Paul Anderson refuses to rule out an automatic promotion place for Town this season — but is quick to acknowledge it is a tall order.

Currently sixth after an unbeaten league run of eight games, Mick McCarthy’s team trail second-placed Burnley and leaders Leicester by 11 and 15 points respectively.

Asked if a top two finish was beyond Ipswich, the former Bristol City winger responded: “Maybe that’s too far but football’s a strange game and I’ve seen stranger things happen.

"With the togetherness of the team there’s no reason why not but I don’t think we’ll be putting that pressure on ourselves and the top six is what we will be aiming for.

“It will still be tough to finish in the play-offs. There are some great teams in the league and some of them are below us at the moment. We’ve had a great little run and hopefully we can keep that up. That is our aim and we will be focusing on trying to finish in the top six.

“I think the fans can appreciate we have come a long way from where Ipswich have been in the last few seasons. All credit to the staff and the players for getting us there and hopefully we can stay in and around the top six so that by May 3rd we are in the play-offs.

“But anyone can beat anyone in this league and we’ve seen that with our next opponents, QPR, who have dropped points against what you would say are lesser teams at this level.

“We’ve just got to focus on ourselves. At the start of the season we played it down a little bit and said we wanted to consolidate but we always said within the squad that we would be aiming for the top six and there’s no reason for us not to be there at the end of the season.”

Photo: Action Images

gcasselton1 added 06:24 - Jan 10 top 2 lol leave it out
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petermorris added 08:44 - Jan 10 If the five teams above us lose all their games and we keep drawing 1-1 we'll get automatic promotion easily.
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Fat_Boy_Tim added 09:58 - Jan 10 The headline is a little unfair to him, he does say that "Maybe that's too far" but what else can he say halfway through the season? He's not going to reply by saying we've no chance of closing 11 points in 20 odd games! The fact that top six is a realistic aim is a stunning achievement given where we were last season.
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muccletonjoe added 10:13 - Jan 10 Mick is in a no lose situation. Wherever we finnish it will be an improvement. If we do make the top 6 it will be a marvellous ahievement. If we end up in the top2 it will be a miracle!
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 11:54 - Jan 10 Let's just concentrate on not losing to QPR, and see where we are then. As soon as we have a dip, the detractors will be in full song again.
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Hegansheroes added 12:38 - Jan 10 Cloud cuckoo land suddenly came into my head. Let's be honest Anderson has been a failure so he just has to keep saying the right things to keep MM happy.
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bluefeast added 14:58 - Jan 10 The five teams above us go out to win every game ,we go out trying not to lose. Mentally that is the difference and hence our 1-1 draws. Bournmouth was a bonus as they went all out and played great. Apart from that we have thrown points away.
1

northernblues added 21:46 - Jan 10 I think our present position will be little above us, a top 10 finish should be seen progress, lets not run before we can walk!
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