Plymouth Argyle 0-2 Ipswich Town: Terry Hunt's verdict

What a weekend! A fifth successive win for Ipswich, we’re back in an automatic promotion place, and suddenly there are only 11 games left. Time to keep calm..

The win at Plymouth was just what’s needed in a promotion battle. A depleted team, tough opponents, awful conditions, dodgy pitch. It looked worrying. But we did the job professionally and made the long journey home with three vital points safely tucked away.

Meanwhile, our moneybags promotion rivals are suddenly looking fragile. Three successive defeats for Leicester. Just a few weeks ago, they were a massive 18 points ahead of us and seemingly disappearing over the horizon. Now, the gap is a mere three.

Leeds were stopped in their tracks by 10-man local rivals Huddersfield. It was just a shame that Southampton grabbed a late winner, also against opponents who had lost a player.

Kieffer Moore has scored five goals in seven appearances for Ipswich Town since joining on loan from Bournemouth. (Image: Ross Halls)

The Plymouth game was a reminder of how much progress we’ve made in the last couple of seasons. In the first half of the last campaign, I would say the Devon team were stronger than us. Remember their comeback win at Home Park?

Then, in the January window, we recruited our “fantastic four” which made us the best team in the Championship and we stormed to promotion.

Now, a year on and after more strengthening, we are miles better than Plymouth, who are struggling to maintain their second-tier status. The gap is 35 points, no less!

Without three key players in Nathan Broadhead, Wes Burns and Massimo Luongo, we needed others to step up at Plymouth, and that’s precisely what happened.

Ipswich Town now face Bristol City, at Portman Road, tomorrow night. (Image: Ross Halls)

Everyone played their part, but I will pick out three star performers, one in each department.

Luke Woolfenden is one of the players who has come on leaps and bounds under Kieran McKenna’s management. He was always talented, but seemed prone to costly lapses in concentration.

Now, as we saw at Plymouth, he is much more the complete package. His clearance off the line was his most eye-catching moment, of course, but overall he looked rock solid.

In midfield, Sam Morsy was immense. What a leader we have. He seems to find yet another gear whenever his partner Luongo is missing.

I can never work our what Middlesbrough were thinking when they allowed those two to come here. They let us have one of the strongest midfield partnerships in the Championship! I guess it’s a case of McKenna and his coaches finding things in players which management teams at other clubs fail to identify. Anyway, we’re very grateful, Middlesbrough...

The third standout performer for me was Kieffer Moore. Five goals in seven games now for the big man. He has had such an impact. He scares the living daylights out of defences and not just in the air - he’s decent on the ground too, as his smart finish at Plymouth demonstrated.

Ipswich Town have now won 10 of their 18 away games in the Championship this season. (Image: PA)

So, the race at the top of the table is very much on. We haven’t gone away, as some pundits suggested had happened when we went through our sticky patch with only one league win in nine games.

In fact, in the recent form table we’re right up there with Leeds. Some are suggesting that this season is looking like a repeat of last year, with us emerging stronger after a mini slump in mid-season. Let’s hope they’re right. Second place would do nicely!

The games keep coming thick and fast, with Bristol City at Portman Road tomorrow evening and then another long trip for the Town faithful, to Cardiff for a lunchtime kick-off next Saturday.

Both look highly winnable, but there have been some weird results at the top of the Championship recently, Millwall winning at Southampton and QPR’s victory at Leicester, for example.

We’ve been able to enjoy those shock results and benefit from them. Let’s make sure it stays that way.

Meanwhile, Leicester have to travel to Sunderland and Hull this week. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? League table at 5pm on Saturday? As I said right at the beginning, time for calm heads...