Defender Christophe Berra has assured supporters that Town are determined to wipe out the memory of last week’s 2-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest when QPR are the visitors to Portman Road tomorrow.

Berra, an ever-present in the Championship this season, cast his mind back to the events of six days ago and said: “As a sportsman, every time you get beaten, no matter the result, it is disappointing. To concede so early on against Forest put us on the back foot and it suited them.

“They sat back, as a lot of teams have done against us this season, and we found it difficult to break them down.

“It was obviously disappointing but that’s football for you, that’s the Championship, and I think if you look at most squads there’s nothing much between us, so it’s fine margins really.

“The first goal was just small mistakes and it was people being out of position that cost us. That’s football, you know. There’s always going to be goals conceded but as a team we were very disappointed.”

Berra & Co have only won twice in their last 10 league games but Berra believes Town can recover from a miserable run that has seen them collect just 10 points from a possible 30 and halt their slide down the table.

Recalling the dressing room atmosphere immediately after the Forest setback, he added: “Some of us voice our opinions but the manager comes in and says his piece, which we respect, and we come back in for training on the Monday when we’ll talk around the changing room about the things we need to do better. There’s also video analysis.

“But that’s football, it’s ups and downs, highs and lows, and unless you are one of the very top teams there are plenty of both.

“The players are used to it and we get on with it. We can’t let it affect us too much and we’ve got to bounce back the way we did at Sheffield Wednesday.

“No one probably saw us going up there and getting three points, which we did, and we put in a good performance.”

The Town players were booed off the pitch after a home draw against rock-bottom Rotherham and again in the wake of last week’s defeat by Forest, but Berra believes supporters need to accept the reality of the situation.

The Scot said: “With all due respect, if we were the best players in the world we wouldn’t be at Ipswich Town. We’ve all got our attributes, our strengths and our positives — but we’ve also got our weaknesses.

“If we get eight or nine players playing to their strengths, getting seven, eight or nine marks out of 10, we’ll win games more often than not.

“There will be some games where Lady Luck doesn’t go your way and there will be a bad decision here and there, but if you look at our squad compared to other squads you can’t say we’re outstandingly better than, for example, QPR.

"Everyone’s got their opinions but there’s not really much difference between us.

“In the end it’s just down to the small margins in football. We’ve beaten teams in the past when the luck’s gone our way and other days it has gone against us.

“No one likes getting beaten but sometimes you just have to take it on the chin and you can often learn more in defeat than in victory.

“We know the things we need to do better and over the piece against Forest it was just two scrappy goals that cost us. We had the majority of the possession and just couldn’t break them down.

“Sometimes we’re a better team when we can do to our opponents what Forest did to us — getting back behind the ball and counter-attacking. I wish I could put my finger on what’s right and what’s wrong but it’s all about opinions.”

Photo: TWTD

lightingblue added 06:33 - Nov 25 First point. Why are we always looking to bounce back. Second point. If they were the better players they wouldn't be at Ipswich. Sorry but your beaten before the game has started. O well never mind. Guess I've better things in life to worry about than Ipswich. Just be nice for a change to have something to chear about on a Saturday afternoon.
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Benters added 06:56 - Nov 25 I cant forget last Saturday its like a bad dream that wont go away .
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raycrawfordswig added 07:16 - Nov 25 Yawn zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
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Penguinblue added 07:21 - Nov 25 Berra should play more for the team rather than an individual. To help this he should be made the captain
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therein61 added 07:40 - Nov 25 Same script different face
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adeblueboy added 07:44 - Nov 25 Whose turn to be saying this next week!!!
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vanmunt added 09:25 - Nov 25 @adelblueboy Not sure, perhaps we should run a sweep stake... I have 10p on the tea lady.
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OwainG1992 added 10:10 - Nov 25 To be fair. I don't think most of them would come out with such an honest comment regarding if they were better they wouldn't be here. Can't argue with it myself. Agree with an above comment for me Berra should be captain with vice captain the guy he's battling for LCB Tommy Smith. Hate to say it but let Chambers go and just build with josh webster kenlock either side. This is a dead horse i'm beating because we all want this back 4 but it wont happen.

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TimmyH added 10:34 - Nov 25 We shouldn't have to be 'bouncing back' (which seems to be the case most weeks) - there should be progression being made and this season it's retregression to the state the club was in before McCarthy came. Knudsen, Chambers, Skuse, Ward and unfortunately Bishop (what has happened to him) all need to be dropped tomorrow, but it won't happen.
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terryf added 12:40 - Nov 25 I think Berra needs a reality check. If the fans are booing it's down to frustration with the dross that's performed on the pitch week after week. If the Team are giving it a go and trying to play entertaining football the fans would accept losing a few games. We were losing 2 nil on saturday and I noticed, not for the first time, both Skues and Bru sitting on the half way line when one of them should have been busting a gut to get into the penalty area to support the attack. I can only think that was under instruction from the Manager.

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rossi added 13:05 - Nov 25 'and we come back in for training on the Monday when we'll talk around the changing room about the things we need to do better' - So in that case, were you all there from Monday to Thursday, because you should have been, there was that much wrong last Saturday that it would easily take 3 days to discuss
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Paulc added 15:10 - Nov 25 Why does everyone keep banging on about the Sheffield Wednesday game. We were average that day, just not as poor as Wednesday. If we are aspiring to that level then we are bang in trouble!!
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