Town skipper Luke Chambers has stressed the importance of going into Sunday’s showdown at Norwich on the back of a win.
The midweek success at home to Birmingham means Mick McCarthy’s men head for Carrow Road and the second East Anglian derby of the season having won three of their last four Championship fixtures.
Chambers said: "Obviously, it’s vitally important for us. We want to keep momentum moving forward and we feel we have done that in the last few weeks.
We had a disappointing result against Reading but after three wins in four we’re going to Norwich full of confidence and ready for the challenge that lies ahead.
"It’s always billed as a big game. At the end of the day it’s another three points but we know a bit more about it than that.
"The lads are fully prepared for what the game’s all about and what the fans expect from us. The Norwich boys will be expected to do exactly the same.
"We’ll be going out there and giving everything we’ve got in the dressing room, like we’ve done all season to find ourselves third in the league. We are going there with great belief that we can get something.
"With the success we have had so far this season people are expecting more from us, especially at home at the minute.
"They have been expecting us to steamroller sides so we’re feeling that added bit of pressure. But the boys are thriving on it and we’ve got a lot of experience in the dressing room.
"The lads are fully aware of what’s needed every time we play, whether it’s Norwich away, Norwich at home or we’re going to all the other places where we’ve had to go and get something this season. We’re just looking forward to the game really.”
While Town have banked nine points from a possible 12, the Canaries are looking for a sixth successive win under new boss Alex Neil, who has won seven and drawn one of his nine games in charge.
But Chambers added: "It has been a surprise to me that Norwich have not been up there all season, but it’s not a surprise that they have come back again after a poor spell.
"They have brought in a new manager who has been fantastic for them and they are on a tremendous run.
"But they have spent a hell of a lot of money and they still have what I would call a Premier League squad at their disposal.
"I believe they should be up there but it’s nice that we are going into the game ahead of them and we’ll see where we are after the game.
"The 1-0 defeat to Norwich back in August still hurts. We weren’t quite into our stride back then and we had what we felt was a tough start to the season.
"But it was a disappointment that we took in our stride and since then we have gone from strength to strength.
"The difference from then until now has been like night and day. We didn’t play particularly well that day and there weren’t many positives for us.
"But there wasn’t much in the game and it was a sloppy goal to concede from our point of view.
"But in this division, if you put a run together, you can be right up there at the top of the league because there isn’t too much between the sides and it’s just about who can be consistent.
"From that day we haven’t really looked back and we’ve been looking forward to this game for a long while now.
"We’ve had to take care of what’s been in front of us, like Birmingham on Tuesday, and now we’re fully prepared for Sunday.”