Boss Paul Jewell says confidence was the big thing missing from the Town squad when he took over at Portman Road a month ago. The Blues manager believes that there’s no lack of ability amongst the players but that they had been affected by the poor run of results which led to former boss Roy Keane's departure.
Jewell said: "I think the players were just playing with a lack of confidence. If you look back at the start of the season they started off really well. The ability’s there, they’d just lost their confidence, which is what happens when you’re losing matches.
"They’re quite a quiet group, but I was talking to one of my old mates in the game last night and he was saying that these days players are quieter, they aren’t as vociferous as they used to be going back a few years. Every manager will tell you that.”
The former Wigan and Bradford man says that while his players are growing in self-esteem working with him and coaches Chris Hutchings and Sean McCarthy, it’s wrong to get too carried away with the good start they have made in their time with the Blues: "Their heads are a bit bigger!
"I think you’ve got to be careful of talking about this, that and the other. Everything wasn’t bad when I came here and now everything isn’t rosy.
"What the players have given us - and I can only judge the players since I’ve come in - is that every day they’ve tried their best, and that’s all I can ever ask for.
"With a little bit of structure and some different ideas we can move forward. I’m not saying we’ve changed it around overnight because we haven’t, there’s a lot of work to do.”
Instilling belief in players has been a theme of Jewell’s press conferences during his time at Town and he says the three league wins on the trot have had their effect: "I think momentum is an important thing and I think it works both ways. When you’re winning matches, you really look forward to the next one, when you’re losing matches, the confidence takes a bit of a knock.
"It’s a habit, winning’s a habit and losing’s habit. We expect now to go out and win games because we’ve won the last three on the bounce.
"That’s the mentality we’re trying to get into the players and that only happens with hard work, determination and some luck and some quality. If we add all those ingredients together, then we’ll move forward.”
The only negative for Jewell is the ongoing speculation and discussion of the situation with the out of contract players, particularly David Norris, Gareth McAuley and Damien Delaney: "It’s not right for stuff to go in the newspapers every day, it doesn’t do anyone any good. I’ve been open and frank with the players and they’ve been absolutely brilliant with me.
"I understand it’s a topic for the media to talk about, but as far as I’m concerned I’d rather deal with it in my office within those four walls. I’ve said what I’ve said and I’ve told the media, and the players have told the media that they’re happy with what I’ve said, so we move on.
"Sooner or later it will have to get sorted out, but at the moment it’s not an issue. It certainly doesn’t seem to be an issue with the team.
"The club and the players are as one. The players, as far as I’m concerned and as far as they’re concerned, are going in the right direction, and the results tell you that. Everyone’s going in the right direction and we don’t need anything to knock us off the rails.”
But overall Jewell, whose side will be aiming for a fourth successive league win at Barnsley today, something Town haven't managed since 2004, seems happy with the way his first month at the club has gone: "I’ve been really pleased with the effort of the players. Hopefully they appreciate what we’re trying to do and we can all move forward together.
"You’re not going to keep everybody happy all the time, and you don’t want everyone to be happy, you want people striving to get back in the team, and that’s what I’ve got.”