Despite sitting in joint-second place at present in the Touchline Suffolk & Ipswich Senior Division, Ipswich Valley Rangers’ joint boss Paul Tietjen certainly thinks his side have more to give.

Following a run which has seen them win four, draw two, and lose just once in the opening seven games, IVR currently sit in that hungry pack of five teams all loitering behind league-leaders Wenhaston United.

Before last weekend’s 2-1 loss to Grundisburgh, IVR in fact led the charge in pole position, but following defeat, they now sit level with Felixstowe Harpers, Bramford United, Achilles, and East Bergholt in second spot on 14 points.

Technically speaking, IVR sit in fifth position on goal difference, but Tietjen doesn’t necessarily think his side deserve to be there.

“We’re probably in a little bit of a false position,” declared the IVR chief, who joint-manages with Paul Hadley and Lee Wilcox.

“I don’t think we’ve played that well so far and the defeat at Grundisburgh, who wanted it more, will hopefully give us the kick up the backside we needed.

“That said, the results have generally been positive and we’ll look to carry that on in the next three home games (against Leiston St Margarets tomorrow, then Westerfield followed by a Suffolk FA Senior Cup game against Corton).

“Once we get a settled side with a settled formation, we’ll play to our potential, and we are starting to do that.”

After a series of on and off the field redevelopments in the summer, Tietjen was quick to praise the impact of the new reserve team management, headed by Gavin Squirrell.

“Gavin and his team have come in and done a sterling job, he’s hit the blueprint in terms of the relationship between the reserves and first-team.

“We all train together now and we’re united as a club.

“We have big plans going forward, we’re ambitious and maybe next year, or the year after, we’ll look at reaching the next stage (promotion).”

IVR currently play their home games at Gainsborough Sports Centre, but Tietjen is confident that they’d be allowed to add the relevant necessities in floodlights and stands to progress.

However, for now, that is right at the back of IVR’s mind as they focus on battling it right out at the top of the division this campaign.

Before last season’s third-place finish, Rangers won back-to-back Senior titles.

“We let ourselves down last year and were short in more areas than we’d care to admit, but we want to be up there of course we do,” added Tietjen.