Skipper Luke Chambers admits that the Blues may not currently be the easiest on the eye but says winning games is ultimately the most important thing.
Despite moving up to fifth in the Championship, two points behind leaders Leeds - who they face at Elland Road on Saturday - with a game in hand having won five of their first seven in the league, some supporters were critical of Town’s display as the beat bottom-of-the-table Bolton Wanderers 2-0 at Portman Road on Saturday.
Chambers, who made his return from an ankle injury against the Trotters, says it’s promising that the Blues are winning matches such as Saturday’s even when they’re not at their best.
"I think it can only be encouraging,” he told iFollow Ipswich. "People can say whatever they want to say, we’re winning games, we’re scoring goals, we kept a clean sheet at the weekend.
"I think whoever you play against, whatever the game in the division, it’s very, very tough, regardless of teams’ positions at the bottom of the league.
"People would have looked at our fixture at the weekend, we were at home against Bolton, they haven’t had a great start and [think] we should be brushing them aside.
"But as it showed, it’s never going to be an exhibition of football, I don’t think we’ve ever been that team and it’ll take a long time to get to that level if we want to become a team that’s very, very easy on the eye.
"At the minute what we’re doing is working, we’re picking up points, we’re finding ourselves in a good position in the division and we’re looking forward to going up [to Leeds] and having a test and hopefully putting in a better performance that might [not] be pleasing on the eye, but at the end of the day if we’re winning games, for me that’s the most important thing.”
Chambers, who played every minute of last season’s Championship campaign, is pleased to be back having missed three league games due to the ankle injury he suffered in the 4-3 win at Millwall, a problem which at one stage looked like it might keep him out until the middle of next month.
"Originally they said nine weeks, there was a bit of a fracture on the scan, of one my bones in my ankle and I’d damaged both ligaments,” he added.
"But I always tried to be positive and come back as quickly as I could. There’s still a little bit of pain there. I’m strapping it up and I did everything for five days leading up to the game and I felt probably better than I did at times last year.
"I know it’s probably not as strong as it could be, there is still a risk of me playing on it but I think that is minimal and I know what I can get through and hopefully it doesn’t detract from my individual performances. And if we’re still stronger as a team with me playing, I’m going to play no matter what.”
Meanwhile, midfielder Andre Dozzell, who is out for the season having undergone surgery for a torn cruciate knee ligament five weeks ago, has been doing hydrotherapy exercises as he takes the early steps on the road back to fitness.
🎥 | Great to see @andredozzell on his way back, as he completes hydrotherapy exercises just 5 weeks after ACL reconstruction surgery 💪 #itfc pic.twitter.com/iVJosbaaAC– Ipswich Town FC (@Official_ITFC) September 19, 2017
The 18-year-old is expected to be out for around nine months with the injury he suffered just before half-time during the 1-0 opening day win against Birmingham City.