Match-winner Wes Burns believes Ipswich Town showed their mental strength as they secured a victory over Portsmouth, which ‘felt like it was worth six points’.

The Blues had to do things the hard way as they ran out 3-2 winners, leading twice but finding themselves pegged back as Colby Bishop netted two penalties to bring the visitors level.

But Burns was able to come up with a dramatic winner, as he headed home on the line after a Kyle Edwards cross had looped up in the air, sending a 28,000-strong crowd wild.

Victory over previously-unbeaten Portsmouth takes Town clear in second place, a point behind leaders Plymouth, with Burns admitting the success felt like it was worth more than just three points.

“What a game to score a winner in,” the Welshman said.

“I thought it was hitting the bar as it came down but it just seemed to hit me on the face and go in.

“Sometimes you just need that little bit of luck and we’ve got that today, so I’m glad I could contribute today to help us get the win.

“When you play a team that you know are going to be there or there abouts come the end of the season, three points feels like six because you’re stopping them getting three and pulling away by three.

“It was an all-round great performance from the lads today. We had to dig in twice, because both penalties weren’t ideal, but it goes to show the character we’ve got in the group. We had two set-backs and gone on to win the game.

“We had a clear gameplan and we knew, with them playing with a back four, we could hurt them down the flanks. We did that in the first half in abundance, creating loads of chances down the left and right.

“In the second half they tried to make it more and more of a scrappy game, slowing it down at goal kicks and throw ins. It felt like they were happy with a point today.

“After the results at Hillsborough (2-2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday) and at Plymouth (2-1 loss) we said ‘that’s not happening today’ and made sure we got three.”

Portsmouth looked happy to leave Suffolk with a point during long spells of the second half, with Burns happy his side were able to break down the men from Fratton Park, having failed to do so previously against sides happy to shut up shop at Portman Road.

“It’s a shift in mentality,” he said.

“There’s sometimes a thing around us like ‘we don’t score enough goals’ or ‘we never put the game to bed’ and today you could kind of feel like ‘here it goes again, we can’t beat Portsmouth or hold onto a lead’.

“But I think we put in a real determined effort to show that’s not the narrative here and that we’re a really good team who can score goals. We’ve scored in every (league) game.

“It’s not always easy to break things down when they put 11 men behind the ball, but we kept going right to the end and we got our reward for it.

On the role of the home crowd in the success, Burns said: “That pushes us on a bit more I think.

“There’s such an exciting energy around the place at the moment and everyone can feel we’re heading in the right direction, without getting too carried away. We work hard daily and I think we’re the hardest-working team in the like – I can openly say that.

“We train hard every day and are very competitive, with competition for places in every spot. Our day-to-day habits give us a chance to go out and feel like the dominant team on the pitch.

“For us out there on the pitch we would probably have preferred a 1-0 win, but 30,000 came here today and got what they wanted with goals and crazy decisions and things like that.

“I’m just glad we came out on the right end of it.”