Blues boss Kieran McKenna insists the 16-year wait for a derby victory doesn’t weigh heavily on his or his players’ minds going into Sunday’s game against Norwich City at Portman Road.
Town supporters don’t need to be reminded that the Blues last tasted success against their rivals from across the border in April 2009 when Jim Magilton, taking charge of his last game before being sacked a few days later, led his team to a 3-2 victory, a result which all but condemned the Canaries into League One.
Since then, the sides have met infrequently with the Norfolk club having won eight and drawn six when they have faced one another.
"I have to say, I don’t think anyone here feels it as a weight,” an upbeat McKenna said at his press conference. "If anyone would it would be maybe me and I don’t, so I can’t imagine any of the players because they haven't been here.
"For the large, large, large majority of the dressing room, it’s their first East Anglian derby, so they’re really looking forward to it.
"Of course, we know the 16-year thing and we've spoken about how nice it would be to give our supporters that day and something to enjoy.
"We also know the reality. There have been two derbies in the last six and a half years, so it’s not like we’ve had 32 games against each other and been in the same division for 16 years. There have been two in the last six and a half years, since February 2019, so it’s not a record that I feel hangs over us as a club.
"I know that four years ago we were in League One, in our fourth season in a row in League One, and they were in their second season out of three in the Premier League.
"I think the direction of travel over the last few years has been really positive and we want to try and maintain that direction of travel in terms of growing and developing the club and building the club back up to where we believe it can be.
"If we can beat our local rivals on the way in a league game, it would be a fantastic boost for the supporters and for us in the building, and we’re going to try and do that on Sunday.
"But for me, it’s something to really look forward to. I don’t see how players who haven’t been at the club and haven’t really played in derbies, maybe one or two have played before, but I don’t see how it could be in any way a burden by that.
"I think they’re really excited by the game and, if anything, it’s actually a chance for them to go and do something that hasn’t been done in a long time.
"They’ve got nothing to lose. If anything, the record to lose is on the other side and for our players, especially the new players, it’s a chance to go and do something that hasn’t been done for a while. So it’s just something to be really excited to look forward to and to go and try and grab.”
Reflecting on the mood going into the match, McKenna continued: "Whether anyone’s game-state, psychological state or physical state going into that game is going to be relaxed, I don't know, it’s going to be a really intense game.
"You’ve got to make sure that you’re ready for that. The adrenaline is high, you’re ready for the fight, you’re ready for the battle, you’re ready to embrace the atmosphere.
"But again, it’s like any other big game. You have to respect the occasion. I think any game at Portman Road, we want it to be really intense.
"We want it to be difficult for the opponent. We want to impose ourselves. We have to win the duals, win the challenges more often than not. But that’s the same for every game at Portman Road, especially this type of game, which has an extra emphasis on that.
"But other than that, big games are often decided on details, margins and execution. The focus just has to be on that, so we always want the players to go into the game confident.
"We always want them to go in thinking of the positive outcomes that there could be. There’s a really great positive outcome for us on this one available that we really want and I know the players will go into it sort of trying to chase that outcome.”