David McGoldrick has revealed the dressing room inquest which sparked Ipswich Town’s upturn in form this month.

David McGoldrick has revealed the dressing room inquest which sparked Ipswich Town’s upturn in form this month.

It looked as though the Blues could be dragged into a relegation battle following a limp 3-0 home defeat to Derby and chaotic transfer deadline day, but an impressive four-game unbeaten run means they go into tomorrow’s East Anglian derby at Carrow Road full of renewed confidence.

“After the Derby game the boys were really down, I’ve not seen a dressing room like that in a long time,” said striker McGoldrick. “I’ll put it out there, we didn’t look like we would score if the game went on for another 90 minutes.

“We all spoke in the dressing room afterwards and said ‘we need to stand up and be men now’, especially looking at the fixture list for February. If you looked at those next four games you’d have thought ‘Jesus, where are the points coming from?’

“It wasn’t a throw things around the dressing room type of talk, but an honest assessment. We are all friends as well as team-mates at this club. The gaffer wasn’t happy and had his say. We were all speaking to each other individually saying ‘this can’t continue, we’ve got to show some steel and play’.”

McGoldrick’s return to fitness and form has coincided with impressive team displays against Reading (2-2 at home), Aston Villa (1-0 win away), Brighton (1-1 away) and Leeds (2-2 at home).

“We’ve shown a lot of character to come out unbeaten from those games,” he said. “And I think we could have got even more points. I’ve never doubted the ability of the boys here and it’s just nice that we’re now playing with a bit more freedom.

“The gaffer has changed the formation to wing-backs and it’s getting the best out of different people. The new players in midfield have helped and there’s greater competition for places.

“We needed that good start against Reading to get the confidence going again. It was like a lease of new life.”

He added: “When it’s not going well it’s easy to hide and just get through the 90 minutes. You have to get on the ball and make things happen – that’s what I believe. No-one has hidden in the last few games. We’ve played some of the best football, as a team, we’ve played in a long time.”