Town captain Dara O’Shea knows the Blues are in a strong position heading into the final two matches of the Championship campaign.

Saturday’s goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion edged Kieran McKenna’s side back into second and above Millwall on goal difference ahead of the last week of the regular season.

There is margin for error, with three more points enough to secure the Blues a passage back into the Premier League at the first time of asking.

Tuesday’s trip to fellow challengers Southampton is followed by a home clash with Queens Park Rangers, where victory in either fixture would earn Town a third promotion in just four years.

“I don’t want to almost say it myself because it is so close, but it’s important we just go into Tuesday and put all our energy into that and see where we go from there,” O’Shea said.

“If we were given this at the start of the season, you’d definitely have taken it. To have it in your hands come the end of the season is the most important thing. We’re in a good position and we’ve got to look forward to Tuesday now.

“There’s massive confidence in the group and there always has been. It’s important we go into Tuesday with that confidence, belief and togetherness that we’ve had throughout the whole season.

“There’s been some moments where we’ve shown great character and Tuesday is going to be another test of that. It’s important we go in full of confidence, with the right body language and attack the game in the way we want to.”

Town were aided by other scores in the Championship ahead of their trip to West Brom, with promotion rivals Millwall held to a 1-1 draw by already relegated Leicester City on Friday evening.

O’Shea insisted he is not wasting energy on following results elsewhere.

The 27-year-old said: “Look, I'm not watching any football, I'm focused on us. I’m sure the lads were watching but for me, not personally.

“The result maybe took a small bit of pressure off us, but there’s pressure regardless. We put pressure on ourselves and that’s the thing.

“We’re in a good position. We’ve got to go into Tuesday full of confidence and look forward to another tough game against a different side. It will be a different test.”

Last summer, O’Shea took over the captaincy at Portman Road from departed skipper Sam Morsy and is looking to earn his second promotion to the Premier League in his career.

With the Blues widely tipped for an instant return to the top flight in pre-season, there is plenty of expectation that comes with their latest charge at the top of the Championship, and the Town captain says the squad is handling it well.

“We’ve got great experience in this group and we’ve got lads stepping in at times helping out in the right way,” he said. “Lots of the lads have been in this position before and that is valuable in itself.

“It doesn’t matter who has the armband on, it’s important we all lead in our own way. Whether that’s putting tackles in, winning your duels or being really vocal, there’s different ways to lead. As a group, we’ve got a great variety of that and we’re going to need that in the next two games.

“It’s important for us as a group to stay focused on the next thing and that’s the next game. We can’t look too far ahead and we can’t look around us.

“At the end of the day, the only people who are going to do it are ourselves. What we have in our training ground and what we do every day, we’ve been working so hard since the first day of pre-season.

“This was the aim and this was where we wanted to be, and we’re in that position now. It’s just trying to stay focused and not get too ahead of ourselves.

“There’s pressure everywhere, we put pressure on ourselves and that’s the best thing to use. Everyone’s going to have something to say about it, come the end of the season we know where we want to be and we’re giving everything to try and get there.

“You’ve got to make the most of it. You’ve got to grab it with two hands and not back down from it. Pressure is a privilege and it’s the position we wanted to be in.

“We find ourselves in that, so we can’t ask for much more as a group. We’ve just got to go and attack it, look forward and really enjoy the moment.”


Asked what it would mean to lead the Blues to promotion, O’Shea added: “That would be unbelievable, that’s the task we all set ourselves at the start of the season.

“I don’t want anything more than that right now, that’s where all my energy and focus is going into and so is the lads. If we could get that done, it would be very nice.”

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