Manager Paul Lambert believes if Town keep doing what they’ve been doing during the first few weeks of his management they’ll climb away from the relegation zone. The Blues go into Friday’s tough home game against West Brom bottom of the Championship, five points - plus goal difference - from safety.
Lambert has been delighted with the way the squad has reacted in the three weeks he has been working with them.
"Really good lads, absolutely top lads, I couldn’t ask for any more,” he said in an interview on BBC Radio Suffolk’s breakfast show.
"I’ve really got to say that the first few weeks I’ve been here they’ve been brilliant in training and they’ve been great in the games for us.
"I think we’ve deserved more in terms of the results but the actual performances have been incredibly high.”
Lambert had particular praise for the display in the first half of the 2-2 draw at Reading: "I thought they were outstanding, I really did and I said at the time I’ve managed some really good sides and that was up there with the best of them, and in a really short space of time.
"I think it’s a credit to them, they’re the ones that have to go out there and play and carry it out but I think what’s helped them is the supporters.”
Morale in the squad seemed very low prior to him taking over, what did he say to elicit that swift change around? "I can only look from afar. I remember watching the Middlesbrough game on Sky and I thought there seemed to just be a sign of people giving up, even the supporters, I think they were tired.
"It looked like they couldn’t even be bothered to boo. If their team’s losing, normally you get the odd hit and the criticism which comes with not winning games, but I just sensed on the television that even the crowd were feeling it and there was just an apathy there.
"Paul [Hurst] was doing his best to try and rectify it and obviously they made a change and I’m fortunate to come in and you just galvanise people really.
"But you’ve got to galvanise not just the football club but you’ve got to galvanise the town, I think that’s important.”
He added: "You’ve one team in the town, there’s no excuse for not giving us a right good go. As I said before, you’re wanting the crowd to come, leave their troubles on the outside and come to a stadium and have an absolute party, throw everything at it.
"You’ve paid your money to come to the game and we’ll try and give you something back but you also want the crowd to get right behind it, which they will because I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”
Lambert has been impressed with the Blues’ support, particularly the away following: "Fantastic. If we can get that, generate that at home in the North Stand, if you get that rocking and you get the real hardcore in there bouncing around for 90 minutes it will be brilliant, it really will. We need to create that.”
Lambert has stressed the importance of making life fun for the players and says the same should be the case for fans.
"You could have a bad day at work and you come to the football and forget it, just have 90 minutes of mayhem in the stadium. You’ve got to generate that atmosphere and we have to do it,” he added.
Regarding digging the Blues out of the hole in which they currently find themselves, he said: "I always think that there’s only one place to go when you’re at the bottom of the table, and that’s up but you’ve got to get rid of the shackles on your shoulders and the weight on your shoulders and the only way to do that is to play with freedom.
"I think they’ve got to get back to doing that and if you can galvanise the players and the supporters and the players and the club it will be a really powerful place.
"And I think we’re on the right road. We’ve a long, long way to go but what we’ve done, there’s hope there and if we keep the fight and we keep the spirit we’ve got and keep doing what we’re doing we’ll get [out of] the position.”
Is there enough time to escape? "Nobody knows, that’s the great question but one thing I do know is that we’ll give it a right good go and if we keep doing what we’re doing we’ll get out of it, without a doubt.
"Five points is nothing really. The turnaround is easily made up within a week, that can be made up. We have to start to win, but we’re playing well enough to win.
"You can never predict a result but one thing I can be 100 per cent sure about is that we’ll be ready for games.
"I think the confidence is back there, I think they’ve got the enthusiasm for the game back, I think they’ve got the hunger in the game. And I said before we need the supporters to help us.”
Regarding setting aims, he added: "I taken on a massive job but I’ve taken on a massive job that’s brilliant. It’s something that I absolutely love. I absolutely love being here, I love the way it is.
"As I said before, every job’s a challenge, whether you’re top of the league, middle or bottom. Every job’s a challenge to you and you thrive on that.
"And I love everything that goes with it, the atmosphere of it, I love the adrenaline rush of it. That will never leave, that’s always with me, that.
"What I’ll do in the short term is get as many wins as we can and don’t look too far ahead. We have to [go for those wins every game]. We have to play with the same enthusiasm and tempo that we have in the first two games I’ve been here.
"As I say, I can never predict a result but one thing’s for sure, I like working with the lads, I really enjoy it, I like working with the team and I think they like working with each other now again.
"I think they’ve missed that, they’ve missed the fun element in that but also now they’re starting to play like a right team and that’s important.”
Off the field, he wants Portman Road to be rocking: "That’s the main objective, get people into it. You have to entertain people and we have to get the place really going.
"If the supporters keep doing what they’re doing and we start to get them back in that stadium more and more and give them something back then they’ll get right behind us.
"Stay with it [if we go a goal behind]. I think it’s well documented that my teams never give up. We might not win every game but we’ll bring the fight, that’s for sure.”