Town boss Mick McCarthy wants a performance and result which will “unite everybody again” when the Blues face Fulham at Portman Road this afternoon.
A crowd of around 19-20,000 is expected for the game against the ninth-placed Whites, the highest home attendance since the Norwich derby in August.
"It will be fab if we do [get a crowd of that size], will be great,” said McCarthy, who is looking for his 15th-placed team to record back-to-back victories for the first time this season.
After what’s been the most fractious period of his management at Town with a large section of fans making their disenchantment clear on the terraces and elsewhere, he’d like to see a unifying performance and result.
"It would be fabulous,” he said. "[At the AGM on Wednesday] they asked me what I’m going to do and I said I’m going to continue working and try and make sure we get results so that people enjoy coming back to watch us and enjoy being at Portman Road and we're going up the league and not looking over our shoulders and scrapping around in the bottom half of the league.
"It would be lovely to have a good performance and a good result and just unite everybody again. If it’s 50/50, let’s get back to 70/30, I’ll take that if 30 per cent don’t like me, I can happily live with that.”
He added: "We want the ones who have not been turning up to remember a good game and a good result, not to come and go ‘That’s the reason why we haven’t been coming’. We want a good performance and a good result.”
He admits he had expected the criticism he received from some PLC shareholders at the AGM, although was heartened to hear others speaking up for him and praising the job he has done during his four years at the club.
"I wasn’t surprised,” he said when asked what he made of the AGM and the split opinion among shareholders.
"Actually I was surprised by the first chap’s comments and pretty humbled by that, it was nice of him, but from the smattering of applause quite clearly not everybody agreed with him. But that’s OK.
"And the guy at the front probably summed it up. He said he kind of agreed with the chap from the back but he said, ‘Mick, I’ll be honest with you, I’m not enjoying everything, some good, some bad’, and I agreed with him.
"I’m not sat here arrogantly thinking we’re doing great and I was, as I usually am, as brutally honest as I’m ever going to be.”
Today’s opponents Fulham are one of a number of clubs who have been linked with moves for McCarthy during his time with Town.
"It’s funny, over the last four years when I’ve been doing really well at this club I’ve been touted for a lot of jobs,” the Blues boss reflected.
"And now I’m not doing so well I shouldn’t even be keeping this one. The irony of football, it’s wonderful.”