Ipswich Town’s unity and togetherness will stand them in good stead going into next season, according to Blues striker George Hirst.

With Town now all but relegated to the Championship following Sunday’s 4-0 home defeat to Arsenal, the Blues will head back to the second tier alongside fellow newly-promoted sides Leicester City and Southampton.

Out of the trio, Kieran McKenna’s side will go down with the highest morale and Hirst believes that positive energy will allow Town to continue to prosper in the future.

“It always has been ever since I’ve been at the club,” he said when asked about the strength of the group. “That’s been something that’s never swayed, not once. That’s something that will continue to be there long past me being here.

“It’s what the club’s built with the boss, Mark Ashton and co upstairs. That’s something that’s in the roots of the football club now, we pride ourselves on, we’re the ones with the badge that get to go out there and fulfil that and it will be something that continues for years to come.

“No-one is worried or stressed, ultimately we’re not going to achieve the goal that we set out, but there’ll be a lot of lessons learnt and we’ll be in a better position for it next season.”

Town will likely see their fate confirmed on Saturday when they travel to face Newcastle United, with the Blues needing to beat the Magpies at St James’ Park and hope West Ham United lose at Brighton and Hove Albion to mathematically keep them alive.

Regardless of how the season will end, Hirst hopes the Blues can show what they are capable of in the north-east but dismissed suggestions that Town may now be able to play with more freedom.

He said: “It’s one to go and enjoy. There’s not many better away grounds to go and play at, so I’m told. It’s definitely one we’ll enjoy and prepare right. If we can be the team that goes and ruins other people’s seasons then so be it.

“I don’t think it’s freedom because if you start thinking you can play with freedom you can go and get beat 8-0. That’s just the level of opposition you’re playing against, you have to be right on it.

“It’s going to be a game plan, if that’s sitting behind the ball for 90 minutes against Newcastle then that’s the way we’re going to try and win the game.

“I don’t want to use the word freedom, we’re going to go and enjoy it and make the most of every opportunity we’ve got from now until the end of the season and try and nick as many points as we possibly can.

“It’s just about going out there, training every day, getting to the game and putting in the best version of ourselves.”

The run-in may give Town the opportunity to start building for life in the Championship next season while also ensuring the task at hand is attended to with 15 Premier League points still up for grabs.

“You could say that,” Hirst considered. “It’s of those things where you’re focusing on the here and now and taking each game as it comes. There’ll be bits we can learn that, come next season, we’ll probably look back on and take those experiences with us going forward.

“Every game from now until the end of the season is another learning opportunity, hopefully we can go and get some more points.”

While still featuring off the bench, the Blues’ 12-goal top scorer Liam Delap has not started either of the last two matches due to the in-demand frontman carrying a rib injury.

That has opened the door for Hirst to start back-to-back league matches for the first time this season having been picked to lead the line against Chelsea and in the clash with the Gunners.

The Scotland international has earned plenty of plaudits in doing so, playing his part in both Town goals at Stamford Bridge and making the most of a difficult task in Sunday’s defeat to Arsenal.

“I just work as hard as I can every day,” Hirst said. “When the opportunity comes, it’s up to me to be ready. I feel like I’ve not done myself a disservice over the last couple of games, it’s two really good teams we’ve played against and I’d like to think I’ve put myself about in a pretty decent manner.

“Hopefully it’s something I can continue, but it’s up to me working in training and seeing where we go.”

Photo: Matchday Images

Stato added 18:19 - Apr 22 Lee James don't let the keyboard warriors get to you. Other than Delap and O'Shea who else has performed consistently well this season ? Player recruitment didn't go well last season. McKenna didn't perform well either. I always thought buying the young players we did shouted double bounce strategy which could prove really very clever if we go straight back up but if we don't then McKenna will go and so will most of the young talent. Keep posting your ideas Lee as they are as valid ss anyone elses. Its a discussion board not the echo chamber may on here want it to be

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Leejames99 added 18:39 - Apr 22 @wheels it's a 5-3-2 look it up!
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Leejames99 added 18:41 - Apr 22 Martin587 That's a name gone now, no downmarket don't bother me, it's all the same people, it's more like a fanclub than a forum, your an example nothing to say of substance so just join in with abuse
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Leejames99 added 18:44 - Apr 22 @stato Thanks appreciated.
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martin587 added 18:58 - Apr 22 Mr James thanks for your comment.You just have to see my feedback to understand my comments make sense.As you say this is a forum to agree or disagree so that is what I have done Not at any point have I abused you in anyway or form so please get your facts correct.I think 11800 likes compared to 1600 odd down marks says it all.But keep your comments coming don’t let my post deter you in any way.

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Leejames99 added 19:34 - Apr 22 Jeez Martin that's pretty sad getting stats on up marks or downmarks, but great you jumped on the bandwagon because I questioned something, don't know what you all do when Mckenna goes
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Wheels added 21:54 - Apr 22 @leejames99 That's not a 532. A 532 would have 3 central midfielders with the width provided by the full/wing backs. You could have mezzala style players in the middle who provide some width but you specifically mentioned wingers
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bobble added 08:43 - Apr 23 Where can i get a leejames99 T shirt ?
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Orraman added 09:48 - Apr 23 Sorry, Virgin blue. Hit down arrow by mistake. Having already cancelled him I do agree that the News pages are much more enjoyable
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Bazza8564 added 11:14 - Apr 23 A couple of things to reflect on some of the comments on here. Firstly I think Delap will and should move on. He wants to be playing for England and hes clearly close, he won't advance that in the Championship. I also think we will have much more of the ball next season and attack as a unit. Liam plays best as a lone bulldog striker giving central defenders a tough time and foraging alone. Hes damned good at it too. Should suit Chelsea or United, but not so much an attacking unit where Hirsts ability to feed off others is more prevalent. And also we will get a decent profit. I would also mention Stato's comment. I absolutely agree this did shout double bounce strategy but I believe in that as we will have no need to sell Omari, Jaden, Dara, Sammi, Jacob, Ogbone, Jack et al. Those will all improve. Godfrey as a loanee hasnt worked out and Muric seemed written off in 15 minutes and his confidence never recovered but I think that strategy leaves us with one hell of a squad for next season. We won't need 6-8 players more like 3-4 Delap and possibly Davis according to some will be sold, Burgess and Luongo are OOC and Kalvin will probably return to Leeds if the gossip mill is correct. But that same set of rumours has Downes being pursued, and IF we get Jens, replace Liam and bring Cam H back it aint gonna need a lot more... Theres no doubt we've been out of our depth (inevitable) this season and underperformed (certainly) at home and although injuries have been savage, we should have accrued more points @PR. Few clubs do it in one hop, no-one has ever done a double jump and stayed up so let's have a bit of a decent couple of games at PR and finish on a high

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blues1 added 12:03 - Apr 23 Leejames99. There you go again with ir vendetta against Davis. It wqsnt a horrendous tackle at all. Wasnt a good one but wasn't deliberate. Even Arteta said so. Just stop with ur rubbish. Let's face it, the fact you suggest Palmerzwull be leaving in the summer is beyond laughable. He will clearly be number1 next season. And thats why Muric will go, bcse he wont wanna be number 2 here.

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BangaloreBlues added 07:36 - Apr 24 This site has turned into the LeeJames forum. I am done with it. I'm sick of this negative crap on a daily basis. @LeeJames you have hijacked this site for your own ego and narcissism and you think it's all about you. @PhilHam could you remove this person so we can enjoy the site again because it's become a toxic wasteland. I'll be back next season to see if anything has changed, otherwise I am on strike! I don't need or want to wake up in the morning and read this negativity every day, it's depressing enough being relegated.

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