Ipswich Town: Don Goodman says Ipswich Town are under pressure

The Blues currently sit second in the Championship table, a point ahead of Southampton and two in front of Leeds United in fourth. However, some onlookers believe that the relegated Premier League sides will be too strong, and that it’s only a matter of time before they overtake Kieran McKenna’s men in the promotion race.

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Of course, this is Ipswich’s first season back in the second tier, having spent four seasons in League One, and many supporters believe that the pressure is on the other three automatic promotion contenders as a result. Despite that, Goodman is adamant that the players will feel the need to reach the top flight given their strong position.

“It’s easy for the fans to have that opinion but believe me, the pressure is on the players because they are in a situation where they can get to the Premier League,” he said via Casino Alpha.

“The fans’ opinion is perhaps a defensive mechanism and they can take it as a free hit and all that but believe me, their players will be desperate to get to the Premier League.

“Their ambitions now, after 28 games, are to get to the Premier League. Before a ball is kicked, they might have aimed to knock on the door of the play-offs, but ambitions change. 

The Blues are seven points behind leaders Leicester City after Monday's 1-1 draw (Image: Pagepix)

“There are some teams at the bottom of the table whose ambitions are now to avoid relegation, when at the start of the season they may have hoped to earn a spot in the play-offs. The further you get during a season and the closer you are to achieving what you set out to do, the more pressure increases.  

“They are right in one aspect. Whatever happens from this point, it will still have been a brilliant season. So if they want to say that, then fine. But to say there is no pressure is wrong, there is pressure and it seems to me that they actually thrive on pressure due to the amount of points they've won from losing positions.

“I also love Kieran McKenna and think he's got a massive future. Not just because Ipswich are second, but I'm also looking at the players he inherited in League One. They are now some of the best in the Championship and that's down to his coaching, he's improved them individually 20%, 30%, 40% from where he picked them up. That tells me Kieran McKenna is going very far in the game.”

Externally, concerns began to spread following a difficult run of games over the festive period, with Ipswich failing to pick up a league win between December 12th and January 13th.

However, they showed a big improvement in their games against Sunderland and Leicester City, which Goodman has described as ‘absolutely enormous’.

Town have come from behind to take points in their last two games (Image: Stephen Waller)

“To get four points from matches against Sunderland and Leicester City is absolutely massive. They conceded the first goal in both games but managed to dig deep and highlight why they are going to push the top two all the way and might well be in it.”

“What I like is that they got through two super-hard games and their next two Championship games are Preston North End away and West Bromwich Albion at home. They're hard games, but not as hard as Sunderland and Leicester as a combination and they'll be going into them with massive belief.” 

“After that, they're into a run of nine games against teams in the bottom half. Their record against bottom half sides is won nine, drawn five and lost none. They have a great record against those teams and have nine consecutive matches against some of them. If they can get some points against Preston and West Bromwich Albion, I think by the end of those nine games they are going to be in the automatic promotion spots or within striking distance of the top two. 

“So, those four points against Sunderland and Leicester were absolutely enormous.”