CREDIT where credit is due.

Ipswich Town manager Paul Jewell admitted recently that he didn’t have a ‘Plan B’ when things went so very wrong earlier in the season, with supporters criticising him for sticking stubbornly to systems and failing to make substitutions until it was too late.

The Blues boss has pulled off some tactical masterstrokes in the past few weeks though, as his rejuvenated squad have provided renewed optimism for the future.

Changing to a diamond formation midway through the second half played a big part in Town neutralising the threat of attack-minded Peterborough and edging an open game 3-2, at home, on Saturday.

Substitutions and system switches have played a big part in an impressive return of 20 points from a possible 27, with 14 goals having now been scored in four successive victories at Portman Road.

“We changed to a diamond because I didn’t think JET (Jay Emmanuel-Thomas) was quite on his game and I thought we needed to match them up a bit,” said Jewell, whose experimentation with a 4-4-2 formation at Southampton and Hull also helped secure comeback draws.

Earlier in the campaign Town developed an unwanted reputation of being a team that was prone to crumbling at the slightest hint of a setback, with 21 points dropped from winning positions.

And while four goals conceded in two games shows that improvements still need to be made defensively, there is no questioning that the spirit, steel and resolve of this side has come on leaps and bounds, with results secured even when performance levels haven’t been vintage.

See today’s Green’Un supplement for match analysis and reaction