Boss Mick McCarthy is delighted with the new-found defensive solidity, which has played a huge part in seeing the Blues climb away from the relegation zone. If Hull fail to score at Portman Road today, his team will have achieved a club record total of six clean sheets on the trot.

McCarthy says he and coach Terry Connor began working on the Blues’ backline — which had conceded 26 goals in their 13 league games before they took over — as soon as they walked in the door: “We certainly worked on it when we came in and we’ve continued to work, although we’ve not been battering, working the back four completely, but just the shape of the team because it’s not all down to the back four.

“Everybody in front of them really works hard to make us hard to be beaten. And they have been excellent.

“Richard Stearman has certainly added something to us. He’s been top class since he’s joined us and Tommy and Luke — it’s the kiss of death talking about it, isn’t it? — have made a good partnership and Cressy’s a good player.

I think it’s five clean sheets in the last five but I think it’s nine in the last 12. They own that, there’s a bit of ownership of those clean sheets, the back four, it's their defensive stability, that solidity they give us and they don’t want to lose it. And that’s brilliant when that happens.

“They’ll be looking at each other if it goes wrong rather than wanting to point fingers because they’ve got that pride in wanting to keep clean sheets. That’s a great feeling.”

The success of the defence since McCarthy took over is unlikely to have gone unnoticed elsewhere but the Blues manager isn’t particularly concerned at the prospect of offers for his players in the summer: “If someone comes in for them, we’ll deal with it, I’m not bothered about that. That makes the world go round, doesn’t it?

“If it does and somebody moves, good luck to them. If they’ve done it to help me, then we’ll get somebody else in. That doesn’t bother me all that. I’ve got no control over it whatsoever.”

In terms of players coming in, he says it’s too early to start talking along those lines: “Stay in the league first, then we’ll tell you about it.”

He says the size of his budget will depend on divisional status: “I’ll have bigger one if we stay in the Championship than if we’re in League One, so that answers the question fairly simply — stay in the league.

“We haven’t done it yet, so I’m not even going to start discussing ifs, maybes and might-bes, there’s no point.”

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