Skipper Sam Morsy is adamant Town can succeed in their efforts to gatecrash the play-offs and then go on to end the season on a high note by winning promotion to the Championship.

As things stand going into Saturday’s home clash with Burton Albion, the Blues are five points adrift of sixth-placed Plymouth, who also have two games in hand, but Morsy believes the gap will continue to narrow under new boss Kieran McKenna, who has won six and drawn one of his nine games in charge after succeeding Paul Cook in December.

Morsy, 30, said: “It’s not that long ago that most people had written our season off but we still have everything left to play for. It’s still on a knife-edge and we’re not in the mixer yet but if we stay consistent in terms of getting results I believe we can close the gap.

“It’s a big week for us coming up with two home games — Burton on Saturday and Cheltenham on Tuesday — and our home form has been really, really good for a number of months now.

“It’s just a case of keeping going, getting the right results and seeing where it takes you. We’re chasing other teams and we have to keep putting the pressure on them.

“Even when we were 12 points off the top six I kept saying the season wasn’t dead yet.

“We still had a lot of games left and I genuinely thought it would be possible to win enough to make it into the play-offs. If we win on Saturday at Portman Road it will feel like a big win for us and then on to the next one.”

Morsy returned to action in last week’s goalless stalemate at Milton Keynes Dons after serving a four-game ban for an off-the-ball incident in the home win over Accrington Stanley and admitted being back in the starting line-up was a major fillip.

“It felt great,” he said. “I’m not one to sort of moan and complain about the situation. I just looked at the positive side of it, did a lot of extra work in training and made sure I was up to speed when the manager wanted me to come back into the side.

“When we were training it all felt pretty normal but when game day came round, and I had to sit the game out, that was when it really sunk in.

“One thing I’ve learned is that it’s harder watching than playing, but with experience you learn how to handle it, to rein it in, wait for your time to come and be ready when it does.

“It’s the same whether you are injured, suspended or whatever; players want to play and just hate missing games and I’m no exception.”

Morsy’s trademark is his combative, uncompromising style in the middle of the park, combined with his eagerness to get on the ball and make things happen. It has served him well throughout his career but the down side has been the yellow, and sometimes red, cards that have been brandished in his direction.

When he joined Town from Middlesbrough at the end of the summer transfer window he was forced to miss three league games after collecting a red card in his last game for his previous club, which delayed his debut until the 6-0 home thrashing of lowly Doncaster.

But in his 24 appearances in all competitions for Town this season he has collected 11 yellow cards - seven in the league with 10 leading to a two-game ban until after the 37th match - a record that reflects his desire to win and underlines his competitive nature.

Asked if he was competitive at everything, he replied: “I wouldn’t say everything, but definitely football and things I am passionate about. I’ve always had that passion and drive as far as football is concerned.

“With my mentors, when I was growing up, it was all about that. When I look back to my days at Wolves, it was Tony Lacey, Les Green and Chris Evans, and it was all about the competitiveness.

“When I moved on to Port Vale it was Micky Adams and you didn’t have a choice because if he thought you had pulled out of a tackle you would be sent in from training.

“It was a bit different from the modern era but that’s how it was when I was growing up. You just weren’t allowed to not be competitive. I was fortunate because I had it naturally and my career path was driven by it.

“I don’t think I will ever change to be honest. It was an unfortunate incident in the game against Accrington but these things do happen. I just have to put it to the back of my mind now and continue to play my normal game.”

Morsy, who collected nine yellow and one red card last season with Middlesbrough, was asked if he felt he had become a marked man with referees. He added: “There are occasions when I’ve committed my first foul in a game and the yellow card has come out, which I find disappointing, but I’m not in control of that so I’ll just focus and continue to do what I do.”

Meanwhile, Morsy has confirmed he would like to play his way back into the Egyptian international squad. Capped seven times so far, he was left out by manager Carlos Queiroz for the recent Africa Cup of Nations tournament that saw the Pharaohs, who have won the competition a record seven times, finish as runners-up.

He said: “It was incredible. I knew the final would be a really tough game because Senegal are such a good team. But Egypt did incredibly well to reach the final and when it went to penalties I was thinking ‘This could be it’. Sadly, it wasn’t to be but they did the country proud.

“There wasn’t a huge amount of expectation going into the tournament so to get to the final, albeit not winning it, was a really good achievement. I’m still keen to be involved with Egypt and I know how it works.

“The scouts are always watching and I need to play as well as I can for Ipswich as we look to reach the play-offs. I just have to do the best I can and you never know, but I’m still hopeful.”

Photo: TWTD

budgieplucker added 07:59 - Feb 17 Our equivalent of a Roy Keane, very vital to the team.
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Linkboy13 added 08:58 - Feb 17 Yes play offs are still possible but we have to sort out our lack of goals at the moment. The amount of games we have dominated and lost one nil could easily have occurred again last Saturday. Bonne for me dosent look as fit as he was at the start of the season and Norwood has obviously got a screw loose some where and will be off in the summer.
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MickMillsTash added 09:12 - Feb 17 Good performance by Morsy at Milton Keynes and he exploited their open midfield. We missed him whilst suspended. When breaking from midfield he is not flooded with options ahead of him but we do need a bit more end product from him - is TC's shooting manual still at Playford Rd?
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Europablue added 09:38 - Feb 17 budgieplucker Keane the player, not Keane the man hopefully!
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bobble added 09:51 - Feb 17 a desire to cheat to win is how i see it
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Edmundo added 09:53 - Feb 17 We need Morsy and others to just pull the trigger earlier sometimes. How many goals from outside the box? I can only think of 1 or 2.
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johnwarksshorts added 11:12 - Feb 17 Really Bobble? What a dumb comment.
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Len_Brennan added 11:27 - Feb 17 We will need Morsy to stay fit, and not banned, for the remainder of the season if we are to make the playoffs. Sheffield Wed losing agajnst Rotherham was a good result for us, as they have been looking strong since beating us & will be tough to overhaul. However, Oxford, Plymouth & Wycombe (and even Sunderland) are all slipping up quite a bit now, and can be reigned in IF we can keep up our recent run of points. Plymouth might have gotten a couple of good results in their last two, but they have a tough run in, including us, so even with 2 games in hand & a 5 point advantage, I still see us catching them ... if Morsy stays fit & available for selection.

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chepstowblue added 11:30 - Feb 17 I don't dislike Morsy, but for me his importance is overstated. We did perfectly well without him during his suspension. If he plays.... so be it, if he doesn't.....so be it. I've never liked 'must pick' players who don't have to prove themselves or sit on the sidelines, and in my view Edmundson has the better qualities to be club captain. Having said that he put in a good performance at Mk. D. That was the first genuine evidence of him living up to the reputation I'd heard so much about....but had failed to deliver until now.

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TimmyH added 12:07 - Feb 17 Blackpool did it last season coming from nowhere to claim 3rd place...interesting to note the highest points total to claim 6th place over the last numerous seasons has been 74 points, this is easily achievable.
2

Marinersnose added 12:09 - Feb 17 There is real positivity in the club since the arrival of KMK and rightly so. We look strong defensively and unlikely to concede many goals but the issue for me is scoring goals. I wasn't at MK but Jackson obviously had a decent game but again I saw him miss the target when in a good goal scoring position. Bones needs resting as he looks well off the pace. I'd still be tempted to give Piggot a run as he is a goalscorer who just hasn't played a run of games. Norwood does the job well when he's focused.

4

blues1 added 13:53 - Feb 17 Bobble. What a stupid comment. So ud rather we have players who every time they foul some1, they pick them up, brush them down and say sorry to them? Like we've had in the past? Rather than some1 who's competitive, and wants to win. Maybe one or 2 of his challenges have been a bit too competitive but he's also been treated unfairly by referees at times too.
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blues1 added 14:07 - Feb 17 Chepstowblue. Yes, ur right, we've done well without him which is a good thing but we still missed him. Cant agree with ur point about Edmondson being better equipped to be captain tho. In those games where he was skipper he was well below his best, looking shaky, and making several errors, some costing us goals. Do t think its a coincidence, that with Morsy back as captain at MK, he was far better again.

4

Orraman added 14:21 - Feb 17 So that looks like he can only afford to be booked twice in the next five games to avoid yet another suspension. I admire the competitive side of his game and his urgency to make things happen but can he rein in his natural aggression enough to avoid this? The biggest problem in my opinion is the fact that there are so many sh!t refs in this league who just cannot wait to flash the card and it does appear he is being closely watched

4

ringwoodblue added 15:53 - Feb 17 I think we are a better team with Morsy but like Norwood, he's a marked man so opposing players will be trying to get him booked or sent off so he needs to apply a little more restraint and common sense in his game. As for our playoff chances, they are still slim but not finished as they looked under Cook. I would give Simpson a chance upfront as all the other strikers seem incapable of scoring atm.

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Flamencaman added 16:20 - Feb 17 Can I just add in the good old days can you imagine someone roughing up our forwards knowing they are going to have Hunter,Beatie,Butcher,or some others waiting at a corner all the top teams have hard men in there, I personally will never forget the site of Norman Whiteside standing over Frankie Yallop after he tried to batter Gordon Strachan ,telling him what would happen to both his legs, it's good to see a real combatant strolling around in blue

1

gosblue added 18:50 - Feb 17 Morsey has the spacial awareness of Cole Scuse and the leadership qualities of Luke chambers. He's also a very good footballer who is young enough and fit enough to play at a higher level. We are very lucky to have him and I for one am willing to forgive the odd indiscretion.
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cat added 19:49 - Feb 17 gosblue - the leadership quality's of Luke Chambers 😂😂😂. Where did he lead us then?
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gosblue added 21:58 - Feb 17 Cat. That side of his character was never in doubt in my opinion. You can lead an army into battle but if they haven't got any bullets, they're never going to win.
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mervetheswerve added 22:32 - Feb 17 bobble what a stupid comment blues1 your spot on
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Help added 07:35 - Feb 18 Bobble did you watch Norwood at MKD. He came on and within 5 minutes tried to get himself sent off. Took a swipe at a MKD player off the ball, and then gave them the free kick at the end. Norwood has a red mist that we as a team do not need. Norwood is a bigger problem than Morsy
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Linkboy13 added 11:56 - Feb 18 Morsy is an automatic choice when fit who ever's manager at Ipswich along with Walton, Edmundson, Burns and almost certainly Donasien the most improved player at the club.
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pg888 added 18:55 - Feb 18 Anybody who thinks morsy isn't the first name on the team sheet has not watched us play this year. Yes we did ok without him but we have no midfielders who can drive forward like him he really is a class above the rest of the squad.
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