Town skipper Luke Chambers remains upbeat about their chances of beating the drop, despite a 2-1 home defeat to promotion-chasing West Bromwich Albion in Friday’s live-on-Sky clash.

It means the Blues remain bottom of the table, five points adrift of safety and with only one win to their credit this season.

This latest setback leaves them still seeking their first victory at Portman Road in the current campaign as new boss Paul Lambert suffered his first defeat in his three games in charge.

But Chambers said: “I’m very confident. Before the manager came in I couldn’t have said I was.

“The previous regime didn’t work out the way everyone had hoped but I just feel he [Lambert] has transformed the club in the space of three weeks and I honestly think we’ll be fine.

“It’s easy to stand here and say that but I think we could easily say that after playing Preston and Reading we could have four more points than we have.

“West Brom showed their quality on the break. I think they’ve only lost one player from their Premier League squad last season and it shows you the difference between the top and the bottom of the Championship — there’s not much in it.

“If we had taken a couple more chances and been a bit more clinical the result could have been different.

“I think we’d had our spells in the first half but we didn’t really play the way we can, the way we had in the previous couple of games.

“The manager’s message at half-time was ‘What’s holding you back? There shouldn’t be anything holding you back. Just go out there and have a right go’ and I think we showed that in the second half.

“We were in the ascendancy and against the run of play they have nicked a second goal.

“It’s frustrating really because we highlighted the fact that they like to sit in and they have quality on the break.

“Unfortunately, that’s what caused us the problem in the end and they’ve gone two-nil up.”

Trailing 2-0, Town were given a lifeline when Kayden Jackson netted his third goal of the season and fellow sub Jack Lankester almost snatched a point at the death when his free-kick brushed the post.

Town more than matched the visitors for effort and dominated possession, but Albion showed plenty of quality throughout the 90 minutes and were in control during a first half in which they pressed high up the pitch.

But Chambers added: “I think we found a way out of that. We were hitting Jordan [Spence] and Jonas [Knudsen] in the wide areas and managing to get the ball in their half a lot better.

“I just felt we lacked a bit of belief and maybe gave them a little bit too much respect, and I think that went out of the window in the second half.

“The performance was there and it’s just unfortunate that the result was out of reach for us.

“But you can see there is plenty of spirit in the camp. The lads don’t really know when they’re beaten at the minute and the frustrating thing is that we’ve come off the pitch not getting any points tonight.

“We’ll take the positives out of it. We’ll be frustrated for 24 hours but we’ve got another game on Wednesday and we need to prepare for that.”

Chambers praised the near non-stop backing from the home fans. “The support was fantastic,” he said. “You know when you’ve done alright as a team with the amount of people that have stayed at the end to applaud the team off tonight — and it’s not just tonight, it’s been all season.

“They have every right to be frustrated and get on the boys’ cases but they have stuck with us through thick and thin. They can see the tide is turning a little bit and what we’re trying to do.

“The lads are taking a lot more responsibility, being a lot more brave and it’s just unfortunate that it was one step too far tonight.”

Photo: TWTD

Town1Inter0 added 06:18 - Nov 24 We need the form of a mid-table team from now on the avoid the drop. That's about 1.25 points per game. Eg: the current form of Brentford. That's entirely doable.
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SouperJim added 08:03 - Nov 24 If we can stay in touch until the window opens we've got every chance. There are a few areas that need strengthening but more than anything else we need someone in the Murphy/Waghorn mold up front to give us some presence and a focal point.
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Bildestoned added 08:11 - Nov 24 Looked to me like we needed a bit more flair in midfield, creativity was not in evidence last night and of course our striker situation is there for all to see. This is not a done deal. We can and will win games.
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statto added 09:19 - Nov 24 The average points necessary to avoid the drop is 46. Looking at this season's bottom end it could be as low as 42 to survive. Can we pick up say 30+ points off 28 games? The spirit of that 2nd half v effectively a Premiership outfit in WBA gives me belief we can. Let's get that first elusive home win on Weds v Bristol City COYB
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ChrisFelix added 09:37 - Nov 24 I wonder what planet he is on.Although in not the manager we don't need 2 defensive midfielders in the team.Our Chelsea loanee is strong lad so why dosent he use his strength to carry the ball forward. Although Knudson had a better game tonight both he & Spence are poor & need replacing
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TimmyH added 10:08 - Nov 24 Spence got Chambers out of jail tonight, too many mistakes from him in the last month or so, maybe a CB in the January transfer window to replace him?...personally felt last night was similar to one or two home games under Hurst, in the balance if we can stay up and a lot depends on the quality of players Lambert can get in the January transfer window.
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KernewekBlue added 11:03 - Nov 24 Even though we came away from last night's game without a point, I felt we at least looked like we can at last compete with our opposition on match days. Jackson came on and looked sharper than I'd seen under Hurst and was switched on enough to get his goal. Roberts' tackle in our box to prevent a certain goal was outstanding and he showed a lot of willing up front, chasing down the ball. Too many loose passes didn't help the cause and Bart's goal kicking needs a lot of work. Two soft goals for The Baggies earned them the points but we could easily have scraped the draw at the death. Lankester's free kick was unlucky to have grazed the post instead of grabbing the draw. Penalty shout? I've seen them given for less. Still evident was a lack of real confidence but I can see the team has a lot more belief in themselves since Lambert came in. A few more games under his tenure, some much needed additions in January and I think we'll eventually be OK. Just avoiding the drop this season will be a massive plus point but I can now rest a little easier that it is certainly achieveable. Onwards and upwards. COYB

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blues1 added 11:43 - Nov 24 While things are clearly improving since pls arrival im not as confident as some about us avoiding the dreaded drop. The facts are that at this point of the season, only 2 teams in a similar position to us(albeit 6 points adrift not 5), have avoided relegation. So if we were to go points adrift after todays games it could be very hard to see us getting out of it. I still lice in hope tho.

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Blue_Moses added 11:48 - Nov 24 Unfortunately I think we will be too far adrift come the window, whixh makes me think Evans will save the money to allow Lambert to rebuild in the Summer. Can't fault the effort and improvements since Lambert came in but he simply doesn't have the players nor the time to avoid relegation this season.
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marcus1642 added 13:17 - Nov 24 Total lack of quality in the Ipswich side which was all too evident. WBA got relegated for a reason, they are NOT of premier league standard, but are well organised and solid in general, with very good striker options. However, they can be prone to mistakes.
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ITFCsince73 added 19:39 - Nov 24 The proper blokes keep starting, we keep getting cut further adrift. Chambers, Jonas, Skuse poor all season. No sign of any improvement. A defensive unit that includes Chambo and Jonas will always struggle. Add Spence to that mix and the end product is always clear. Yes above 3 always picked by Mick the Mouth, Paul Hirst and PL. Yes we are bottom with the gap getting bigger. Yes above 3 still guaranteed to start. Yes we will go down if this persists.

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shakytown added 22:41 - Nov 24 We wont survive with the clownish defensive errors you make Chambo. We seriously need at least 6-8 experienced CHAMPIONSHIP class players and I doubt Evans will front up with the cash needed.
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drewcudders1963 added 09:04 - Nov 25 Whilst I admire you as a captain, you are not playing as well this season as before.... we look like conceding from every free-kick or corner that comes in to the box.... until we sort that out we will continue to struggle.... get Bishop and Dozzell on the pitch and match fit and we have a very creative duo in midfield...
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blueboy1981 added 12:38 - Nov 25 For all your worth to the Club Mr Chambers, you are going to have to stop making glaring mistakes, along with a few others, before this has an icicles chance in hell of actually happening. Otherwise this will be another case of talk the talk, with the absence of walk the walk. It is you guys who can stop making elementary errors, and conceding sloppy goals - not so much Paul Lambert.

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