Cameron Burgess has stressed that he and his Town colleagues still see themselves as automatic promotion contenders despite the fact that they remain eight points adrift of both leaders Sheffield Wednesday and second-placed Plymouth Argyle in the League One table.

While both the Pilgrims and the Blues have 14 fixtures left to play, the Owls have a game in hand on them both, but with so many points still up for grabs, the big defender reacted positively when asked if he felt there was still plenty of life left in the title race.

Burgess, 27, said: “Yes, 100 per cent. Nothing is ever decided at this time of the year and there are still a lot of games to be played. I guess it’s on us to just focus on ourselves and see what happens really. We’re by no means out of it, that’s for sure.”

When it was suggested that Town’s next three league games — at MK Dons tomorrow and against Burton Albion and Accrington Stanley at home in quick succession — offer an excellent opportunity to at least close the gap on both their rivals, Burgess agreed: “Yes, of course.

“We’ll take it one game at a time and try to take the points from every one of them. It’s still about us and always has been, and that’s how we will continue over the remainder of the season.”

Burgess admitted that chasing a major prize in the shape of automatic promotion is much preferable to, say, fighting to avoid the drop. “It definitely gives you an extra boost, that’s for sure,” he said. “But with the group of lads we have here I don’t think that would change too much.

“The competitiveness in training can give you a boost and that, alongside the high quality of the players and their attitude, wouldn’t change regardless of where we were in the league.

“But obviously, human nature plays its part and it’s an exciting stage of the season to be chasing promotion and everyone wants to be a part of it.

“You don’t really want to go through your career without being able to experience this. The more occasions you have like this, the better. Bring it on!”

But regardless of Town’s forthcoming fixtures, their approach will remain exactly the same, with Burgess adding: “It’s the old cliché and maybe not what you want to hear all the time, but it’s the truth — you have to take it one game at a time.

“You can only focus on the next game that’s in front of you and make sure you put in a good performance. There’s absolutely no point in thinking any further ahead than that. What would be the point in looking two or three weeks ahead when you’ve got a game coming up tomorrow?”

Burgess has been in manager Kieran McKenna’s starting line-up for Town’s last three league games but prior to that he was absent from the match-day 18 for the 1-1 away draw at Cambridge United, a situation that has affected some of his colleagues at different stages of the current campaign.

It would seem the case that defenders, if they are not named in the side, also tend to be excluded from a place on the bench, as McKenna prefers his substitutes to be more attack-minded.

“When you think about it and sit down and talk about it, it’s actually the smart thing to do,” said Burgess. “It’s part and parcel of the game. It’s just the way it is at the moment, at this stage of the season, and we all understand it.

“The boys at the back have all been told about it and we understand it. Just because you might not actually be playing, it doesn’t mean you are not playing your part because everyone plays their part in training and in the build-up to the games.

“It’s part and parcel of the game and where we’re at as a club, and it’s making positive steps forward really.”

Town will be seeking their eighth away league win of the season — and first since they triumphed at Exeter in November — at Milton Keynes tomorrow, with 6,748 tickets having been sold via the Portman Road ticket office, a figure that could well outnumber those home supporters in attendance.

Burgess recalled last year’s corresponding fixture, where the majority of fans were from Ipswich, and said: “I remember it very well. It basically felt like a home game for us and that’s something that still gets brought up, even now.

“All the boys who were here then, they all remember it very well and we’re all expecting more of the same from the crowd. It was a special occasion then, with a big atmosphere, and hopefully we can see more of the same on Saturday.”

Asked if the players often discuss the away following, as well as the fact that the club’s average home crowd this season is an impressive 25,864, Burgess added: “We are really grateful that they turn up in their numbers all the time. It’s pretty much unheard of for that number of fans to be attending games at this level.

“It definitely doesn’t go unrecognised by the players. We feel it and we appreciate it, and we want to reward the fans with performances and points to make them proud.”

Photo: TWTD

Bazza8564 added 14:50 - Feb 24 VERY much still up for grabs, we need to win the next three and anything can happen
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ArnieM added 16:06 - Feb 24 We might “not be out of it by any means”, but we sure have hell made it a lot harder for ourselves by our mid-table form since October. Failure time and again to either kill teams off or see games out. Here's hoping we are on the verge of a run of wins now because we sure as hell need em!
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