Midfielder Cole Skuse admits that 2015/16 would be failure if Town don’t make the play-offs for a second successive season.
As things stand Mick McCarthy’s men are in eighth place in the Championship, four points behind sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday, but their goal difference of two is a further disadvantage as they look to make up ground over the eight games that remain of the current campaign.
Skuse, who was 30 on Wednesday, insisted: "If we don’t make the play-offs it would have to be regarded as failure. We set a benchmark last year and we always said the minimum requirement this season would be to finish in the top six. So if we don’t it will be a failure.”
But the former Bristol City player is equally adamant that the play-offs remain a realistic target for him and his colleagues, adding: "I’m not just saying that because I’ve been asked the question.
"It was a tough one last season when we managed to nick into sixth spot but we’ve still got to play several of the teams who are around us. There are some massive games to play but yes, I really do see us sneaking into the play-offs.”
Skuse turned his straight talking to the team’s most recent outing, the 1-0 home defeat by relegation-threatened Rotherham that saw the players booed off at half-time and again following the final whistle as Town surrendered valuable ground to their play-off rivals.
He added: "As bad as we were against Rotherham — we’ve held our hands up and admitted we were poor — you can never, never question the desire to succeed of anyone in the squad. There is no chance of anyone chucking in the towel or taking their foot off the pedal.
"You can’t question our effort or desire to want to try to win a game — it was just our quality on the day that let us down against Rotherham. We will be trying our hardest to stay in the mix right to the end and finish in the top six.”
Skuse was asked why he thought Town had failed to build on a promising start to the season back in August last year when an unbeaten six-game run saw them not only lead the Championship but advance to the third round of the Capital One Cup.
He replied: "It’s not just a dip in form by us. I think the teams around us have improved — look at Sheffield Wednesday from last year, Birmingham from last year, Brighton from last year.
"I know there are no easy games or bad teams in the league but the improvement of others has made the league tougher this year.”
Meanwhile, apart from trying to secure a coveted play-off place, Skuse has a personal ambition he would love to realise over the final eight games — to score what would be only his second goal for the club, having netted just once in his 121 senior appearances to date.
That came in the 3-1 home defeat of Cardiff almost 12 months ago and the player laughed: "I’m still top scorer in training every day. I would love to score one more goal this season, to add to the one I scored last season, so let’s keep our fingers crossed. It really would be lovely if I could score a goal.”