Town midfielder Cole Skuse has assessed the team’s start to the season and insisted they are good enough to mount a promotion challenge.

Mick McCarthy’s men go into tomorrow’s Championship clash at Leeds having lost just once — and kept four clean sheets — in their last six league games, a run that sees them sitting 11th in the table just two points adrift of the coveted top six.

Skuse, 30, said: “It’s been a very good start and it could have been better. We’ve had a couple of — I wouldn’t say bad decisions — but minor errors or we would be a bit closer to the top.

“In the Norwich game we had a goal disallowed that probably shouldn’t have been disallowed and at Wolves we had a goal disallowed that probably shouldn’t have been disallowed.

“So if you take these points and put them on top of what we’ve got we’d be right in the mix.”

The player is in his fourth season at Portman Road and added: “A lot of teams have invested heavily, especially the boys who have come down from the Premier League.

“Even the teams who were in and around the play-offs last season have invested heavily again so they have automatically been installed as favourites to finish in the top six.

“We know it’s going to be tough but we have faced some tough opposition already in Norwich and Aston Villa and we’ve shown what we’re about, so I think we’re more than capable of being in the mix.

“We’ve got a more than capable squad to be where we want to be, in the top six.

“It’s not just the big fish like Newcastle and Aston Villa who have been spending big.

“Other clubs have kicked on to the next level — Huddersfield and my former club Bristol City are right up there — and while I probably say it every year this is probably the toughest Championship I’ve ever experienced.”

But despite some clubs splashing huge sums of money on new players, Skuse doesn’t see it as a guarantee of success. He said: “It’s never just down to money, as you’ve seen in the past, and even in the Premier League when people have said they are too good to go down.

“It’s not all about money — it’s about the inner sanctum so to speak, your everyday stuff like how close you are as a side.

"Obviously you can go out and buy to add bits of quality to your squad but you’ve got to be a tight-knit group.

“Teams that have been promoted from the Championship in the past have not always been the best teams but they were best in terms of self-belief and togetherness.

“It goes a long way, especially with the boys we have here. It will stand us in good stead over the rest of the season.”

Photo: TWTD

Toronto_Tractor added 06:15 - Sep 23 Our best eleven is decent, if everyone was fit (i know, the impossible dream). There are a lot of IFS AND BUTS in football but the reality is we've had an ok start. To make the playoffs we cant have any more big injuries, we'll need to recruit in Jan and we'll need to work bloody hard. But its possible. COYB.
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TimmyH added 08:26 - Sep 23 'It's been a very good start and it could have been even better' - really? performances have been patchy and so have the results. Maybe at Wolves we were a bit unlucky and not to get a point at Reading was unjust but then away at Derby very lucky to get 3 points. If we are to climb the table clean sheets will need to be the order of the day and of course Cole's performances improving.

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BrettenhamBlue added 09:32 - Sep 23 Aiming high is a good thing but I feel we are a mid-table team this season. I'd love to be proved wrong but think our brand of football is too predictable and without a target man we may well struggle. Giving us mid-table as I feel there may be plenty of 0-0 draws this season. 3 of the back 4 look mostly sound and we have one of the best GK's I have ever seen. An injury to Bart though and things could get grim.

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muccletonjoe added 10:12 - Sep 23 Had a couple of decisions gone our way then we would be top 6 now quite comfortably.
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Bildestoned added 10:17 - Sep 23 Thank goodness we have a squad of players that believes in itself and where there is clearly an excellent team spirit. This contrasts with the apparent disunity and extreme prejudice demonstrated by several regular TWTD posters. The reality is surely that many Championship teams (not to mention ex-Championship teams!) would trade their current league position for a sniff of the consistency our club has achieved in recent seasons. If you look back on the success of Lyall and Burley teams they weren't particulary expensively-assembled but - and as with many other clubs - more a result of a bit of luck, confidence, tactics, and having just one or two TOP quality players (e.g. Butcher; Dozzell; Stewart etc.).

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