Cole Skuse has hailed the scintillating display in beating Sunderland 5-2 on Tuesday as one of the best in his time at the club — and he is tipping Town to turn Portman Road into a fortress again.

The experienced midfielder, who joined the Blues back in the summer of 2013, said: “It is up there as one of the best. Especially in the first half, we played some really good stuff against a very, very strong Sunderland squad. It was a great performance, a great result and a special night under the lights.

“We worked on team shape the day before. The gaffer set out the team and told the boys at the top end ‘Go and do your work, do your business.’ He had Tom [Adeyemi] and me to anchor the middle of the park and it all came to fruition.

“It was a pleasure to watch at times as I struggled to get up the pitch and keep up with them. Some of the stuff they were playing in front of me was frightening and we looked a real, real threat.

“I’m trying to get more involved with the attack this season, especially with the back four we have in place.

“I know Chambo is more than willing to let me push on. He says ‘We’ll take care of things behind you’ and as long as we can go and get a squeeze on them, to pen them in, I’ll try to get as far as up as I can.”

Skuse, like all supporters, would love to see a repeat performance on Saturday against his former club Bristol City, who come to town on a 10-game unbeaten run and sit in seventh place, just one place and point worse off than Mick McCarthy’s men, who have a game in hand.

He added: “It will be a different type of game but it’s a game that we’ll be looking to stamp our authority on again.

“With the crowd behind us, and the way they are at the minute, we won’t be paying too much attention to their 10-game unbeaten run. We’ll be looking to give them some headaches and let them worry about us.

“You’ll always have an eye on the opposition — every team offers different threats. But while we’ll have one eye on Bristol City we need to make Portman Road a fortress again and make sure people come here with an eye and a half on us, what we’re going to do and how we go about our work at home.

“Going away from home is a different kettle of fish because there are different elements to be taken into consideration but Portman Road should be a fortress, like it was two or three years ago when it was a real tough place for people to come.

“We’re getting back to how things were when we reached the play-offs two years ago. Beating a team of Sunderland’s calibre 5-2 will show the other teams we’re doing something right. Bristol City will be picking the bones out of our display on Tuesday and trying to find a way to nullify us.”

Skuse agrees it makes everyone’s task more enjoyable when things work out as planned and added: “It’s not just the style of football. Getting into a winning mentality makes it a much more enjoyable workplace.

“Any workplace is more enjoyable when things are going well and everyone is buoyant. On the whole it’s been a good start to the season and we’re all in high spirits at the moment.

“In the first 15 minutes at Leeds on Saturday we had to get to grips with them. They were at home and came out with their tails up to start well in front of a big crowd, but after that we really got a foothold in the game.

“In the second half we had a team, who were at the top of the league at the time, penned in for 45 or 50 minutes and we took a lot of positives from the negative that was the result. We took it into Tuesday night’s game and it was a great performance.

“We’d love to play like that throughout the rest of the season. If you’re playing like that week in, week out, it should stand you in good stead for promotion.

“But I don’t think even the very best teams in the world can do it week in, week out. You are going to have your off days and your bad patches, which we’ve got to try to make sure are as short as possible. We’ve got to make sure we come out on top in most games.”

Photo: TWTD

dirtydingusmagee added 16:54 - Sep 28 I think Skusey has been abducted by aliens and re programmed, he certainly has turned things up a notch . Good for him .
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OldClactonBlue added 20:39 - Sep 28 He's right of course. It is one of very few good performances since he joined the Blue Army. If they had been playing like that on a regular basis we wouldn't be in the position we are, both on and off the pitch.
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BobbyBell added 10:36 - Sep 29 I only heard the radio commentary but Skuse seemed like a different player. Going forward, playing one two's and stroking accurate passes around. Have we been wasting his talents? Having said that he is a very good holding midfielder but boy did the other player benefit from this new style Skuse. Please please more of this attacking style.
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