Town defender Darnell Furlong is confident that the Blues’ quality will ‘eventually shine through’ as the Championship season heads towards the halfway point.

After 21 matches, Town sit fifth in the table but an eight-point gap to Middlesbrough has opened up which leaves them closer to 16th than the division’s automatic promotion places.

Since the summer transfer window closed, only leaders Coventry City have claimed more points than the Blues’ tally of 31, while the same is true for goals scored and conceded.

Kieran McKenna’s side are yet to win three games on the spin this season, but Furlong disagreed with the suggestion that Town are struggling to find consistency in results.

“I wouldn’t say a problem, it’s just how it’s gone,” he argued. “Sometimes it can be up and down in a season.

“I’ve been promoted before and that season certainly wasn’t plain sailing the whole way, I don’t think anyone is. It’s just a case of working on the things you want to work on, games like Leicester you learn a lot from and we also learnt a lot about what we did well in the two games before. It’s a case of moving onto the next one.

“There’s a level of consistency there to be at the top of the table since the squad has been put together. We’ve been building and climbing the table, so no worries or doubts, it’s just a case of it will come on a more consistent basis if that’s what people are questioning.”

There is perhaps the notion that Town are yet to fully ignite this season, which has given some supporters cause for concern as to whether the Blues will reach their ultimate potential.

Instead, Furlong sees that as a positive and believes there is plenty more to come when they find top gear, which he insists is only a matter of time.

“That’s the really exciting thing for me and the squad,” he said. “It’s been up and down and maybe it hasn’t gone to plan at every moment in the season, but we’re still fifth and we’re still able to produce a lot more on the pitch which is really exciting.

“It will come as the season builds, you get stronger together and understand each other a bit more being a new group. The quality that we have is eventually going to shine through and it will all click into place.

“It will always be nice to go on a run, that’s what you’re always trying to achieve. After the two games that we won, we were firmly believing and hoping that we were going to get the third in a row against Leicester.

“It wasn’t to be so it’s just about starting it again, we’ll take it one game at a time.”

Defensively, Town are looking strong. Only Stoke City have conceded fewer league goals than Kieran McKenna’s side to date so far this campaign, while the underlying xGA [expected goals against] ranks the Blues at the top of the table.

That is particularly evident at home, where they have kept three successive clean sheets on Suffolk soil and will be looking to make it four against a struggling Sheffield Wednesday side on Saturday.

Furlong said: “It’s massively important to not concede many goals. You give the attacking part of our game less to do if we’re managing to keep clean sheets.

“Just because you’ve kept clean sheets in the past, it doesn’t mean they’re always going to come but you certainly work towards it.

“I’ve worked with a lot of the defenders and goalkeepers here, it’s something we take pleasure in we’ve had before which is always nice. It’s about the last game that didn’t happen and trying to continue the home run.”

As somebody who is no stranger to the Championship, Furlong says the competition across the division is getting stronger each year, with the challenge of achieving promotion to the Premier League one that is not lost on the 30-year-old.

“The level is definitely as good as it’s ever been in the Championship,” he said. “I think I'm playing in a team that’s also as good as I’ve ever played in, if not maybe the best.

“Really looking forward to the games ahead, we’ve got a busy schedule coming up again with a lot of games, then it’s into the New Year and seeing where it leaves us.

“I think it’s always been hard, but it’s certainly very hard at the moment. I believe if you do the right things over the course of the season, you’ll end up where you deserve to be if we do everything right.

“We play well, not all the time as things are up and down, but we’ve got a great squad that’s been playing well and a lot more to come as well.”

There is added pressure on the Blues this season with the club having been relegated from the Premier League and among the favourites for an instant return to the top flight.

Furlong said: “An expectation from the outside from fans, from other teams that we play against for us to be a good team fighting at the top.

“It’s all pressure that we welcome and something we enjoy. You want to be playing at a strong team that’s trying to get promoted and Ipswich is that, has been that, and will be going forwards.”

Photo: TWTD