Boss Mick McCarthy has dismissed suggestions that Town have taken a cautious approach this season.

With the Blues starting to drift out of the play-off picture, McCarthy was asked whether he needed to have a less cautious outlook in the season’s remaining games.

“I haven’t been cautious,” he said. “For most of the time we’ve played 4-4-2 and even when we’ve played 4-3-3 we’ve probably ended up with two centre-backs, a full-back and a sitting midfield player and six in attack.

“I’m not cautious, I don’t sit back. We go and stop them playing from the front. I think that’s a misconception. We might have been tough and hard to beat but far from cautious.”

He does feel, however, that the Blues should be scoring more goals from midfield with only six having come from the engine room all season and one of those, Paul Anderson’s at home to Millwall, probably really an own goal.

“Very much so, we talked about this a few months ago and I’m not sure it’s changed since, despite the fact that they’ve practiced their finishing," he added.

“You’ll get certain types that will get in the box and score from midfield or certain types of defenders who will score. It’s not really happened for us from midfield.”

Overall, he’s not concerned where the goals come from as long as someone’s getting them: “We’ve scored more goals than we did last season and conceded more.

“Ultimately, I don’t think it matters where they come from, providing you get a chunk of them and it’s more than most of the others.

“It’s very rare that you’ll get more goals than any other team unless they’re being spread around. So we need to spread them around, we’ll keep practicing and if it doesn’t then, as always, things will change in the summer, naturally things will change. And I’ll look to do different things, depending on what happens.

“We have built a solid platform to kick on from next season in terms of the back five or six players, our keepers and back four are in good shape.

“In midfield I think we’re in good shape, things will change, as I’ve just been saying. And there are decisions to be made on other players. But we’ll be all right, we’ll be fine.”

As much as anything, McCarthy has been pleased with his team’s reliability throughout the campaign: “I think performances have been consistent. I don’t want to say it just before we play a game, but it’s not been like last season where we got slapped a couple of times, we’ve never looked like that.

“We’ve been pretty consistent with the performances, which is probably suggested by where we are.

“We’ve not been up and down, so we’ve not been in the bottom end and when we’ve had the chance to beat people we’ve not really taken it or we’ve let somebody score when we’ve been in front, which has been apparent, and that's why we are where we are and not in the top six.”

With season ticket prices having been announced yesterday, McCarthy says supporters can look back on a decent 2013/14: “The fans have been great, they’ve been fabulous. I’m not sending out messages asking them to come because it’s hard earnt.

“I think we have to try and entertain them and I think we have done, certainly this season. I think we’ve had a good season.

“It could be better but it was always going to be a bit of a transition from where we were last season.”

Photo: Action Images

TheSelkirk added 07:36 - Mar 21 MM did a great job of keeping us up. He has consolidated our position and a mid table finish is a huge improvement, even though we would have liked so much more. So as far as progress is concerned it is difficult to argue that, given the league position, we have not improved. However. Unfortunately Mick, I cannot possibly agree that I have been "entertained" this season and I do think that the team has been overly cautious in some of the 'easier' matches I would have expected us to win. The principal of getting a point away and taking three at home is fine when it comes together (though I really hope the comments regarding "getting something" from Brighton doesn't mean that Mick would be happy with a point at this stage of the season) but this can easily result in a point at home and nothing away. Reading between the lines of MM's comments regarding summer changes, it does suggest that we will need to ship players out before we are able to consider adding to the squad. Fair enough, but I hope that the players shipped out are the right ones and that there is (at least some) money for Mick to spend, rather than rely solely on having to work magic in finding 'frees' or cheap and cheerful. The next four "massive games", as far as I am concerned, will be the first four of next season. By then we will know whether investment has been made, if the ambition is there and get a pretty good idea of whether we are able to kick on from this season or not. It would be great to be entertained along the way too but I guess that might be too much to ask.

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brittaniaman added 08:24 - Mar 21 IF it is not cautious MM. then why do we sit back say on a 1 goal lead, we have lost 28 pts. this season, through this !! is it your tactics or what ??????
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Cloddyseedbed added 08:41 - Mar 21 Well Mick we'll have to agree that we disagree on this one.
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raycrawfordswig added 09:43 - Mar 21 “I'm not cautious, I don't sit back. We go and stop them playing from the front. I think that's a misconception. We might have been tough and hard to beat but far from cautious.” Tough and hard to beat why have we given up 28 points from winning positions? 4-0 up at Derby we scrape a draw.
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Garv added 09:57 - Mar 21 Centre half at right back, three central midfielders out of four, two target men up front at times. That doesn't scream positivity to me.
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MattinLondon added 10:00 - Mar 21 “I think we have to try and entertain them and I think we have done, certainly this season. I think we've had a good season. If the football on display is MM idea of entertainment then I hate to see if he ever plays defensively.
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sereneblue added 12:55 - Mar 21 So not being cautious includes, playing one up front in home games against bottom of the league sides!! I wonder !
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TimmyH added 13:00 - Mar 21 C'mon Mick you know your telling porkies on this, anybody with 2 eyes in their head and turns up regularly at PR and away can tell just by your midfield starting players you have been cautious...end of.
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battyblue added 15:30 - Mar 21 Mick says we have been consistent i would agree with that consistently poor.
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RonFearonsHair added 17:07 - Mar 21 Is being 4-0 up at Derby going to be the greatest myth to be peddled about this season?
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blueboy1981 added 17:51 - Mar 21 ....... it's not being 'cautious' - it's just MM being MM - he doesn't know any other way. Make us hard to score against, nick a fortunate goal (occassionally), then drop everyone deep and try to defend it to the end. If that's not being cautious - I know not - what is.
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blueboy1981 added 18:07 - Mar 21 ........ best form of defence has, and will always be, attack ....... sitting deep and constantly defending means you will eventually concede - proved over, and over, again. Decent teams always find a way thro' these tactics. This applies to any level of our once 'beautiful' game.
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Hegansheroes added 19:09 - Mar 21 I think MM actually believes the utter crxp that comes out of his mouth. The most boring negative Ipswich team I have ever seen which is the reason attendances are falling & why I rarely go now. Was going to Brighton tomorrow but I along with various friends are giving it a miss as we want to watch an Ipswich team that plays something resembling football. We've got another year minimum of this joker. I knew this is what we would get when he was appointed & he certainly has proved to be just what I expected.

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