Town boss Paul Jewell wasn’t getting carried away after the Blues recorded their fourth win in a row by beating Cardiff 3-0 on Saturday, despite receiving the inevitable questions about the play-offs at the post-match press conference. The weekend win saw Town into 16th in the division, 11 points behind Birmingham in sixth.

Asked about Town’s chances of making the play-offs given their recent form, Jewell laughed: “I was waiting for that! Ten minutes it’s taken for someone to ask about the play-offs!

“We’ve been in a relegation fight for a long time, since December when we lost seven games in a row.

“We’re trying to put as much daylight between ourselves and the bottom of the league and take every game on its own merits. The only thing on our minds now is trying to get a result at Brighton.”

The Town manager knows that his side have gifted opposition teams points all too frequently this season but says there’s nothing that can be done about that now: “There’s no point in looking back. It doesn’t matter, it’s happened and we have to learn from the good experiences and the bad experiences, try to keep our feet on the ground and try and see games out.

“We’ve had periods in games this year where we’ve come under the cosh and conceded. But in the last four games, when we’ve come under the cosh, we’ve actually got stronger and there’s a lot more desire in our team at the minute, and that’s down to confidence.”

Jewell was delighted for Michael Chopra, who scored his 12th goal of the campaign, his fifth in four games and his second of the season against his former club: “He’s had a stuttering start to his career here for one reason or another but he’s starting to get the sparkle back in his game and it was pleasing to see him score a goal and his industry and his workrate is good.

“He’s got 12 goals for us, which is a decent return for someone who hasn’t played an awful lot of games this year and probably hasn’t played to his best, but he’s starting to get there now.”

In addition to being pleased with the spirit in his squad, Jewell also cited the importance of the club’s fans: “I think it's there for everyone to see.

“I think the supporters deserve a lot of credit for that because we’ve put in some abject performances at home especially, and they never turned on the team.

“They stuck with us and you can feel the atmosphere coming back at Portman Road where the fans are excited and appreciate the efforts of the players.

“But I’ve got to tell you, the players and the staff appreciate the effort of the supporters every bit as much because they’ve got us through a really, really difficult time.”

Jewell admits that there are good signs for the future in the current youthful side but was at pains to point out that there’s still a lot of work to do: “We’ve got more youth in the team at the moment but it’s important we just keep our feet on the floor.

“We look to improve all the time, we’ve started building for next season already, we’ve not given up on this season, but we’re not getting complacent either, thinking that everything’s hunky dory.

“There’s lots to be improved on but I have to say the players deserve a lot of credit because they’ve come through a really tough time.”

Elsewhere, former Blues boss Roy Keane has been linked with the Wolves manager's job which was until recently his old sparring partner Mick McCarthy's.

Photo: Action Images

footballfriend added 13:12 - Feb 20 @ Jas0999 Firstly you are getting right on my nerves - you have said "we have still as it stands lost over half of our games this season" in the last 25+ posts you have made!!! GET OVER IT! Every town fan is in the same boat as you, but we all don't continuously have to think back to the darker times of the season and bring it up every 5 minutes!! Forget what's happened it's history.. it's old news! Post about the recent results and how good our run is at the moment (which is what you have partially done) - but don't keep mentioning that bad stuff over and over and over again! I don't know why people keeping posting and asking for your opinion, you are't some kind of oracle - and frankly your posts have lost their meaning and are most of the time laughable.

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NITFC added 13:36 - Feb 20 Well said Friend Actually this is the one year that would be horrible for me if we made the Playoffs. I would be on holiday for both semi finals and I am going to Oslo for the Norway v England match on the weekend of the final. It looked so safe when I booked both trips!!!!
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chepstowblue added 13:40 - Feb 20 Last time we spoke of the play-offs we lost 7 in a row,there is not an earthly of it happening.Its all about being patient now,mid table wud be a decent finish and then adding a central defender or 2 and giving it a real crack nxt season.
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SomershamBlue added 13:43 - Feb 20 Jas - don't you just love him? Apparently if we make the play-offs, it will be because the Championship is rubbish. And if we don't? Or is 'Town making the play-offs the only measure of quality for this league?
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DanLyles added 13:47 - Feb 20 Keeping that core group of young(ish), hungry talented players together will be key. At least we finally have a core though, and it shouldn't be too difficult for PJ to attract more young players in the positons that need addressing as many will want to be part of what is going on at Portman Road. Portsmouth and Rangers have some good players we could bring in, lots of great players in the lower leagues too

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Sindre94 added 14:17 - Feb 20 16 or 15 games to go, and 11 points up. We CANT give the season up yet, seriously. I cant believe were in the middle of february and weve got NOTHING to play for, playoffs are still a dream, coyb.
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TractorBeezer added 15:04 - Feb 20 jas I was delighted to read your statement "Say no more" Much time has been wasted reading your repetitive (usually very negative) remarks. So a clean slate going forward?
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 16:13 - Feb 20 We won't make the play-offs. Let's be realistic for a moment: We can't keep on winning ALL our games! But the general improvement is something to build on for the future. Let's hope it's basically onward and upward from now on, not jumping from massive lows to great highs from one month to the next. COYB.
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Surco72 added 16:17 - Feb 20 Its the same poor standard league that Jas0999 's hero Mr Keane couldnt get us above the relegation dogfight for his whole time in charge!! The reason that the playoffs is still available is that there are a number of good sides all of equal ability so everyone is beating everyone and no teams are running away with the league as usually happens Reading,Newcastle,QPR etc Jas must be hating this turn around of results as he got the Keane situation wrong by backing him when he was clearly ruining the club and constantly slating Jewell who is assembling a very good young side mixed with real quality and experience and leading us into a brighter future. Playoffs a push too far this year but would be nice to see us get close

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TractorBeezer added 16:19 - Feb 20 Realistic? No. Possible? Yes if we win 12 of the next 15. Its great to be able to dream a little once again!
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bluekeen added 16:53 - Feb 20 I THINK WE SHOULD ALL WEAR FAIRY WINGS TO THE BRIGHTON GAME.....
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jocasaja added 17:39 - Feb 20 Whatever happens from now the potential in this team is now clear to see. I have never seen any player work harder than Lee Martin did in saturdays game. I also really enjoyed the atmosphere at Portman Road. I wanted to go down to Brighton but already a sell out! how many tickets were we allocated? COYB!!!
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babyblueman added 17:58 - Feb 20 fairy wings r u thick in the ed
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babyblueman added 18:03 - Feb 20 just bin reading your comments wat a sad bunch u r playoffs ha ha ha
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petermorris added 18:34 - Feb 20 Jas0999 - these 'has beens and loans' you constantly harp on about kept us from relegation last season, and earlier this season probably did the same (although it was awful). The mess PJ took over was horrible and all caused by your hero and now 2nd rate TV pundit — The Dark Lord. Please shut up Jas0999.
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afrodids added 19:02 - Feb 20 hey blueman are u a scum fan!!!
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alfromcol added 19:22 - Feb 20 Blueman Can see your yellow belly from here.
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bluesman added 22:36 - Feb 20 Any Wolves fans reading this, start praying now. We are still recovering from the Dark Lord's legacy of lost players and unsigned contracts. He destroyed all the work the previous two managers had done and his long shadow is still dragging at us this year. PJ already deserves huge credit for starting to turn it around.
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RetroBlue added 22:52 - Feb 20 Nice bit of reverse psychology by PJ methinks ! Nice one Paul !
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TractorBoy666 added 00:03 - Feb 21 Crazy old season this! 1 minute we are battling to stay in this division, the next we try eyeing the play-offs again. Personally i don't think we'll make it, but who knows?! Hopefully we'll just be on the rise.
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itfc4eva added 12:18 - Feb 21 well said Paul. Still pessimistic about achieving the play-offs but the championship is full of surprises and we are due some glory. Looking at our fixtures, i think that soton, hull and leicester might be hard t get a victory, but otherwise i am optimistic about winning the rest. Need to keep this team the same. In october we only made two or three changes in six matches (unbeaten) before jewell switched the team around and we went on a torrid run. Hyam, drury, martin, chopra will take us to the play-offs. ALB deserved to get sent off against cardiff and we are due some luck as we have given away last minute goals when winning/drawing. Hopefully we can keep going and when Ibra Sonko and Bowyer are fully fit we can prove ourselves and get that PO spot. COYB!!!!!

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Guthrum added 00:08 - Feb 22 There is actually no reason why Town cannot win every game for the rest of the season! All matches start at 0 - 0 and the team which scores the most, wins. We're scoring goals with some fluency at the moment - 12 in the last four, an average of three per game, meaning the opposition have to score several times even to be level. And in the current run, we've been conceding at less than a goal a game. Town have recently well beaten the teams in 1st and 5th places in the division, as well as showing a most un-Ipswich-like ability to finish off those towards the bottom of the table (even away from home). So there is no real reason why our team is not capable of winning every one of its next fifteen matches - tho, admittedly, a 20-game winning run would be unprecedented in English football, breaking the previous record by a considerable margin!

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BuckieBlue added 22:02 - Feb 22 Guthrum- I love an optimist! good post
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