Town loanee Tom Lawrence has rubbished the theory that the players will be nervous ahead of tomorrow’s live-on-Sky home clash with Nottingham Forest.
Because of the reception the players — and in particular manager Mick McCarthy — received during and after the 2-2 draw with rock-bottom Rotherham almost three weeks ago it has been suggested that they might be dreading the thought of another home fixture.
But the subsequent 2-1 away victory over Sheffield Wednesday 13 days ago, when Lawrence’s first goal for the Blues put them in front, will have given everybody a lift going into the Forest game which is followed seven days later by a visit from QPR.
Asked if the negative reaction at the Rotherham game made him nervous about returning to Portman Road the 22-year-old Welshman answered: "It’s a tough one because everybody was probably expecting us to win against Rotherham. But it’s true what they say — no game is easy in the Championship.
"Maybe we should have won it but I’ve got no problem with playing at Portman Road. Hopefully the fans will get right behind us and we’ll keep going from where we left off at Hillsborough last week.
"I think we’ve been unfortunate with the odd bit of bad luck going against us but in the win at Sheffield Wednesday we showed our qualities and hopefully we’ll do that a lot more, starting this weekend.
"I’m looking forward to the Forest game and I’m enjoying my time here because I’m playing regularly.
"Partnerships are important all over the pitch and I think I’ve linked up well with Jonas [Knudsen] and Myles [Kenlock] when he has been at left-back.
"The togetherness here at Ipswich is a massive factor in what we achieve. That side of things has been second to none since I came in. We all work hard for each other and the team spirit we have has never been in doubt.
"If we can beat Forest we can continue to move up the league. QPR can wait but there’s no doubt that we’d like to win them both because it would get us into a really good position in the table. If we could pick up all six points we’d be right up there.”
Wrexham-born Lawrence collected senior cap number five when he was introduced as a 68th minute substitute for West Brom’s Hal Robson-Kanu in last Saturday’s World Cup qualifier in Cardiff when Wales’ hopes of a vital three points were scuppered when Serbia netted a last-gasp leveller.
He said: "We were disappointed not to get the win but it’s still in our own hands and we just have to go out and win the games. Every time I pull on the shirt for my country I regard it as a real honour and I was happy to be involved against Serbia.”
Lawrence is also keen to see his former Manchester United youth coach, Warren Joyce, succeed in management, although his first game in charge of Championship strugglers Wigan ended in massive disappointment with a 3-0 home defeat by Reading.
"Warren was a massive influence on me in the early part of my career,” he added. "He helped me a lot and brought me on in leaps and bounds so I’ve got the utmost respect for him and a lot of players would probably say exactly the same.
"Warren gets you working hard and shows confidence in you. He has that knack of putting over his points in a good way and I’m sure he will do just fine at Wigan.
"He has all the attributes to be a success at Championship level and I don’t see any reason why he can’t do it there.”