we would hope to get three points from: (H) Charlton (H) Derby (A) Millwall (A) Brighton (H) Wigan (A) Rotherham (H) Sheff Wed Not wanting to get carried away, but I think we could find ourselves sitting pretty after those fixtures.

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ipswichtillidie added 08:17 - Dec 29 Unless we are playing Blackpool at home I think anyone can beat anyone in this league. We get through those fixtures un-scathed thou and then it really is sqweeky bum time!
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rfretwell added 08:21 - Dec 29 Millwalls slide seems to have coincided with Carlos Edwards long term injury - they eere on a good run when he was playing. Another thought - Paul Anderson works his socks off down our right flank just like Johnathon Walters did in that promoted team. As Souness says in his column this w/e all managers want their players to come off at the end having left everything they had on the pitch. Ando certainly does that - he was doubled up at the end of the Bournemouth match. We signed Walters from Crewe in his early twenties and he has gone on to have a fine career. Ando's a fair bit older and has had serious criticism on this site earlier on but work ethic like his couldcwell get us into the Prem this season

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Matthew_Crush added 08:28 - Dec 29 Super MICK MCCARTHY , SUPER SUPER MICK SUPER SUPER MICK .,,,, MCCARTHY. AND TERRY CONNOR ..........
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Rjitfc added 08:45 - Dec 29 @rfretwell... Walters was signed from Chester City & he never got promoted with us or anybody else... He was sold to Stoke who were already in the prem! Im sure he was also about 27-28 when he came here!!
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Simonds92 added 09:23 - Dec 29 Yeah was going to say Walters was never in our promoted team and was from Chester, he was about 22/23 though, looking at those fixtures it's hard not to get carried away, I think charlton will be a lot harder than expected but every time it looks like a tough game we keep coming out on top. The best thing about the brentford game is we looked in complete control against a team that had won 7 in 8, really encouraging performance that's made me consider we may actually do it this year!

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PJH added 09:29 - Dec 29 I think MM and TC have got us going into every game knowing that we are capable of winning it.There is a great will to win and determination in the squad without being arrogant and over confident.Even if things to do start well as against Leeds the belief is there that we can come back.We will be expected to beat Charlton but the players will not be complacent.The game against Derby is massive with a series of very winnable games to follow.As Mark says above we must not get carried away but I think the three best sides are Bournemouth,Derby and us and I think a gap can be opened up on the rest.

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DurhamTownFan added 09:47 - Dec 29 The biggest test will come when we lose one. Anyone really can beat anyone in this league, and so it cod come any time, against anyone home or away. As fans, we've got to not get carried away in the event of one or two poor results, so that the players don't get nervous and an have the confidence to turn it around. The best teams react to that challenge, and I'm hoping with mick and Terry's track record for getting teams up, we can do that!

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ITFCGloryDays added 10:46 - Dec 29 Jon Walters was signed from Chester City...
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pazelle added 10:59 - Dec 29 Charlton will be hell keen for revenge after we nicked it at theirs with the last kick. The main thing about the table is that we've only player 23 games, we've got 25 left so don't get cocky and let's try and beat Charlton! Last time the interview was cocky, Mick said he always expects us to score - then we drew 0-0 at Bolton! Focus on the next game all the time, look at the table later! COYB!

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pazelle added 10:59 - Dec 29 Charlton will be hell keen for revenge after we nicked it at theirs with the last kick. The main thing about the table is that we've only player 23 games, we've got 25 left so don't get cocky and let's try and beat Charlton! Last time the interview was cocky, Mick said he always expects us to score - then we drew 0-0 at Bolton! Focus on the next game all the time, look at the table later! COYB!

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muccletonjoe added 11:01 - Dec 29 I would say the 5 other teams in the top 6 will be Bournemouth , derby , middlesborough, Watford , and probably Norwich , though I very much hope I am wrong with the last one
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afrodids added 11:14 - Dec 29 Let's be honest although none of us want to tempt fate secretly we're all looking for a big score line against Charlton they may have only lost 4 games however they've only won 6. What I'm saying is 3 nil town!!! COYB
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runningout added 11:36 - Dec 29 last sentence at header is spot on, and we have improved a bit of late... ''Got to be ruthless and relentless'' With that we my stand a chance.
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swarby_7 added 11:43 - Dec 29 Maybe rfretwell is thinking of Jermaine Wright? Winger from Crewe who was part of that promotion team? Suppose he also kind of looks like Jonny Walters (from a distance) so that might be were the mix up lays. It is hard not to start dreaming but still a long way to go so we must remain focused. It does seem that we are currerntly too strong for most sides in this division at the moment but as Mick says, one defeat and things could start to decline. It's so much better though discussing the issue of potential promotion rather than a few seasons a go when the focus was on avoiding potential relegation! COYB! Mick and his team deserve it and we can be Premier league again!

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comeonthegoodtimes added 11:44 - Dec 29 first game I'll be watching live in a year tomorrow and I'm so excited I'm at work today and I would say 90% are ipswich fans and there is a real buzz about the office my boss has just caught me on my first day back on this site and expecting a rollicking for not doing my work I actually got "what does it say about the boys" lol what a great boss..... I would like to agree with the above post about anyone can beat anyone though as there are a lot of good teams in this division but I look at that as a positive for us as it looks even better the position we're in and who says we can't get a little carried away I think after the many years of pain and fauls expectation we deserve to have a bit of belief especially with the team (squad) we have at present, I'm going for a 3-0 home win smurf with two and a dids pen ... COYB

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dirtydingusmagee added 19:28 - Dec 29 Not only does Big Mick talk sense, he walks on water , COYB .
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