Gwion Edwards admits he will be devastated if Town miss out on promotion back to English football’s second tier this season.

The odds are stacked against Paul Lambert’s men following a form slump that seen them lose seven of their last nine league games, including four on the trot in which they have only managed to score once.

Town led the table in January but their miserable run has seen them win just four of their last 21 League One fixtures, an amazing turnaround when you consider they were leading the way at the start of the season with an 11-game undefeated run that raised hopes of promotion at the first time of asking.

Edwards, speaking prior to the EFL's confirmation that the season has been suspended, admitted: “There is nothing I want more than to be back in the Championship and I will be devastated if we don’t do it.

“We have eight games left and we need to win most of them. As a team and as a club we know what we have to do and we’re working hard towards it. But we know it’s not just a case of what we do and we’re looking at what other teams are doing.

“The results always filter through on match days one way or another and we want them to go our way, which will be a big boost to help us achieve what we want. I still think we have a squad good enough to do it.

“The situation is not ideal and we’re not where we want to be. I think everyone knows that and we’re working hard to try to turn the corner. We haven’t had that bit of luck in the last few games but I think there were positives in the Coventry game.

“It’s the story of our season really — we’ve had strikers injured and we’ve not scored the goals to get us a win or keep us in games. We’re looking to turn the corner and hopefully we can do that tomorrow at Bristol Rovers if the game’s on.

“At the start of the season our aim was to be up there and win the league. We started off well enough and while the second half of the season hasn’t been great the lads have stuck together and we fully believe we can still do it.

“Obviously it’s going to be tough — it’s a tough league — and there are a lot of teams fighting for it but hopefully we can turn the corner and put a run together between now and the end of the season. I believe we can do it.”

When they were sitting on top of the table early in the current campaign Town would probably have been disappointed to end up in the play-offs. But as things have turned out subsequently they are desperate to finish in the top six.

Edwards, 27, added: “It would be devastating to miss out even on the play-offs and I’m talking about how everyone at the club, and of course our fans, would feel if we don’t achieve what we set out to achieve. There’s nothing we want more than to get back into the Championship.”

Asked who or what was to blame for their slide down to tenth place, the Welsh winger replied: “It’s not right to start pointing fingers at anyone or anything specific.

“If we could put a finger on what’s actually gone wrong I think we would have turned the corner a lot longer ago.

“But we haven’t and we’re still working hard in training on what we’re going to do in the games coming up. We’re looking at who we’re playing and what we need to do differently, and we know we need to do it sooner rather than later.

“That’s football for you and it shows how things can change quickly. We were top of the league and flying.

“We even got back up there again in January and now we’ve dropped completely off it. We need to work hard, stick together, keep going and believe that we can do it.

“There’s no way we can complain about the supporters having a go. You’re going to get fans staying stuff and it’s part and parcel of football. It doesn’t matter what league you are in, the fans will be cheering you on unless you’re not doing well, in which case they are going to be unhappy and let you know it.

“They want to achieve exactly the same as we do, to be back in the Championship, and it’s down to us to make it happen over our final eight games. It may be a tough ask but I believe we can do it.”

Photo: TWTD

hoppy added 11:50 - Mar 13 Did you spell 'when' wrongly in the title, Phil?
1

tractordownsouth added 11:52 - Mar 13 He could have just said “I'll be devastated”
0

Cloddyseedbed added 11:58 - Mar 13 I'll put a finger on it Edwards, it's because of your half hearted performances and couldn't care less attitude. The whole team is guilty of this but over the season you have been one of the worst. That's why Peterborough weren't gutted when you left.
-3

rattram added 12:09 - Mar 13 He will be devastated!! All of us will be much more devastated. To say that if they could put their finger on what was wrong they could have put it right is bizarre, cos we all know. They give away too many cheap goals and have no idea how to put the ball into the net. Our 2 most experienced players are too slow and a lot of the rest aren't even good enough for Division 1.

-1

ernie added 12:12 - Mar 13 Probably should have thought of this in November or December then Gwion
0

midastouch added 14:41 - Mar 13 So would I, we'd be battered so badly in the Championship with this current team! We've got to learn to crawl and walk in League One again first!
0

patrickswell added 16:05 - Mar 13 Geion, you and your colleagues. Have let us all down, for the second season running. You may believe that you can do it, but none of us think you will. Because for the second year in a row, you and your colleagues have bottled it and too many of you are f–king rubbish. Do it on the pitch, not in the media room. And if you can't, then you can all f–k off, as quickly as possible. Most of you will not be missed.

2

TractorBoy1935 added 17:15 - Mar 13 Devastated you are right, I would say massive underachievement would be the correct term used. Many people labelled us as strong favourites to go straight back up, but boy have we been knocked down a peg or two. The season has shown favourites mean nothing, we play in a league where most of these teams have played in for quite a few seasons and know how to win games, especially off the big teams. Would I love it if we won our remaining 8 games?, you bet I would but realistically we know that it'll be hard but we have one of the best teams in the league and should know how to get the job done.

0

Blogs 298 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls