Boss Mick McCarthy is taking the traditional one match at a time approach as the Blues go into the first of two crucial Easter fixtures at Watford on Saturday. Town follow up their visit to Vicarage Road with Monday’s home game against AFC Bournemouth.
Asked how many points he believes his team needs to ensure a top six finish, the Blues manager admitted: "I don’t know. I haven’t a clue. We could go to Watford and get beaten and everything would be doom and gloom.
"Then we could win the next three and we’re suddenly back in it. I just do not know. I don’t look at everybody’s fixtures. You get twisted doing that.
"We’ve got Watford and Bournemouth, let’s see what happens. We could be well in it, we could be out of it, we could be still on the cusp of it by 5.30 on Easter Monday. Let’s just go and try and beat Watford. That’s the only way we can look at it.”
He’s expecting a tough game against the Hornets, who are unbeaten at home since January: "They’re playing well. They’ve had good results since the new manager came in, playing 3-5-2.
"They’d stopped doing that and went back to that when they came to us and they’ve played it most of the season, and played it well.
"It will be a hard game, there’ll be a full house, apparently. I don’t know whether they can get anywhere near the play-offs, I don’t look beneath us, I’m looking up above to see where we can get to.
"It’ll be a tough game, a good game for us and if we get something out of it we’ll still be in it.”
The Town boss is unlikely to stray too far from the team which won at Huddersfield and then beat Doncaster last weekend.
Dean Gerken will continue in goal with skipper Luke Chambers at right-back and Tommy Smith — who is expected to be over a calf problem - and Supporters Player of the Year Christophe Berra at the centre of the defence. Aaron Cresswell will return at left-back in place of Tyrone Mings, having recovered from his groin injury.
In midfield, Cole Skuse and Luke Hyam will be in the centre, with Paul Anderson thought likely to be fit enough for inclusion on the right despite a hamstring niggle. If not, Anthony Wordsworth could get a recall in the position he occupied at Blackburn recently.
Stephen Hunt will probably be on the left, while Jonny Williams will play just behind main striker Daryl Murphy.
Young striker Jack Marriott has been brought back from his loan spell at Woking and may be on the bench ahead of Paul Taylor, with McCarthy believing the 19-year-old is nearer match sharpness. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake unlikely to be involved, due to a hamstring problem.
Top scorer David McGoldrick is now definitely ruled out for the season having undergone cartilage surgery yesterday.
The Hornets will be without suspended centre-half Marco Cassetti, while on-loan Arsenal striker Park Chu-Young is sidelined with a toe injury.
Midfielder Cristian Battocchio (knee) and full-back Lloyd Doyley (ankle) are back in contention, while winger Ikechi Anya (Achilles) faces a fitness test having picked up a knock in the 2-2 draw with Millwall.
In December at Portman Road, David McGoldrick netted Town’s first penalty of the season, but Troy Deeney equalised as the sides drew 1-1.
McGoldrick put Town ahead in the 73rd minute after Gabriele Angella had handled, but Deeney hit back nine minutes from time.
In August 2012, Michael Chopra’s 90th-minute goal ended Town’s 15-match run without a victory against Watford as the Blues left Vicarage Road with a 1-0 win.
Town were good for the three points but had to wait for their goal with Chopra converting a Carlos Edwards cross moments before the final whistle. The victory, in the second game of the 2012/13 campaign, was Paul Jewell’s last as Town boss.
Historically, the clubs are evenly matched, the Blues winning 25 times (22 in the league), losing 25 (24) and drawing 17 (17).
Town keeper Scott Loach rejoined the Blues from Watford for £150,000 during in the summer of 2012.
Reece Brown signed for the Hornets in the summer after his release by Manchester United following a loan spell with the Blues at the end of last season. He is currently on loan at Carlisle.
Watford goalkeeper-coach Alec Chamberlain was, like Loach, a youth player with the Blues but never made a first team appearance, while Town youth development coach Steve Foley spent time coaching at Vicarage Road earlier in his career.
The game is being shown live in some overseas nations, while it is one of the main matches on The Football League Show. There is also live commentary on Five Live Sports Extra as well as Radio Suffolk.
Saturday’s referee is Gary Sutton from Lincolnshire, who has shown 86 yellow cards and six red in 27 games so far this season. Sutton’s most recent Town match was the 2-1 home victory over Huddersfield in December in which he kept his cards in his pockets throughout.
Squad from: Gerken, Loach, Chambers, Richardson, Cresswell, Mings, Berra, Smith, Skuse, Hyam, Wordsworth, Anderson, Green, Hunt, Tabb, Henshall, Williams, Nouble, Murphy, Taylor, Marriott.