Boss Mick McCarthy says the Blues need to keep their focus in the final three games of the season after their 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace took them to within touching distance of securing their Championship status for 2013/14.

Despite Town climbing to 13th, five points clear of the drop zone, McCarthy says there were no celebrations on the touchline at the end: “As you noticed, I wasn’t dancing about with my knickers in the air at the final whistle because we’re not mathematically safe.

“We’re in a far better position than a lot of others and we’ve got three to play, two difficult away games against teams who are in it with us. We need to keep our focus and make sure that we do our job properly.”

The Blues boss said Aaron Cresswell’s stunner would be a Goal of the Season contender if strikes outside the Premier League are taken into account: “If they judge them out of the Championship there’s every chance.

“It’s got to be a contender, it was a wonderful strike, but I’d guess David Vaughan at Sunderland would have something to say about it, his goal was similar.”

Two-goal striker Frank Nouble grabbed most of the headlines, although McCarthy felt he started the match slowly like most of his team-mates: “I’m not so sure for the first 20 minutes, but that could be said for all of them!

“He was excellent, he finished his goals really well. Even the first one, he’s had to come back on his right foot, he didn’t take a slash at it with his left foot. He was calm.

“And his second goal was a great finish and he’s run them all over the place, their back four. I thought he was excellent.”

The Town manager took a chance on the 21-year-old when he brought him in from Wolves in January and he revealed what a bargain he was: “I had a bit of inside information. TC had worked with him for four months and I tried to sign him myself at Wolves. I fancied him because of his power and his pace.

“TC had worked with him, so it was a more calculated risk than anybody would have thought, and at £25,000 it’s never really a risk, is it?”

McCarthy said he spoke to Palace boss Ian Holloway on his way into the press conference: “I just met him in the corridor and he said ‘You didn’t deserve that on Saturday and you didn’t deserve what happened to you at Selhurst Park’.

“Ollie’s a good guy, he’s an honest guy and he’ll know that for 20 minutes they were giving us a bit of a hiding but without working Loachy, they had corners.

“But then he knows his team’s committed suicide really, with the mistakes that they’ve made. But Frank’s got to chase it down, he’s got to finish the next one and it required finishing off.”

Looking back to November’s 5-0 defeat at Palace in his second game in charge, McCarthy says he’d never have been appointed if the Blues had defended as they did in the second half: “I wouldn’t have been here if they’d have been playing like that.

“You know what I said after the Birmingham game, my very first game, I said ‘You should be ashamed of yourselves, I shouldn’t even be here if you can play like that’.

“So, they’ve proved that they can play, although by the way we were awful for 20 minutes, we couldn’t pass it to a blue shirt.

“And yet goals change games and we were far better after that. But we had to defend and we defended really well and when it was tough we stayed tough and didn’t give anything away.”

Holloway was pleased with the way the game began: “It all started fine. I thought we looked fantastic, we were moving the ball around. Up until the goal, I was more than happy, I felt really comfortable, I thought that was the best we’d been for a while.

“I could see the improvement, they were a bit nervous, they were a bit edgy and in a couple of minutes it was all turned around.

“Will the kid ever score another goal like that in his life? Probably not? Will my goalie make a mistake like that and will my centre-half make a mistake like that? Talk about having the stuffing knocked out of you. And then it’s difficult to say the least.”

But he felt Town perhaps deserved some good fortune given some aspects of their defeat at Selhurst Park: “I remember seeing us get three penalties in a row in the home game and sometimes what goes around comes around.

“Their second goal was an outstanding strike but we should have had someone back goal side of him, and we didn’t, which isn’t good enough.”

Photo: Action Images

hossblue added 09:11 - Apr 17 Steadmans confidence has spread throughout the defence we must make every effort to make him our player.
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Len_Brennan added 09:22 - Apr 17 Mick came in to find a team completely disorganised at the back, a situation which had been the case under the previous 2 managers. He rightly took the view that he needed to sort that problem out right away & build the team from the back. He has managed to do this somehow, which has kept us up in an extraordinary league this year. I m sure Mick will be looking to work on more creative options in midfield & upfront for next season, while trying to maintain the solidity we have achieved at the back. For that it is really important that Stearman is signed fulltime & the goalkeeping situation is clarified, but we also need reinforcements as we've been lucky with injuries & had a settled back 4 in 2013.

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warktheline added 10:15 - Apr 17 Some fans are never happy.MM and TC are the correct management required at our club at this moment.Who knows what the future holds,but it wont be Div 1 football next season.
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Rizzolisblue added 10:33 - Apr 17 Super ITFC and Super 'Mick McCarthy' ....!!!
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TotalBlue added 10:41 - Apr 17 What a shame we lost on saturday firstly we would be safe secondly only 5 points off play offs. Thankyou MR Holloway we have now played you 3 times this season and without you we would be in the playoff spots grrrrr and our goal difference would be 8 better lol no one has damaged town as much since the Dark Lord himself. Note for Mick though please make sure theres no skid marks on Saturday please!!!!!

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huntingdonblue68 added 10:47 - Apr 17 A good team spirt ,team playing for each other , a team that can win even if its playing bad , cant belive what some so called fans want . Playing lg one i certainly dont , lets thankful mm has done what was needed and if next season we are top six i dont give a feck
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itsonlyme added 11:00 - Apr 17 In response to Runningout's post - yes, I believe most ITFC fans who were there last night would agree that we were lucky to win, but then again we did not deserve to lose on Saturday, and we were probably lucky to beat Derby, but we were unlucky not to get a penalty at Posh and so on. You take the breaks when they come along and curse the bad luck in the same way. At the end of the day, we saw probably the goal of this century at Portman Road, 3 points and we are almost safe. I'll take that for this season and hope we improve all round for next season, including our performances.COYB

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theobald1985 added 11:15 - Apr 17 great result safe now lets really get behind all the players for the last few games and get a good pre season and we can challenge for the playoffs next year
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FenboyBlue added 11:41 - Apr 17 Knickers/pants themed last home game ?
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Ipswichbusiness added 11:41 - Apr 17 That means we are almost certainly safe this season. Well done all! We need to win as many points as possible as the higher up the league we finish, the easier it will be to attract quality signings over the summer. I have considerable regard for Messrs McCarthy and Connor and all that they have done for us over the last few months. If I have one criticism it is that they have been a little too slow to bring through our own young players. They may say, and I sympathise with this, that a relegation battle is no place for kids. However, now that that pressure is off, why not give a few of the better ones some games. For example, Steadman has been superb for us, but he is not our player and might never be. Why not give Elliot Hewitt the last three matches? Similarly in midfield with N'Daw and Lawrence.

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runningout added 12:23 - Apr 17 we are not safe yet..
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MathieandMarshall added 12:30 - Apr 17 still a bit of negativity floating about on here. Yes we were poor (dont like to pick out individuals but Edwards had a shocker and NDaw looked ropey again - as he has for a couple of games now) and could pass the ball BUT we won!! - if you can play badly and come away with three points then you are doing something right. It doesnt matter how pretty the football is at this stage of the season. We just need to get the points in the bag. When we are playing in the top half next season then i would like to think we might be knocking it around and playing with a bit of flair. Mick has done a fantastic job. The lads were playing with smiles on their faces and really enjoying the win with the crowd last night. Whats to be negative about?! COYB!

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walberswick added 12:48 - Apr 17 first club to go down with 56 points
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Mark added 12:52 - Apr 17 I don't think we were poor, Palace started far more brightly it is true but their defence was mistake prone and that was the difference. Loach - excellent saves. Cresswell - fantastic goal. Chambers - brilliant performance. Smith - solid as ever. Stearman - great tacking. Hyam - closed them down all the time. Nouble - Two goals creating real excitement about what he may bring for the future. Mick letting slip that Nouble only cost us £25K is interesting, as I can enjoy a players performances all the more knowing that he didn't cost much. The club should have told us the fee at the time.

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martleshamitfc added 13:22 - Apr 17 Still think we need one more point, just did the league calculator and made Peterboro' in third last relegation spot on 56 with better goal difference! Just hope it is all settled before the Burnley game, as they are in deep trouble themselves now and only a few weeks ago they were pushing for a play off spot.
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Keaneish added 13:46 - Apr 17 Am i reading some of these posts right? A - We don't play attractive football B - We were lucky My point of view is this: A - So what? We're in Championship and not re-writing our own history books for all the wrong reasons. MM and TC have built a solid base for us to build on with better free flowing football next season. They've guaranteed our survival, galvanised the team and generated a good team spirit, made some shrewd acquisitions, started to get the best out of players, eradicated the egos, made us hard to beat, got some people returning to PR.... I could go on but given where this clubs been over the last 4 - 5 years i'm delighted with the pair of them!! B - Er...none point really. We were also unlucky against Forest, Blackburn, Bristol City etc...It evens itself out! How can any Town fan not be happy at the moment!!?

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BuckieBlue added 15:17 - Apr 17 49 pts/ 30 games under MM/TC-play off form already + a few tweaks to squad = a huge season for us next year
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62WasBest added 15:22 - Apr 17 I think it is unfair to say that Mick McCarthy team's never play entertaining, attacking football. Wolves played some nice stuff at times. However, it wasn't entertaining and ultimately successful football. That doesn't mean to say he can't do it. Maybe he never had the resources. Whatever, your opinion on it Wark the Walk, he more than deserves a stab at getting us promoted.

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HALLSJ added 15:32 - Apr 17 Totally agree Keanish, up until Feb/march it was very probable we could go down. Lets remember most of the bottom six have done well recently hence why we're not already safe. It certainly looks much more promising for next season. Still like to thank DJ Campbell for his goals
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carlisleaway added 16:25 - Apr 17 What is wrong with some people on this board, if MM had tried to play attractive football we would have been relegated by now. Also what is more important, to come away with a win or play pretty football and get tonked each week. MM has put the smile back on fans faces since he joined the club, we may have been lucky but who cares. I believe season ticket holders will renew season tickets and get behind the club for a push for the top 6 next season. For to long we have been complaining and moaning in the Keane and Jewell years that we have had to watch some torrid football. Open your eyes and look at our league position compared to when Mick joined Ipswich. Last night was one of those days when you say to yourself, I am glad to support Ipswich Town and love it when the decisions go our way for a change.

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Seasider added 16:45 - Apr 17 Yesterday before match posted that I hoped MM would include Frank and his mate Jet,one in place of Chopra who had a bad game Saturday.Didn't think he would but hey ho he did and big Frank repaid him hansomely.Cant leave him out now?I like the never say die attitude of all the players especially Nouble and Hyam,who to use a Joe Royalism would chase autumn leaves! Noticed in two previous games Scott Loach never came for anything;but noticed he did two or three times yesterday.His strength however seems to be shot stopping which after all thats what he is there for.

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neillrumsey added 18:33 - Apr 17 Another fantastic 3 points albeit not a great performance. Hats off to MM and TC for the sterling work in turning probably the worst Ipswich Team since I can remember to a team who are very difficult to beat. Yes we can all highlight negative performances ie N'Daw and Murphy but a win is a win. Palace have some real quality in their side and blistering pace. Defence were again excellent including Loach who made two exceptional saves in the second half. Finally two players I have been critical of tho not on here are Cresswell who scored a worldy and Nouble who finally got on the score sheet twice thanks to his persistance. We need some pacey players for next season and some creativity in the middle. Atmosphere much better first half..staying up

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TimmyH added 19:32 - Apr 17 I thought we would win last night and have to say happy with what MM & TC have done with the team over the last several months or so, agreed not always pretty but I believe by and large how Mick has largely planned it. Next season will be 'his' season to show us what he can do and how he dabbles in the transfer market. Oh by the way I think MM's win % since he's been here is at about 43% so quite good!

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warktheline added 20:26 - Apr 17 Spot on Keaneish and Carlisleaway.Keep grinding MM and TC.
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alfromcol added 21:31 - Apr 17 Anyone got a link to see the goals against Palace?
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