Striker Freddie Sears admits the Blues are probably now looking at the play-offs rather than automatic promotion.

Town are currently seventh in League One without a win in their last four with leaders Rotherham seven points ahead of the Blues with a game in hand and second-placed Peterborough a point behind the Millers having played one match more than Town.

Sears, who was helping out with an adult disability football session to promote Community Trust Day on Saturday, was asked how he saw the promotion picture as things stand.

“Good question,” he reflected. “It’s mad how a week can change things. I think three or four games ago we were top of the league and if we’d have beaten Rotherham you probably would have thought that we were going to win this league hands down.

“But now we’re probably looking at the play-offs. Obviously we’d love to be in the automatic promotion places but we’ve got to start winning games.

“There’s no point in standing there saying what we want to do and what we don’t want to do, if you don’t win games you don’t deserve to be there. I think the play-offs are the aim and we’ll go from there.”

He added: “Before you know it it’ll be May and will we be looking back thinking ‘What a waste of a season’ or we’ll be thinking we’ve made the play-offs or even better than that, hopefully.

“I think we’ve got nine home games which are going to be massive. We’ve not really been great at home but if we can get something going, give the fans something to cheer about, I’m sure they’ll back us.

“And that’s the most important thing now, playing positively and we need results and we need them sooner rather than later.”

Since returning from the ACL injury he suffered at Norwich a year ago this month, Sears has made one Leasing.com Trophy start and six appearances from the bench in League One.

He admits the current wing-back system hasn’t helped his return, the 30-year-old having played on the left of a front three last season prior to his injury following Paul Lambert’s appointment.

“At the minute we’ve not got too many wingers so the system’s probably suited us in that way,” he said.

“But for me, I either want to play up front or a front three, right or left. It’s tough at the minute because Danny Rowe’s injured, there have been a few injuries and the wingers we had at the start of the season haven’t been able to play.

“It’s a different system, everyone seems to be getting used to it but we’ll see what happens on Saturday.”

Looking back to last season, Sears enjoyed a good spell after Lambert took over before picking up his injury in which he netted six times.

“It was the best I’ve played in a long time,” he recalled. “But I still think my best spell here was when I played up front in a two with Daryl Murphy. My best football, the most I’ve enjoyed football, to be honest.

“It is what it is, I’ll play anywhere but I’d like to play up front but at the minute I’m not seen there.”

Quizzed on where Lambert has said he’ll look to use him, Sears added: “I think I’ll be used up front but it’s tough at the minute, we’ve got Jacko, Nors, Keano as well.

“The thing that probably kills me is the flexibility where I can go out there and play and probably, and no disrespect to Keano or Nors, but they’re not going to be steaming up and down the wings. But wherever I’m asked to play, I’ll play and try and give the best I can for the team.”

Sears even ended up as a wing-back at Wimbledon the other night, although he says that’s not something he wants to repeat even if it was with a primarily attacking remit.

“I don’t want to be stuck there, to be honest,” he laughed. “It was more of an attacking sort of thing, there wasn’t too much defending, there was a little bit, but it was mainly to try and get the win. It wasn’t as bad as what it was. It is what it is and I’ll play wherever.”

Given Town’s recent lack of a cutting edge and his record of scoring under Lambert last season and also in League One with Colchester prior to joining Town, he must feel he will get a chance up front soon.

“It’s obviously down to the manager,” he said. “But the boys have done well this year, Nors has done well, Jacko’s done well, Keano’s done well, they’ve all scored goals.

“I’ve been out a long while, which is obviously the issue at the minute. I’m sure if I was fit and firing I’d be playing every week, and that’s no disrespect to anyone at the football club. I believe if I was in the form I was in last year, I’d be playing every game.

“It’s a different circumstance a little bit at the minute because if I was in the situation I was in last year and I wasn’t playing it would probably be a bit different where I wouldn’t be as happy. I’m not saying I’m happy at the minute but I understand the situation.”

Are the club management having to put the reins on him to an extent as he continues his recovery?

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It’s been a long time and now we need results, there’s no Leasing.com Trophy games like there were before where I probably would have played three or four of them and there would have been no complaints and I’d probably be up to speed. Now the games matter and I feel like I’m ready and only time will tell.”

Photo: TWTD

rfretwell added 19:22 - Feb 13 Too true Linkboy generally. Wolfendens the exception being over 6ft but our midfielder youths are all lightweight and short. We need more physically imposing youngsters if they are to make a go of it in this division. Tyreece Simpson in the U23s looks a unit - perhaps he can push through as a striker at least.
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cooper442 added 19:25 - Feb 13 We have got games against the likes of Southend, Bolton Rochdale, Burton etc etc to come ,and one of the players comes out with a statement like that ,how incredibly depressing
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ernie added 19:32 - Feb 13 Finally some honesty
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hyperbrit added 19:39 - Feb 13 .....the whole idea of Town going up this season is absurd imo...for what another year of mid table torture at best ? Take the time to rebuild properly from the top down.
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chopra777 added 20:21 - Feb 13 I thought we had invested in sport science more like playing blow football using their arses. No plan B and probably missing the playoffs. Current form tells the truth.
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Westy added 20:34 - Feb 13 With the crowds of 20,000 average at home and the size of the squad we should have had more than enough for this league - and may still. At the start of the Season I would happily have accepted automatic promotion in second place. Promotion is the aim. Promotion as champions, secondary. There are still enough games to get an automatic spot provided home form improves but we look fragile. I've said it before, we have one chance at this. If we don't take it, we will be in this division for years. How well would we fair in the play-offs when we haven't beaten a team in the top eight ?

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Saxonblue74 added 20:38 - Feb 13 Hyperbrit, I agree with you in theory but the reality is no promotion = mass exodus of young talent. That may not look like a disaster on their current form but they will come good. Yes,if afforded time it will come good. Problem is, time is as rare as Hens teeth in football!
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monkeymagic added 21:09 - Feb 13 Fairly honest assessment, which makes a change from the usual nonsense dished up. I think Sears speaks for the whole squad in acknowledging that 2nd place is out of reach now. The really disturbing aspect of the interview is the apparent apathy about promotion : failure to go up would seem to be not much more than a disappointment. I suspect the recurring theme of player interviews over the coming weeks will be that “we can still make the play offs if the fans get behind us” : right down to 3 games left when we're 9 points off 6th with an inferior goal difference. Much like last season, when it was all talk with no actual improvement.

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Cloddyseedbed added 22:24 - Feb 13 More likely mid table.
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TractorRoyNo1 added 22:30 - Feb 13 Realistic but sad we still haven't the ambition to be above fing Wycombe
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bobble added 00:00 - Feb 14 seems to be surrendering quite early in the battle........
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madmouse1959 added 00:29 - Feb 14 Lets just offload the players slowly dragging this club down the pan & build a proper team with a manager not afraid to do the right thing. Probably we,ll be in League One next season without a couple of our best players.
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marco5113 added 00:30 - Feb 14 transfer funds and investment seem to be the major stumbling block. to think we were 4pts clear at one stage with a game in hand. what i fail to understand is why the squad was not added to in january to bolster the promotion push to the championship. for sears to now be talking about playoffs leaves me thinking what on earth has happened. all the top premiership sides invest millions to get success, at ipswich there is a distinct lack of ambition and investment. agreed financially we seem to be struggling or so we are told, but without investment there is little hope. the young talent will be sold without investing money in the squad, there is a pattern forming and unfortunately its a downward outcome. come on invest and get us back where we belong.

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Doctor_Earman added 05:54 - Feb 14 I respect Sears for his honesty here. Makes a difference from all the PR bullsh!t from the likes of Lambert, O'Neill and 'proper blokes' Chambers and Skuse. Facts are that unless we go on a miracle run of winning pretty much every game between now and the end of the season we won't make top 2. As for the quote: “Before you know it it'll be May and will we be looking back thinking ‘What a waste of a season'' - spot on Freddie!

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ivandeighton added 06:31 - Feb 14 Throwing the towel in when only six points off the play offs unbelievable
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ivandeighton added 06:32 - Feb 14 Automatic promotion
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Saxonblue74 added 06:39 - Feb 14 To think how many times we heard "you don't win anything in November/December/January"! Maybe not, but you sure as hell can lose it in those months! Lambert really does set himself up for a fall, those kind of statements are high risk!
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Northstandveteran added 07:55 - Feb 14 A manager who's only achievement to date is relegation, rewarded with a five contract, a midfielder with a return of two goals in 271 appearances in discussions about a new contract and with 39 points to play for, 6 points off an automatic promotion place, the players have already thrown the towel in. And this in the 3rd division. Inspirational stuff. If the players have given up, then so have I.

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Nobbysnuts added 08:09 - Feb 14 Well if this is the mindset of the players....... GOD HELP US. Play offs what a joke. This club is plumbing new depths.
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dirtydingusmagee added 09:15 - Feb 14 feel sorry for Freddie, apart from the injury, he has been p####d about all along, gets short spells or played out of natural position, and hasn't been given real time to do what he is capable of. Always been the 2nd fiddle. We are stuck in lge 1 now imo, any of the teams above us and several of those below us would be too good for us in playoffs. Next season the rot will really be exposed with no investment, .

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bobble added 09:22 - Feb 14 maybe the wallabies will improve so we can forget about town for another 5-10 years ?
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BettyBlue added 09:50 - Feb 14 No Sears, we are looking at 10th-14th. And home games? How has that helped us so far? And what do you add? Bench warming and zero goals.
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VanDusen added 09:58 - Feb 14 I think it's important to remember the games we have left. Our excellent away form early in the season was partly as we played many of the teams down the bottom at their place and hopefully that means we get the same return at home in the latter stages. In the run in our last four games at home are Southend, Bolton, Rochdale and MK Dons. Frankly if we don't get 12 pts off those we really don't deserve to go up anyway - but assuming we do, then probably another four wins from the other nine games will get us mighty close to the playoffs in a 44 game season, even if we lose to Portsmouth and Coventry. Let's keep together and try to look on the bright side at least for the next 3-4 games which will make or break us. No, we're not playing with a cutting edge, but we've lost in three of our toughest games on paper all season. We bossed Sunderland at their place for 45 mins, were evens with Peterborough until Garbutt got injured and then a reffing u-turn and a dreadful goalkeeping error killed us. It's hardly like we didn't dominate on Tuesday night - we just couldn't find the net. Get wins against Burton and Oxford and its game on again. On the other hand if we don't then the reality of where I expected us to be at the outset of the season is confirmed...

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runningout added 10:10 - Feb 14 Large IF going on form. These negatives are justified. If players and coaches can't deal with criticism from people that adore the club, they should give their heads a shake
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JewellintheTown added 14:09 - Feb 14 Sound like every player and fan facing staff member seems not to connect the advice they give with the fact that they are the ones who can make that all happen. Seems like they're taking in the third person all the time.
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