For the third successive season Ipswich Town are at the bottom of the Championship table when it comes to statistics concerning pass completion – and manager Mick McCarthy doesn’t care a jot!

In 2013/14, only Yeovil had a worse success rate when it came to attempted passes in the second-tier. Last season Ipswich finished rock-bottom of the division when it came to that stat (64.7%), while it’s a similar story at the halfway stage of this campaign (62.9%).

League Two side Portsmouth enjoyed 74% of possession during the first half of Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Portman Road in the FA Cup, while tonight the Blues host a Leeds United side who also base their game around possession.

When the aforementioned figures were put to McCarthy, he replied: “Where are we in the league? (sixth).

“I can bring you – and I’m not going to, but I could – a list of games that we’ve won where we’ve had less possession. If we had 400 passes I guarantee you we’d get beat.

“I don’t give a flying about possession, I really don’t, because we play against teams who have had 400 plus passes, we’ve had 220, and do you know who’s had 150 of those passes for their team? Their two centre-backs and central midfield player between each other. They’re going nowhere!

“If their two centre-backs have had 75 touches each, am I bothered? No. Because our centre-forward has had about 50 and he’s scored two goals.

“Don’t bring me stats. What’s the phrase? “There are lies, damn lies and statistics? That’s just what they are.”

McCarthy, whose view is backed up the fact that Leicester have the worst pass completion rate in the Premier League, continued: “Get all the people in here who want to analyse stats, I’m not bothered. Portsmouth murdered us with the ball on Saturday. Did we lose? No.

“You can write all you like about stats, I don’t give a monkey’s. The stats I like are the ones that show we are in sixth position, we’ve just won five on the bounce away from home and we’ve been unbeaten for a while.

“There is always somebody that tries to find a negative though, which I find difficult to tolerate, I have to be honest.

“The only stat that matters is how many points you get at the end of the season. There are all sorts of ways of playing.”

– See today’s EADT and Ipswich Star for match preview. Follow @Stuart_Watson on Twitter for live match updates.