Town manager George Burley praised his lads after the ran out winners over Leicester at Portman Road today. Town now find themselves off the bottom and just four points away from Middlesbrough, Southampton and safety.

Burley was pleased with the spirit his side showed: "It gets to the stage of the season where you know you are in a tough situation and need to get a win and now we've won the last two to draw back into the pack. We've got to keep battling. Today was a nice win - every game has been tight this season but we haven't got the points we should have."

The Town boss said there had been little change in performance in the last couple of matches, but that Town had had a change in fortune: "There hasn't been much difference, we have only been outplayed once this season, at Manchester United. We've needed a break and perhaps we have had them in the last couple of games. Today our keeper made a good save and then we went straight up the other end and scored."

Scorer Marcus Bent was pleased to have got off the mark: "I'm relieved to get the goal and the result to lift us off the bottom. It's been difficult for me with the team not winning but it's a team game. People might think I am under pressure, but, although I would like to score, I would be happier if I didn't and we stayed in the Premiership and did well every week. We definitely feel our luck is changing, I've heard we hadn't had any at all earlier in the season."

Surprisingly Leicester manager Dave Bassett felt his side deserved to win the game: "I felt we dominated the first half, that Ipswich were very nervous and the game was there for the taking. Ipswich looked very suspect, the defence was shaky, but then we made a silly error to let them score. We didn't show the moral fibre or character to come back after that so we shot ourselves in the foot really. The players have got to look at themselves. You can only coach them and prepare them so far but when they cross that white line it is down to them. They are playing for their futures, their careers. We have a small squad so I can't change things too much. If we are not scoring goals and giving silly goals away then relegation is staring us in the face."

Photo: Action Images

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