Manager Mick McCarthy says he’s not sure precisely what's changed at Portman Road since he and assistant Terry Connor took over on November 1st, they’ve just gone about the job as they always do. Saturday’s point at Sheffield Wednesday took the Blues to within a whisker of confirming their Championship status for 2013/14.
McCarthy said: "I’ve gone and been myself, I’ve been me. Me and TC are a good partnership and we work well and we work well with the players.
"What I’ve changed, I don’t know because I don’t know what went on before and it always seems critical of the person who before. Paul Jewell’s my pal and sometimes it just doesn’t work at a club and you just have to leave.
"Sometimes it’s working and you still have to leave. I thought that happened to me [at Wolves] and looking at them now, I think I was right! Struggling at the bottom of the Premier League’s one thing.
"I’ve been me. I’ve done what I do, I have a way of doing it and Terry’s my great lieutenant. It’s not only me, it’s me and Terry.
"I think we get results, that’s what we do. It might not always be pretty, but we couldn’t be pretty, we had only seven points.”
Saturday’s game saw loan defender Richard Stearman pick up a grade one hamstring strain which could see him miss the Blues’ final two games.
McCarthy says the Wolves man’s spell has been hugely impressive and has cited him as an example to the 18-year-old youngster who is set to come into the side in his probable absence: "I asked Elliott Hewitt before the game, I said ‘Have you been taking a good look at Stears and how he plays?’ and he said he had. Everybody’s accepted what a good player he is. He’s been really good for us.”
The Blues boss also had praise for Patrick Kisnorbo, who came on for Stearman rather than Hewitt at Hillsborough in order to counteract the aerial threat of Steve Howard in the closing stages: "He’s a big handful and they play that way so you’ve got to deal with it, it’s part of the game.
"Pat’s been great, by the way. He’s a wonderful example of a professional footballer that’s gone about his job.
"He came and played against Villa and he thought he’d get more time, but we’ve had nine clean sheets out of 14 games, so I’m not going to change my centre-halves, and he knows that.
"He’s not happy about it, but he’s accepted it and he has been top, top drawer, he really has been fantastic.”
In terms of looking to secure loanees such as Kisnorbo who are out of contract at the end of the season or any of the Blues’ existing squad members whose terms are also up this summer, McCarthy says that will wait until the statistics show that Town are mathematically absolutely safe.
"If someone comes up with that equation and it’s in the paper, then I’ll start talking to them,” he said. "If not, we’ll be bang at it against Birmingham.”
Meanwhile, Town owner Marcus Evans's wealth has been estimated at £625 million in this year's Sunday Times Rich List, in which he is placed 143rd in the UK. Some other previous estimates have claimed Evans to be a billionaire.