Town manager Roy Keane says it’s not all doom and gloom at Portman Road despite three league defeats in a row. The Blues boss is looking for a reaction from his side when they take on Northampton in the fourth round of the Carling Cup at home this evening.
Keane said: "If we can win then we’re in the quarter-finals of the League Cup. We’re disappointed after three defeats but we’re three points away from sixth place in the Championship.
"So that’s where we are at the moment, it’s certainly not all doom and gloom. I’m happy with players, I’m happy with the staff, I’m happy with the support we’ve been getting and I’ll be happier on Tuesday night if we win a game of football.
"When we don’t win games we’re all upset, of course we are. But you’re going to lose football matches, it’s how you respond to it. The players are good lads, I enjoy working with them, I enjoy working with my staff and, as I keep saying, we’ll be OK.”
Keane says the recent run ought not to be overstated: "We’ve had a bad week, let’s look at it that way. There have been three games and we’ve given some poor goals away but we can’t do anything about the past. We can learn from it and make sure we do better, which I expect us to do against Northampton.”
The Blues boss says he was more annoyed not to pick up points against Coventry and Watford than against his old club Nottingham Forest at the weekend: "Forest were a strong team but the two previous defeats were hard to take. When you don’t win football matches that little bit of pressure can build.
"But a couple of weeks ago we were in the top six without playing particularly well, so we know how a couple of good results can get you up the table, just as two or three defeats can drop down.
"That’s life, that’s football and if we get the half-chances we’ve been creating we’ve got to take them. That has been a problem for us, we don’t score enough goals and if you don’t score enough goals it puts pressure on the team and particularly the back four.
"But we’re all keeping our heads and we’re getting ready for a good game. It’s a good game for us and a good game for Northampton.”
Meanwhile, Keane is amongst a number of celebrities photographed with their dogs in the Amazing Partnerships exhibition which is raising funds for Guide Dogs. Keane was pictured near his Woodbridge home with labrador Triggs and German shepherd Ossie by Adrian Houston.
The exhibition is open to the general public on November 5th and 6th at The Haunch of Venison Gallery, 6 Burlington Gardens, London, W1S 3ET (6:30pm - 9pm). Keane is a long-time supporter of guide dog charities both in the UK and Ireland.
Elsewhere, defender Damien Delaney says he’s yet to be offered a new contract by the Blues but would like to remain at Portman Road: "I would love a new contract. But they are not as easy to come by as they were in the past.”