Town eased their lingering relegation fears with a comprehensive 3-0 defeat of lowly Wigan in midweek but Jordan Spence is refusing to say whether their current points tally of 49 will be enough to ensure their Championship survival.

There is a nine-point gap between Mick McCarthy’s men and third-bottom Blackburn, managed by ex-Town captain, coach and caretaker-manager Tony Mowbray, with only six games and 18 points up for grabs between now and the end of the season.

But Spence said: “I don’t know if it will be enough but my immediate objective is to help us achieve back-to-back wins for the first time this season and if you win games you don’t have to look over your shoulder.

“I don’t look at the league table that much — somewhat semi-consciously I guess — and it’s going to change all the time.

“I don’t want to give a false impression that one team is better than another because on any given day any team can cause another team problems.

“We know when we are at our best and if you saw us on Tuesday evening — and I know this from playing against Ipswich Town — you will know that if we’re on the front foot, aggressive and positive then we can really hurt teams.

“If we do that from now to the last game of the season we will improve our league position and also, hopefully, improve the feeling of those supporters who have been disappointed with what they have seen thus far.

“I hope all the players want to win at least two in a row and I realise it’s a tough fixture at Fulham this weekend.

“No one would look at Fulham away and think it was going to be easy. But people were looking at Wigan struggling when they came here in the week and yet they had only lost 2-1 at Newcastle a few days earlier.

“That was a game they were always in as we watched clips of it as part of our preparations. Back-to-back wins would be great but we all know it is going to take a real effort from everyone involved.”

Spence, who captained England at youth levels when he was with first club West Ham, is far from your archetypal footballer and likes to surround himself with motivational mantras.

He added: “I have a couple on the walls of my house, things that pop into my mind or I’ve read them and I think ‘I’ll steal that’. I read quite a bit and I used to read a lot of the team bus — but when I try to read now I get travel sick, which is a bit annoying.

“I like to immerse myself in different things that are outside football and maybe outside of what is regarded as the cultural norm.

“In terms of mantras I just think, particularly in this day and age, you have an opportunity in every working environment to be overly concerned with what other people’s opinions are about how well you can do your job.

“Particularly in football, you’ve got lots of people who will tell you that you are really good, you’re not so good, you’re good at this, you’re bad at that etc. I just think it’s not too important to be tossed around with those waves.

“It’s important to remain level-headed but I didn’t have a club for a big part of the season. I knew I wasn’t being hugely coveted by a number of football teams because of the situation I was in.

“There was no level of delusion but I also knew that when called upon I would be of help to somebody. It was just about finding the balance between those two spaces.”

Photo: TWTD

MacMan added 21:13 - Apr 6 He seems like a really intelligent, grounded guy. In 15 years time, I wonder if we will see him in a manager's role? I like the fact that he has this zen-like approach to criticism and praise, not letting either affect him.
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coolcat added 21:36 - Apr 6 Great attitude & level headed. Good RB as well. :)
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GiveusaWave added 23:56 - Apr 6 Superb RB and sounds like a great person.
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