Tommy Smith is adamant that Ipswich can mount a promotion challenge this season.

Town may have slipped to a 2-1 opening-day defeat at Reading on Saturday but 23-year-old defender Smith said: “I don’t think there’s any reason why we can’t achieve a play-off place.

“We came away from Reading disappointed because we thought we acquitted ourselves quite well. Obviously, it is a tough place to go — a relegated Premier League team — but I thought we deserved a point at least.

“I think we had the better of the first half and we were unfortunate to go in on level terms. The gaffer said after the game that if we play like that in all our games we’ll definitely win more than we lose. That’s our benchmark, as he said, and we’ve got to try to keep our performances high.”

Smith may agree with the widely held view that the Royals deserve to be rated as one of the promotion favourites — but he is also adamant that Town are capable of being in contention themselves.

He added: “With the squad they have Reading are probably expecting to be up there but you’ve seen in the past how teams coming down can find it tough, especially last season when Wolves and Blackburn were both towards the bottom of the table, which you don’t really expect.

“I’m sure Reading will expect to be up there and hopefully we’ll be up and around them as well. If you look at Saturday’s game, Reading are one of the promotion favourites and we’ve matched them, if not played better than them.

“We were unfortunate not to come away with something from the game. That’s all positive for us and if we can keep that level of performance up there’s no reason why we can’t be winning matches.

“We have quite a broad squad with cover in all the positions and there’s no reason why we can’t be up there or thereabouts. You only had to look at our bench at Reading.

“Competition for places is essential at any successful club and these guys will push us all the way for a starting berth. If we’re not performing in the starting eleven we know they can come in and do the job.”

Photo: Action Images

BeingBlue added 18:23 - Aug 5 We(imo) did play better than reading, but we have to keep this standard of football up throughout the season unlike last year when we outplayed watford & blackburn but went down hill after the blackpool results.i'm sure we will carry this kind of performance through the season as we have a solid squad as well as good back up and of-course a manager to take us forward! Onwards and upwards!

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Liastro added 18:30 - Aug 5 I don't think the play offs are realistic at all. Falling back on our old trait of not being able to hold leads and close out games when going in the lead came to the fore on Saturday, and I hope we lose tomorrow so that everyone can wake up out of this haze of potential promotion. Which is totally unrealistic.
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mickswich added 18:31 - Aug 5 I like Smith`s confidence but I still feel that our is strike force is going to be short of goals again which will prevent us really being in contention for the top 6 unfortunately.
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HALLSJ added 18:44 - Aug 5 Agree mickswich, we certainly do need more support for McGoldrick
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Jimmys_Law added 19:02 - Aug 5 SEB on a pay as you play deal? Or Marlon King? He's probably too old but just an idea.
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jas0999 added 19:09 - Aug 5 I like Smith's confidence - and of course the play-offs should be our aim and starting a new season is achievable. BUT I concur with a number of other fans; we need to ask whether we have the necessary creativity in the midfield and also whether the front-line - much the same as the one that ended last season - have enough goals. Murphy scored just 6 last year. Time will tell. I hate to keep saying it - but for me, I am worried about Loach. I hope he plays well and proves me wrong; but despite his shot-stopping, he still lacks control of his area, which for me, is critical at this level. Not convinced that MM rates him that highly either.

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 19:19 - Aug 5 Let's see where we are after 10-15 games. The first milestone is to get 55+ points on the board. I hope we will do this with a good bit of the season still to go, but I fear talk of the playoffs is premature. Let's just support the Town whatever and wait and see.
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sirmichealmills added 19:25 - Aug 5 Mickswich, bang on...I think it'll be a much better season, with hopefully no 5/6 -0 shockers of the past couple, but we still lack that quality creative edge to really push forward into the play offs I think
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bluelodgeblue added 19:49 - Aug 5 I do believe we will end up top half but I see this season as one of consolidation with the aim of gaining momentum over the next 2/3 seasons, (similar to George Burleys 5 year plan). We have not built a squad with such outstanding players to achieve it in one season. However, we do have the basis of an excellent squad Patience and progress is the key.
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Jimmys_Law added 20:18 - Aug 5 Ok, maybe not Marlon King. I just read on Wikipedia about all of his previous offences. We don't need a bad influence like him at the club. If we're not going to get another striker in (which we probably won't), I think we could utilise a 4-4-1-1 formation quite well with Taylor playing in a lively role behind McGoldrick. I know MM is a traditional 4-4-2 man and it has given him a lot of success but the option of another formation would offer some versatility.

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buzzardblue added 20:20 - Aug 5 For goodness sake we have played one blooming game! Give it at least a month then come back and criticise the team. Does the word supporter mean nothing to some people?
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alfromcol added 20:27 - Aug 5 As soon as anyone is positive on here, out come the pessimists. It's early days, but if Smithy wants to be positive let him be. Life is about being confident. COYBs
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bayleycr added 20:31 - Aug 5 Totally agree alfromcol - being positive isn't the be all and end all but I bet all successful teams are positive about their chances and their abilities. If you don't believe in yourself then I think we have a different kind of problem
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Mark added 20:32 - Aug 5 I think we can finish in the top half and the play-offs has to be our aim, but time will tell whether we can compete near the top with the moneybags of this division. Scoring goals may be a problem. I think McGoldrick will be our best striker for years, but the midfield might not chip in many. Let's see their recent records: Tabb: 0 in 89 at Reading Hyam: 1 in 49 for Ipswich Skuse: 9 in 279 at Bristol City Edwards: 8 in 161 for Ipswich

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billlm added 21:07 - Aug 5 billy sharps needed
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Jimmys_Law added 22:21 - Aug 5 @Mark - Tabb: 2 in 10 at Ipswich. That's a pretty good goals to games ratio for a midfielder. We've only played one game so how do we really know how many goals the midfield will chip in with this season? Lets just support them and hope they can do Town proud.
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Warkys_Tash added 23:27 - Aug 5 @Jas0999 I agree with your post. Not enough firepower or creativity in that team for me. Not unless Taylor shows why The Fryer was raving about him & possibly Frans Thijssen dons his boots.. Mick is happy and that is positive by I have to say I am not so optimistic..
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pazelle added 00:15 - Aug 6 Well said Tommy! Definite next captain for me (considering Chambers' form at Forest was affected by the armband). As for the negativity about the season: We were in playoff form all last season under Mick with a weaker squad! People saying we need a striker to go up - we've got a £1.5 million one whose only played for us twice chomping at the bit! People saying we need creativity - Wordsworth's only played about 5 games, let's see him gelled first innit! Having said that, it was cack losing a game from a winning position - and I still can't look at the goals and think that Hendo wouldn't have stopped both! PS Get N'Daw back!

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pazelle added 00:15 - Aug 6 PPS And Hendo!
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bigolconnor added 00:16 - Aug 6 Tabb has scored 2 in 10 for ipswich which is a slightly more promising stat I think Mark.
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bigolconnor added 00:17 - Aug 6 Sorry I'm very slow at typing.
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rapier added 01:31 - Aug 6 Smith for Captian
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BillBlue added 10:21 - Aug 6 Jimmys_Law Forget the Marlon king's of this world, we don't need them. We have a potentially excellent striker in Jack Marriott and MM says if they are good enough they are old enough so - end of story!
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runningout added 15:50 - Aug 6 Hopefully we are aiming higher than pay-offs... No teams to be concerned about if we have the right attitude....
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