Mick McCarthy admits that he thought catching today’s opponents Nottingham Forest was beyond his side only a matter of weeks ago.
Forest, who are now just goal difference and one position ahead of eighth-placed Town, were 10 points better off than McCarthy’s men in fifth only seven games ago in mid-February.
The Blues boss thought that his team - which was then ninth - was amongst a number battling it out for the final play-off place with the East Midlanders having all but sealed a slot in the top five.
"I wasn’t trying to be clever or play mind games. I’m too honest for that caper, I don’t do all that stuff. I genuinely didn’t think we’d catch them,” he said.
"I’m glad we have, results were bonkers in midweek for us, they all went our way and we’ve still got a chance of getting in the top six. I didn’t think we’d catch them, I really didn’t.
"I’d like to think that if we were 10 points clear and in that same situation the teams 10 points behind wouldn’t have caught us.
"But they’ve just had a bad run, and who knows why. Billy Davies had a lot of injuries, he made much of it that he’d got this injury crisis, but it does take its toll if you’ve got them and it’s ended up that Billy’s gone. So it’s been a strange couple of months for Nottingham Forest.”
While the visitors have been on a downward spiral, the Blues are very much on the up with McCarthy keen to continue that and making no attempt to play down the current feel-good factor.
"Rip it up, there should be a good buzz, we’ve just played well in the last couple of games and had two good results,” he continued.
"The danger always is that we’re had two good results and we’ve got Nottingham Forest and everybody thinks they’re in trouble, they haven’t got a manager and we should beat them and everything’s going to be great.
"That might not happen. Is that me trying to keep a lid on it? No, it’s me just being my usual pragmatic, realistic self.
"I remember a week ago at Brighton there was a full house, 30,000 people, and I don’t think anybody except for our couple of thousand fans were giving us half a chance of getting anything out of it.
"They all turned up full of optimism and left feeling full of pessimism. I want that feeling of optimism, but Nottingham Forest are no mugs, don’t even think they are.”
Having been in a relegation battle this time a year ago, the Blues manager is delighted to be in a different sort of fight this season: "It’s nice reverse for it to be mathematical possible to get in the top six and be a promotion-chasing team.
"That’s lovely because I don’t think anybody gave us too much chance of being there. And we might not be there yet but it’s a huge step forward, I think, and the last two results have been terrific."
He added: "I don’t think we were written off completely but once the league had started I just don’t think we were amongst the favourites to be up in the higher echelons and competing for promotion.
"But I think with the way we finished last year people didn’t think we were going to be mugs in the league.
"Having got into the position where we are, we actually want to do better. It’s a personal pride, pressure, whatever you want to call it, we want to achieve something.”
McCarthy says owner Marcus Evans didn’t present him with unrealistic targets, which may not have been the case for other managers elsewhere: "Having had the season we had last season, if he’d have said to me ‘you’ve got to get promoted this year or that’s it’, I think I might have said ‘that’s going to be it then’ and not bothered with the season.
"But he also knew, having chatted to him, that we were going to be competitive. There’s a difference between being competitive and ‘having’ to get up or being told you have to get in the top six.
"That puts a helluva strain on your performances and a helluva strain on a relationship if somebody says that to you in the first place.
"I always believe in doing as well as I can with what I’ve got and if it works out, great, if it doesn’t work out and they’re not happy with it they’ll have to do something about it. But just do the best that you possibly can.”