Christophe Berra has hailed the recent contribution of the Town supporters, while also acknowledging it is not cheap for fans to follow their favourite football clubs.

Defender Berra said: “The travelling support this season has been great and to take more than 4,000 to Fulham last week, with all the problems on the trains at weekends, was tremendous. We all appreciated it.

“Tickets aren’t cheap — let’s be honest about it — and people have other priorities in life.

“They might have wives and kids, and it’s about putting food on the table, or grandchildren they want to entertain.

“Hopefully, come the end of the season, whether we’re in the play-offs or we’ve won automatic promotion, it will be great to see Portman Road full with everyone backing the boys.”

Town have won two in a row after a run of just one win in five when they collected just four points from a possible 15, a sequence that saw a section of the Portman Road crowd show their frustration with a chorus of boos.

But Berra added: “Everyone has a right to boo. We’re not robots and we’re not going to play well all of the time but overall the fans at Ipswich have been really good.

“I think they can appreciate how the management team have made great strides and that it’s better being in this position than where they were when they were fighting relegation s few years ago.

“When you get to the top you set your standards high and when you let them drop it’s easy for people to get on your backs and dish out a bit of stick. But we’re sportsmen and it happens in all the sports, not just football.

“When you lose a game or you’re not playing as well as you can you’re always going to have criticism.

“You’re in the media spotlight and you can soon get knocked down. You just have to deal with it — develop a thick skin, take it all with a pinch of salt and move on.

“We had a sticky patch but two successive wins change everything. There is maybe a bit of added pressure when teams have played the previous day and you go into your game needing a win to go, say, top of the table.

“It doesn’t take much for teams to make it hard for you if they are organised and difficult to score against. It’s all part and parcel of football and what helps to make it exciting.”

Photo: Action Images

stevelincsexile added 07:04 - Feb 20 It probably costs me more than most to watch us play and I cannot afford to go to every match but I have supported the team through thick and thin for over forty years and I have never resorted to booing the players, long may it continue.
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bigfatjoe87 added 08:52 - Feb 20 I hate booing. What does it provide nothing but negativity. I think it's about tome some players came out and said stop that look at the season we're having. Maybe boo after a lengthy run if bad form not just a couple of games. We were always going to have a blip let's hooe that's it out of the way for us.
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cloudman added 09:11 - Feb 20 "They might have wives and kids"...or husbands, Christophe?
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BlueandTruesince82 added 09:15 - Feb 20 Indeed Joe, are we Newcastle in disguise? I agree fans have a right to vent frustration but we're 3 points of top, what do we have to boo about?
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Warkys_Tash added 09:34 - Feb 20 4,000+ to Fulham, what an away day that was.. Just need the stay awayers to get back to PR & achieve 22+ for the remaining 8 homes.. Let's go on a home winning streak.. 24 points from 24..
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