Town’s trip to face relegation rivals Peterborough tomorrow has been labelled a must-win game by Daryl Murphy.
The on-loan Celtic player, who has stressed his desire to make the move permanent in the summer, is in no doubt as to the importance of the London Road clash.
Victory for second-bottom Posh will take them to within two points of Town — and Darren Ferguson’s men will still have a game in hand.
But should Ipswich, already four points clear of the drop zone, register their sixth away win of the season it will give their survival chances a massive boost.
Murphy said: "I would say it’s a must-win game. If results don’t go our way we could be dragged back down so we need to go there and secure all three points.
"We are dealing with the pressure. I think we’ve been fine but obviously we are taking every game as it comes. We all know how big this one is.
"No one is fooling themselves that it’s not. We know how important it is and hopefully we can get the right result.”
Murphy said the fact that Town had been reduced to nine men in Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest would have no bearing on the outcome tomorrow.
He added: "I don’t think we will use tiredness as an excuse if things don’t go well at Peterborough. We know how demanding the league is — we’ve played a lot of games recently — and we’re used to it. Also, the fitness levels are top-notch here so that’s not an issue.”