Boss Mick McCarthy is hoping for a big Portman Road crowd for today’s first home game of the season against Millwall. Despite two defeats in the first two games, McCarthy says the mood in the camp is still very upbeat.
The Town boss said: "It would be nice to have a 20,000-plus crowd tomorrow. We were beaten in the league [at Reading] having played very well.
"We were beaten in the cup when the game was going nowhere and I thought we were favourites to win it up until the penalty.
"And even when I changed it I thought we were better and then we gave a really sloppy goal away, and it was a done deal then.
"I thought Stevenage played well, to be honest. I thought they were excellent at what they did and stopped us playing. But that’s it."
He says that Town might not have had the numbers to maintain a cup run in addition to league form: "I’m not sure I’ve got the squad to compete at that level in both competitions.
"But I didn’t want to lose, I didn’t put a weakened team out. However, it’s done that, we’ll crack on and try and beat Millwall and try and concentrate on that.
"But the performance last week, I would have thought that the people who saw us play were delighted with what they saw. Disappointed that we lost but delighted with the performance.”
McCarthy says he’s not the type to ask fans to be patient as new signings settle in: "I’m not asking for patience because that’s a pile of poo that, asking for patience. I don’t deal with that one.
"We’ll try and win the games and if I’m winning them and everybody’s loving me and loving the team, great. If we’re not winning and they think we should be, so be it.
"It’s not going to change the way I function or the way I do my job. But I think there’s a fair deal of understanding here.
"It’s been difficult for a few years and we’ve had November to May where it’s been fairly solid, a good atmosphere around the place, a good spirit in the place. It would be ridiculous to lose that off the back of two or three games.
"And I don’t think they will because they all turned up and they were very supportive when I came in November and continued to do it. I’m optimistic about the season and I think the fans are as well.”
He says there was no brooding amongst the players after the Stevenage game: "There’s just a good atmosphere around the place all the time. There’s a good buzz in the training ground, day in, day out.
"When we came in on Thursday, there was no moping around, we lost a game of football. The only one I can affect now is Saturday.”
McCarthy is delighted that Aaron Cresswell will be able to return against Millwall: "He is the best left-back in the league. I said it’s arguable, but that’s my opinion and I’d argue that point.
"Whatever [price is] on his head, I don’t want to sell him. He’s terrific. Tyrone Mings is learning the game and to have those two I think we’ve got two really good left-backs.”
The Blues boss is also pleased to have Paul Taylor back on the pitch and is keen to get him up to speed as quickly as possible: "He’s fine, but he’s way behind, he was missing for 11 months.
"Maybe he could have done better on Tuesday but he’s finding his feet. We need to get him fit because he’s a terrific footballer.”
While he’d ideally like three points against the Lions today, getting one would be a start: "I always think you’ve got to get something on the board, you’ve got to get a point on the board.
"Don’t think for one minute we’re going to try and draw but you want something because while you’ve got zilch that makes it really hard and the pressure comes on.
"So we need something. We want to win our home games. We want to play like we did last week at Reading. If we achieve that, more often than not it’ll win games.”