Ipswich Town midfield lynchpin Massimo Luongo says the Blues will block out all the exterior noise as they bid to get back to winning ways.

Town have lost two straight games for the first time since October 2022, having been dumped out of the FA Cup by non-leaguers Maidstone United, followed by a 3-2 defeat at Preston on Saturday.

That result has seen them slide down to fourth in the Championship, the first time in months they've been outside the top two.

But despite their poor run of form - just two wins in ten games in all competitions - Luongo says the Blues feel no pressure.

East Anglian Daily Times: Massimo Luongo and the Blues have lost two games on the bounce for the first time since October 2022Massimo Luongo and the Blues have lost two games on the bounce for the first time since October 2022 (Image: Stephen Waller)
“We don’t go into games thinking that we need to win because of where we are, we need to open the gap or so and so is behind us,” he explained. “We go into the game with a game plan.

"The manager and the coaching staff have done an incredible job to get us where we are and get us playing how we are.

“It makes it a lot easier on matchday. The pressure is off us because he takes all the pressure, and we’ve just got to implement what he wants us to do and what we’ve been practicing.

“We do that, but the other teams aren’t going to roll over and let us do it. They obviously make it a big challenge."

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Town bid to get their momentum rolling again this weekend, hosting fifth-place West Brom on Saturday (12.30pm) ahead of a run of nine games against sides currently in the bottom half of the table.

And Luongo said that the Blues, with their fans behind them, won't worry what others are saying about their chances in the promotion race. 

East Anglian Daily Times: Kieran McKenna's men host West Brom on Saturday Kieran McKenna's men host West Brom on Saturday (Image: Pagepix Ltd)
“We’ve just got to keep going," he insisted, talking after the Preston defeat. "The support has been great, like today, wow, amazing. I think they appreciate the comeback.

“Obviously they don’t want to see us 3-0 down at half time, but if you watch that game, you’ll see we had fight and desperately wanted to get back in. We played some good stuff.

“We never worry about what people say, we’ll just get our heads down and worry about next Saturday.”