Town boss Mick McCarthy was delighted with the result and the performance as the Blues beat Wigan 3-0 at Portman Road but also admitted he was a little relieved with keeper Bartosz Bialkowski having been forced to make a number of important saves at 2-0.
"I feel delighted about the result, the performance and probably a bit relieved about the fact that we got three points and that all the other results seemed to go for us,” McCarthy said.
"I thought it was a really good performance, I think the two front lads epitomised what we’re about today. They got after them and got the goals, got the rewards for it, Freddie Sears and David McGoldrick.
"And yet at the start of the second half we looked like we were conspiring to give a goal away, which infuriated me, to be honest.”
McCarthy felt Bialkowski oughtn’t to have needed to make his saves: "He shouldn’t have had to but you give them stupid freekicks and allow them to put the ball in the box with big players and good deliveries it’s always a threat.
"And some of the freekicks we gave away were just bonkers. But anyway we’ve got a fabulous keeper who made sure it didn’t go to 2-1 and I think we deserved to win 3-0, to be honest.”
McCarthy was pleased to see both McGoldrick, who had gone 15 matches without a goal before netting the opener, and Sears, who has also had a less than prolific season before scoring the second and third, find the net.
"They were a bit like double decker buses,” he reflected. "It was great for the pair of them because I thought they were terrific, really epitomised a really good performance.”
The Town boss was pleased with Myles Kenlock, who created the first goal, for some aspects of his game but was less impressed with others, most notably an incident soon after the restart when he fouled Jamie Hanson in a dangerous position by the corner flag.
"He’s a good footballer, Myles, he really is,” he said. "And yet I was going to kill him for giving a freekick just after half-time and they put the ball in the box.
"I’ve got punters behind me telling me to leave him alone - ‘Leave him alone!’. Strange, isn’t it? If it ends up our net it would be ‘Mick McCarthy, your football is shite’. No, no, no, no, no, you see your job out. We’re 2-0 up, you don’t do that.
So yes, there are real aspects of that game I’m delighted with and there are others I’m furious with because but for Bart it could have gone to 2-1 and then who knows? But thankfully it didn’t.
"But Kenlock, I think he had a good game today, I was delighted with him. But he’s not getting off scot free for that, let me tell you.”
The Blues are now nine points from the bottom three with six left to play but Town boss says Town still have work to do.
"Suddenly we could go to Fulham and they turn us over and then we go to Burton and then we’ve got Newcastle coming and who knows what the other results will be.
"We have to make sure we do it right, that’s my point with Myles and a few of them. Chambo, Tommy, Jordan Spence, I think they gave freekicks away. It’s seeing it out, not letting teams off the hook, being ruthless.
"And it looks like we have been, everybody will look at the scoreline and think that, but we all know that but for the brilliant Bartosz it could have gone to 2-1.
"Overall it’s a really good performance and a good night for us, I’m not knocking that. But I’m not coming in here crowing, there were things we could have done better as well.”
He added: "I don’t think for one minute that that’s it over and done with. It would be a helluva thing to give it away now and I don’t think it will the case, and hopefully that will give us some confidence going to Fulham because they’re a good side.”
But he says the result does reduce the pressure somewhat: "Yes, and it’s not only the third bottom team, of course, there are other teams below us on points, they’ve all got to get above 49 points.
"It’s made it difficult for them and hopefully it’ll give us a bit of confidence the way we played.”
The Portman Road atmosphere was far less fractious than it had been during Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with Birmingham.
"Win games and they will come and they will cheer and they’ll be happy, that’s all it is,” McCarthy added.
"Free pies, free pints, f***ing half price, cushions on the seats, happy clappy, it’s all bollocks.
"You win games and people like you, and that’s all what it is. I don’t know, maybe I’ve gone a bit too far, even winning games might not turn a few of them around, but I’ve always found when you win games it’s a really good recipe for a happy place and a good place.
"When you’re winning games it’s a piece of cake, the job. It’s when you’re not, I think that’s how you’re judged, when you’re not winning games, and how you judge yourself probably because it’s tough, let me tell you.
"So, when you’re winning and you’re top of the league, you’ve got a big fag on and it’s great. I know the pressure’s still on because you want to win and you want to be promoted and whatever else, but generally people are thinking nice thoughts about you.”
McCarthy says centre-half Steven Taylor may be out for the season with the injury he suffered just before the break: "His hamstring, I think. That might be him. The last time was three or four weeks.
"And I was delighted with him as well, I thought he started really well, he’s a great personality, with his experience.
"Jonas Knudsen has done his shoulder so he couldn’t play and I could have put Tommy Smith there but I wanted Tayls because of his experience and his voice and his organisation, he’s great. So it’s sad he’s done his hammy again.”
Wigan interim manager Graham Barrow felt his team deserved what they got for the mistakes which led to all three Town goals.
"We gave them three goals so it is a fair scoreline, and but for Matt Gilks it probably could have been more,” he admitted.
"In between that we created a few chances ourselves but I’m not even going to pretend that anything was OK today.
"I don’t know whether it’s a hangover from having played Villa and Newcastle and having played ever so well and not got anything, whether it’s too much for the players, we’ll find out on Saturday.”
He added: "It was suicidal stuff we played, kamikaze football we’ve played really. We always pride ourselves on trying to play but that was ridiculous.
"When I saw the teamsheet I knew what Mick was going to do, I tried to prepare the team for that because they played a different shape to Saturday, but it was going to be a battle first to win the right to play.
"We earned the right to play but just made stupid mistakes. I feel personally let down by them and I’ve told them.”