Boss Roy Keane has dismissed Scunthorpe manager Nigel Adkins’s claim that the Blues are still in with a chance of the play-offs as “rubbish” and accused the Iron boss of trying to play mind games with other managers on a weekly basis.
Keane said: "He’s talking rubbish. He’s playing a game, so when Scunthorpe come to Ipswich all the pressure’s on us because we ‘should be in the play-offs’. He’s talking nonsense. It’s stupid talk. He should look after his own team. Absolute rubbish.
"It’s just mind games. If he thinks I’m going to fall for that he's mistaken, people shouldn’t underestimate my own experiences in football. He plays that every week and it works for him with other clubs, but it won’t work against us.
"I don’t mind it the odd time and he can do it with other managers, but to try to do it with me, he’s kidding himself.”
The Blues boss says that contrary to Adkins’s comments, the sides find themselves in similar predicaments: "We’re down there the same as them, it’s not as if he’s going off to play Real Madrid. You can play that card too much and I think he’s played it one too many times, especially this weekend coming up.”
Overall though, Keane has been impressed with Adkins during his time in charge at Glanford Park: "He’s done a very good job there and I’ve said that in my programme notes.
"He’s done a brilliant job on the smallest budget in the Championship. They’ve always brought players in, then sold them on for decent money and he’s had to wheel and deal.”