Town boss Paul Jewell says he appreciates the support he and his players have had even during the recent run of seven successive defeats. The Blues were applauded off after last Saturday’s 2-1 home reverse against Watford.
Jewell said: "We’ve had great support and I really appreciate it. I’m not one of those managers who goes around kissing the badge and waving to all four corners of the stadium, but I really, really do appreciate the support.
"There are people who didn’t want me here when I got here and you shouldn’t think that all the fans love you even when you’re winning games, they don’t.
"I’ve been very appreciative of their support and I know it’s not easy to be an Ipswich Town supporter at the moment, I realise that. It’s not easy being an Ipswich Town manager but we’re trying to get through the really tough period.”
He was pleased supporters got behind his players during the Watford game despite the recent run: "One of the things that heartened me on Saturday was that the result was terrible but the fans stayed with the team right to the end and even clapped them off.
"We’d lost the game 2-1, our seventh successive defeat. That wouldn’t have happened at too many clubs and that wouldn’t have happened if the players hadn’t given absolutely everything."
He reiterates that bringing success back to Portman Road isn’t an easy task, putting it into recent historical context: "It’s going to be a long-term job. I think over the last 25 years we’ve been in the top flight for five years, a fifth of the last 25 years that this great club has been in the top division.
"It’s a great club with great tradition but it’s not a team that has a divine right to win matches in this division. No one has that.”
Jewell says places in the Premier League are earned: "When we got to the Premier League with both Wigan and Bradford people said we didn’t belong there. That was the most disrespectful thing I’ve ever heard from so-called football people because we worked our absolute tails off to get there, on and off the pitch.
"Whatever you get in this game, you deserve. This club, in everyone’s eyes here, should be in the Premier League but there are about 12 or 14 clubs in the Championship or below that think they should be there as well.”