Town midfielder Azor Matusiwa admitted even he was surprised that he avoided a suspension for accumulating too many yellow cards.

After being handed his ninth yellow card of the season against Stoke City in December, Matusiwa had the near-impossible task of going 17 Championship matches without a booking in order to reach the amnesty required to avoid an automatic two-match ban.

Remarkably, the Dutchman successfully walked the tightrope for three months to ensure he would remain available for the Blues’ crucial matches in the promotion race. He has now taken that cardless run to 18 Championship matches, plus one more in the FA Cup.

Matusiwa says he is proud of his clean run and that he can finally take the shackles off without worrying about the imminent threat of suspension in the event of a yellow card.

“I told the guys when I was on nine, I don’t know how but I will get through it,” he said. “Everyone was laughing, and now I’m here.

“I didn’t get a suspension of two games and now people are saying I did a really good job. Especially in this league and the position that I’m playing, it is hard to not get booked. I think I did a really good job.

“Of course, you think about it during the games. When you have a 50-50 duel, sometimes where you would go 100 per cent into the duel, you are going 60 per cent. Still with the mentality of wanting to win the duel, but you have to be more careful.

“I’m happy that I can play with freedom now and I don’t have to think about any cards. It’s a nice feeling.

“I can let go a little bit more, but I won’t do stupid things like smash people. I will maybe take a little bit more risk with my tackles and my duels, but I won’t do stupid things just because I got through it.

“The adaptation a little bit, knowing the league and the referees. I struggled with that at the start of the season, but I probably know now what it takes, what you can do and when you cross the line.

“I had a couple of close calls, so maybe in those moments I’ve been safe, but I’ve also had some bookings that were really light. I think it’s maybe a bit of compensation between the two. I’ve adjusted a lot but kept playing my game.”

Following the international break, Town prepare to go into the run-in and the Easter Monday game at home to Birmingham City in a healthy position as they seek an immediate return to the Premier League.

Following the Good Friday results, the Blues, whose game against FA Cup giantkillers Southampton was postponed, are sitting in fourth, but only three points off Millwall in second with two games in hand on the Lions.

Kieran McKenna’s side now face a daunting run of eight matches in just 27 days, including a run of three successive midweek away trips to Portsmouth, Charlton Athletic and Southampton.

Asked if the international break came at a good time, Matusiwa said: “I think so. If you want to get promoted, you have to win most of the games and it doesn’t matter when they come.

“It’s always nice to have a little break to reset the body, recover, and go again.

“Sometimes it’s nice to have a little bit more rest. Your body is working really hard in this league where you have no easy games. It’s nice that we had some more days’ rest. After the international break, we start again and we’re really excited.

“I like to play a lot of games, but it’s not something I had in Holland or France. Maybe one or two times in the season, but not as crazy as this. You have fewer teams in those leagues, so a lot of teams mean that you have more games. I really like it because every player would rather play than train.”

In his own area of midfield, Matusiwa has faced competition from Sunderland loanee Dan Neil after his arrival in the January transfer window.

“I didn’t know Dan before he came to Ipswich,” Matusiwa said. “We talk a lot, especially at the start as I didn’t know him and he didn’t know me.

“We had to know what we want from each other. We’ve talked about it, and the connection is getting better and better. It takes a little bit of time, but it feels nice to play with him and have him next to me.”

On fellow winter recruit Anis Mehmeti, he added: “I knew him a little bit more as a player, not as a person, from the Bristol City games. I wasn’t surprised by what he is doing now, because he is a really good player and he knows the league. I’m not surprised that he is doing well.”

Photo: TWTD