Boss Roy Keane says it’s no surprise to him that tonight’s opponents QPR and Saturday's visitors Cardiff City are currently topping the Championship. Keane’s Blues, who sit in third, take on the Bluebirds at Portman Road on Saturday.
Keane said: "They’ve got the squads, they’ve got the experience, they’ve got the managers, they’ve got the goal threat.
"Particularly in the Championship it’s the goals that are the key. Cardiff over the last few years have been constantly in the top six because they’ve got goals.
"They had players missing last week but still won the game, They were without Chopra, Bothroyd was injured, Bellamy was injured and they still won.”
The Blues boss says Neil Warnock is similarly blessed with frontmen: "QPR are scoring goals, they brought two strikers in on deadline day, the boy Tommy Smith and Rob Hulse, in addition to the other strikers they’ve got.
"These managers know that to get out of the Championship you need goals. It’s all well and good being strong and all this, but you have to put the ball in the back of the net, which we found a major problem last year, and we’re not exactly free-scoring at the moment, although we’re looking solid.”
For Keane, quality strikers can make all the difference to a club’s campaign: "If you’ve got the attacking players who can nick you a goal it can make or break your season.
"We found that out last season. For all the lovely play, lovely build-up and decent possession, hundreds of corners and great balls into the box, unless you’ve got someone sticking the ball in the back of the net, you’re going to go nowhere.
"You’ve got to have one or two people putting the ball in the back of the net and if you look at the top two at the moment, they’re scoring goals for fun, so they deserve to be where they are."