They may have 16 games left, meaning there are 48 points still to play for, but Marcus Harness agrees Town need to soon start winning games if they are to stay in the race for automatic promotion.
Leaders as recently as December, following a 2-1 home win over Peterborough United, the Blues have fallen off the pace and now trail leaders Plymouth Argyle by eight points and second-placed Sheffield Wednesday, with whom they drew 2-2 at Portman Road on Saturday, by six, with the Owls also having a game in hand.
Indeed, Town are now only clinging to third place on goal difference from Bolton Wanderers, although they also have a game in hand on them, a situation that looked extremely unlikely when Kieran McKenna’s men were last in pole position and were 13 points better off than the Trotters.
After tomorrow’s away clash with 14th-placed Bristol Rovers, the Blues face Forest Green, MK Dons, Accrington Stanley and Burton Albion, all of whom are within the current bottom seven, and it would appear to be the ideal opportunity to gather points and build some much-needed momentum.
Is Harness confident the team can put a few wins on the board, say, four on the bounce, or perhaps five out of six, something of that nature? He said: "Yes, definitely, and that’s exactly what we’ll be trying to do in the weeks ahead, although we can only take it one game at a time. Each game is going to have its own challenges and we’ll try to manoeuvre through that.
"If we want to get promoted, we need to win a lot of games and there’s no getting around that. We also know that there are not many easy games, if any, and there are no mugs in this league. You might see teams being beaten 5-0 and stuff like that, but while it happens it’s not like you can just roll over teams.
"That’s especially the case when we turn up and opposition players are on top of their game. It’s never going to be easy and we’ve seen it ourselves recently when we’ve gone to some of the teams lower down the league.
"They give us different problems and it’s just about trying to get on the right side of some of the draws we’ve been getting lately and turning them into wins. But, overall, we’re still in a good place.”
If boss McKenna deems it necessary to change Saturday’s line-up, Harness, who came off the bench midway through the second half, may be in line for the 20th league start in what is his first season as an Ipswich player after moving from Portsmouth last summer.
He admitted: "Obviously, you always want to play and especially in the big games like Saturday, with a full house. But we have a squad full of quality here and you can’t have too many arguments when somebody else gets the shout.
"I think the manager does well to rotate it and pick the best team for each game that he thinks is going to give us the best chance of winning.
"It’s about being humble, really, and seeing the bigger picture. It’s not about any one player, it’s about the team and the club, and the best thing for both, so while you’re disappointed you have to take all that on board and understand the situation.
"We have open communication here. Anyone who has an issue about anything can always go and speak to the manager about it and he speaks to people all the time. For him it’s about picking what he sees as the best team for each game, so sometimes we’ll play and sometimes we might not.
"But the lads who aren’t starting and are on the bench are ready to come on at any point in the game. We know we make a lot of changes early and we’ve just got to be in the right frame of mind to come on and affect the game in a positive way when we get the opportunity to be on the pitch.”
With players regularly insisting they don’t consult league tables or scan their rivals’ results, Harness was asked if things had changed and whether he and his teammates were now anxious to find out the other League One results after heading for the dressing room following their own games.
He added: "We’re always looking at other results but I sometimes think it would be better if we didn’t, to be honest, and I think that’s why people tend to talk the way they do.
"It’s only natural to want to know and we know players and friends that we are competing against, so it’s hard not to know what’s happening elsewhere.
"I can’t see any of that changing. At the same time, none of it is going to mean anything if we don’t do our job, which has to come first really.”
Finally, the Coventry-born attacker who launched his career with Burton Albion and was on loan at non-league Ilkeston, Aldershot and Port Vale, before moving to Pompey, acknowledged his role at Ipswich is different to what he had been used to elsewhere.
He added: "In the past I played mostly out wide, although there were periods when I did also play further infield at times, maybe as a second striker or as a number ten, like we do now, although maybe not in a team as structured as Ipswich.
"I’ve learned a lot and I’ve improved a lot as a player, and even when I’m not scoring I feel like I’ve improved a lot.
"I’ve helped the team, I think, as best I can and I feel more comfortable there. It’s just about building relationships, which is always going to be the case when you move somewhere new.
"In general play, obviously, I can always improve and I’m always trying to improve, but I feel like I’m in a decent place now where I understand my job and it’s about bringing the end product and tidying up a few things. On the whole, I’m feeling good in the new system and enjoying it.”