Town manager Mick McCarthy says he’s “quietly happy” with the Blues’ current position of ninth in the Championship, three points from the play-offs at the start of the busy Christmas period. McCarthy’s men are at Doncaster Rovers today and AFC Bournemouth on Sunday, before Charlton visit Portman Road on New Year’s Day.

“I’m quietly happy where we are because we’re within striking distance of the play-offs and I think if we get into them, certainly if we got in and stayed in, it would be remarkable,” he said.

“But, as I’ve said, you can have three wins on the bounce, but you can also lose three and suddenly you’re looking down instead of up, that is how the league is.

“That’s what I said on Saturday and it was a valuable point that. I watched the game yesterday and I think we were better than they were and probably deserved it.

“But Dean Gerken made two good saves at his near post as well, so it could have gone the other way as well. We take the point and see what we get over the festive period.”

Looking back to the start of the season, McCarthy says he might have hoped to be a little better off: “I’m not a gambler with my cash, but I’d have looked at it and thought we might have had more.

“But if you’d have said we were going to be three points off the play-offs, from where we were last season, yes, [I would have taken it].

“We finished well last season, we had a good end but you don’t know how you’re going to start, it doesn’t always work that it carries on.

“In fact it didn’t, did it? We had five games at the start of the season and we lost four of them. If you’d have asked me after the first five games whether I'd be happy with where we are now, yes I would have been.”

Over the years, he says he’s heard little moaning from players about missing Christmas due to the games over the festive period: “Generally I haven’t heard it because I’ve been with players who have been brought up with it.

“I was at Sunderland and Wolves and we had a few of the foreign lads playing but they just got on with it. They found it strange but you didn’t hear them moaning too often.

“I just think it is our tradition, it’s the way it is. People shouldn’t come here and try and change what we do and it is an exciting time, crowds are bigger.

“It’s what we do, so get on with it. If you come here, crack on, get on with it or don’t come or go and get a job elsewhere, go and do something else!”

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