Town are not blind to the fact that a form dip has seen them slide down the Championship table to within just five points of the relegation zone, according to defender Christophe Berra.
At the same time, Mick McCarthy’s men find themselves just six points off the play-offs after a run of 10 games that has brought two wins, four draws and four defeats — 10 points from the 30 on offer.
Berra said: "This league’s so tight that you’re never safe. We’re just focusing on the game on Saturday against QPR, when we’ll be trying to get the three points, and worrying about ourselves.”
Town have been booed off at the end of their two most recent home games — the 2-2 draw with bottom club Rotherham and last week’s 2-0 defeat by a Nottingham Forest side who recorded their first away win of the season.
"That’s just normal,” added Berra. "I’ve been at clubs in the past where even when things were going well the fans were not always happy.
"They have a right to voice their opinions and as players we have to be big enough and wise enough to blank it out and concentrate on the football.
"That’s the nature of all team sports — you can’t please everyone. They all have their own views and you’ve got to respect that.
"They might not always be right but that’s football and that’s why millions of people throughout the world watch it.
"They’ve all got opinions, that’s down to them and there’s nothing we can do about it. All we can do about it is try to do our best to win games.”
Berra has appeared three different defensive partners this season — new signing Adam Webster started there, long-serving Tommy Smith regained his place and skipper Luke Chambers has also switched from right-back when required since Smith was sidelined with a back injury.
The former Wolves defender was asked if it made any difference whether Webster or Smith lined up alongside him and he replied: "No, they are both good players. Adam’s come in and done a great job. He’s a good player with a bright future and Tommy’s done it year in, year out.
"They’ve both got their attributes and whenever they have played neither has done himself any harm. They’ve always done well.”
When Chambers has had to move across to the centre of the defence the gap at right-back has been filled by 19-year-old Josh Emmanuel and Berra added: "It’s a learning experience for him. He’s not played many first team games and it’s always difficult, especially at home, when the team is not doing as well as it has done in the past.
"Fans have been booing and for a young boy it’s a learning curve. But he’s got a wise head on him and he’ll have to learn quickly. You just have to get on with it because it’s part and parcel of football and you’ve got to be thick skinned and move on.
"When I was at Hearts we went through a sticky spell one season. Football’s not plain sailing and unless you’re playing for one of the top five clubs in the world it’s full of ups and downs. To be honest we’re Ipswich Town, we’re not world beaters and we’ve got to realise that.
"We’ve got to make sure that when we do play games we’re operating at 90, 95 or even 100 per cent to get the results. This league is so competitive and all the other teams are the same, apart from Newcastle obviously — they’re a good team.
"Even in the past when we’ve done well there have been so many games that have been so close. We might have been 2-1 down and come back to 2-2 or even won 3-2 but this season it’s just not happening for us at the moment.
"But we’re not losing confidence, we’re going into every game thinking we can win it and no one will like coming to Portman Road.”
Meanwhile, Berra is keen to add to his 100 per cent appearance record with his first goal of the current campaign.
In each of the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons he and Smith contributed 11 goals between them, although they only shared three last season, but they and Webster are still waiting to break their ducks this time around.
Berra said: "I haven’t scored but I’ll take our winner at Hillsborough as an assist, although winning the game is all that really matters.
"Obviously we’d love to score more goals and we’re trying our best. Maybe we’re marked a bit more these days and things are not falling for us.
"We go out to score as many goals as we can but this season I don’t think I’ve had that many chances. I’ve been in and around things but I’ve not really managed to get any clear-cut chances to be honest.”