Town boss Paul Jewell says it’s not surprising that his squad are lacking belief after the heavy defeats to Peterborough and Southampton but knows they’ve got to overcome "that fear" sooner rather than later. Earlier in the week, midfielder-turned-right-back Carlos Edwards said he felt that there was a lack of belief amongst the players.

Jewell said: “I think when you lose games five and seven that’s going to be the case. Belief is confidence, they’re the same thing.

“If Carlos doesn’t believe, he might be leaving himself out!" he joked. "But it’s not just at Ipswich that there’s a lack of belief. That happens in football. “

The Blues manager feels that lack of confidence was evident at Bloomfield Road: “You could see that on Saturday.

“I watched the Blackpool game again on Sunday morning. In the first half there was nothing in the game, then in the second half, after they scored, we probably didn’t believe we could get back in it, even though we had three opportunities when we were two goals down to get back in it.

“We’ve got to get over that fear, " he added. "We’ve got to get over the lack of confidence bit because we’ve got good players in the team.

“But we’ve got a lot of new players. I think we had eight new players plus Jimmy in the team on Saturday and it’s going to take time to bed things down, for people to get to know one another’s games. But we’ve got to do that sooner rather than later.”

As for Edwards, there has been much discussion amongst supporters on whether the 32-year-old ought to be switched to the right midfield role but the Blues boss says he currently has no plans to push the Trinidadian further forward: “You’re always a better player when you’re not in the team with fans and you’re always a better player when you’re playing in a different position.

“I didn’t see a massive backlash when he went to right-back from wide right from fans. The fans are entitled to their opinions.

“I see the players day in and day out and at the moment I think Carlos is our best option at right-back, but it is an area where we need to improve and need to get someone in to give Carlos a bit of competition for the place.

“He says there’s a lack of belief but sometimes there’s a lack of competition in a position and it might not be doing him a favour.”

One of the players Jewell was likely to be eyeing when he watched Sheffield United lose 3-0 to Huddersfield on Tuesday was Blades right-back Matt Lowton.

Photo: Action Images

jas0999 added 15:07 - Sep 17 Correct me if I am wrong byt the MANAGER i.e. PJ should be ensuring the players believe. Perhaps the players are fed up with his woeful tactics and him slagging them off in public. PJ you are paid to manage the players, clearly 8 defeats in 11 suggest you are doing a poor job (people can argue as much as they like, but this run of results is pitiful). Stop the talk, the wise cracks, trying to grind out draws and get on with trying to win the odd game.

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eaii added 15:07 - Sep 17 I agree with You menacinho but we must not ignore the very poor team selections something is not right.
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bluearmy4life added 18:11 - Sep 17 It's up to Jewell to put the belief in the team. Big few weeks coming up. We need points and need to improve quickly.
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mpk1111 added 18:18 - Sep 17 May be lack of confidence comes from PJ repeatedly criticising players in press and going on and on about a lack of confidence....ever heard of the self fulfilling prophecy PJ? Well done to Drury scoring for Crawley, at least he is now playing for a decent team with good young hungry players and a proper manager, as opposed to our bunch of 30 year old has beens and manager who should be a stand up comic rather than manager of our once great club. Give me Crawley's players to our lot any day.

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hadleighboyblue added 18:58 - Sep 17 if there's a lack of belief by the players you have got the wrong sort of characters in the dressing room and they are players PJ brought in . Is it really a lack of belief or is it a lack of effort and dedication to the shirt ? they get good money , win or lose . I'd rather have a team of 100% triers than players here for an easy ride - get more youngsters in who want to progress , rather than coasters . PJ can still turn things round , but start by picking people who give their all and a more attack minded midfield and get a captain that motivates the rest

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h32 added 22:07 - Sep 17 eaii - two good points - playing 'square pegs in round holes' and the subsequent result, will do nothing for belief or confidence of Individuals or the Team - A GOOD MANAGER will know this, but WE continue to do so week in, week out. As for 'continuously backing the Manager' there has to be a limit, based on progress being made - are we seeing any ?? - honesty has to say NO we are not.

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h32 added 22:16 - Sep 17 mpk1111 - you're in Danger of being told to go down the A140, by the 'entirely satisfied, and always will be' brigade you know !! Wouldn't worry about it tho' - join the club.
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camposlocks added 14:32 - Sep 18 Can we not superglue Leadbitter's locks so he can't get out of his house?
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runningout added 22:46 - Sep 18 Loss of Belief... My A*se.. Just damn right incompetance... Now yet another midweek (well monday) game looms in which our record is below average.. All our so called proffessionals need to do as a team is read the bloody game 10 times better. Instead of reading the b*ll*cks the likes of me tend to right on here... What do I know? I predict ITFC 1 : 2 Cov
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