Loan star Ryan Tunnicliffe believes Town can extend their impressive home record when Championship leaders Burnley visit Portman Road on Saturday.
Four wins from their five league games at Portman Road this season — the only blemish coming with the 2-1 defeat by Leeds — have helped Mick McCarthy’s men to climb into the top half of the table and within five points of the play-off places.
But Tunnicliffe knows the Clarets, whose only defeat in 11 games this term came at Brighton, represent Town’s biggest home challenge of the season so far.
The Manchester United loanee said: "Burnley are top for a reason and that is because they have won a lot of games. They also score a lot of goals and it will be difficult for us to defend against their front partnership of Danny Ings and Sam Vokes.”
The Ings-Vokes double act has contributed 19 of their side’s 29 league and cup goals in the current campaign as the Clarets have adjusted well to life without last season’s 28-goal leading marksman Charlie Austin, who was sold to QPR on the eve of the big kick-off.
Tunnicliffe added: "It will be hard but we’re at home and we’re doing well at Portman Road. We’re certainly not frightened of them coming down here. We’ll go out, look to perform and try to beat them.
"The key to winning promotion or getting into the play-offs is your home form. You look to win your home games and pick up points away, which so far is what we’ve been doing.
"We haven’t won as many away games as we would have liked but it’s surely got to come. We can’t keep playing as well as we have been doing and not win. As long as we keep winning at home we’ll be alright.”