Town may be unbeaten in their last eight Championship games but Christophe Berra admits they are keen to improve on their performance in last week’s 1-1 draw at Barnsley when they travel to Cardiff this weekend.
Berra said: "The performance at Barnsley wasn’t up to the standard we expect of ourselves but it was a point gained. It’s a tough place to go — Barnsley have done really well this season — and as you know there are no easy games in the Championship, especially away from home.
"You have to give them credit for how well they have done this season and on the first day, when we beat them 4-2 at Portman Road, it was a similar type of game and we just managed to create more chances because we were at home.”
Town’s eight-game unbeaten run includes seven draws, while they have only won two of their 17 games in all competitions this year. They are currently seven points above the relegation zone with nine games left to play and Berra was asked if it means they are in a relegation battle.
He replied: "It looks that way from the table. Seven points, it’s not that big a gap, and there are a lot of teams involved. Then again, we’re only two points off Brentford and QPR, and three off Cardiff.
"Two or three more wins will ease it a little bit, but it’s the Championship and it’s getting tougher every year. All we can do is worry about ourselves and take care of our own performances. It’s football, you get on with it, it’s the job we’re in and we’ve just got to deal with it.”
Looking at the season in general, Berra added: "It has obviously been inconsistent and we haven’t met the standards we have set in previous years. But let’s be honest — we haven’t made the most investment so these things kind of happen.
"Teams in and around us have maybe done a little bit more and kicked on a little bit, plus the league’s got tougher.
"Then again, in the last two or three seasons we have probably punched above our weight and set expectations very high. At the moment, obviously, the press and media are saying we’ve not done as well as we have in the last few seasons, which is natural.
"That’s part of sport and it doesn’t matter if you’re playing football or another sport. If you don’t perform as you have in the past people will view it as a bad season or not as good a season.”
Berra was asked if he regarded the season as a missed opportunity when considering the standard in the division, with the top two of Newcastle and Brighton seemingly well ahead of the rest.
He said: "I think that’s disrespectful to the other teams, to be honest. Do you think other teams will be thinking ‘They’ve got great, great players?’ I don’t think so. In this league it’s fine margins and if you look at a lot of the squads on paper I don’t think you can necessarily say who’s got the strongest squad.
"A lot of the teams, like QPR and Cardiff, have spent a lot of money and they’re down there as well. Blackburn and Bristol City have spent lots of money and they have good squads. It’s just the competitive nature of the league, every game is tough and it’s fine margins really.”