Grant Ward doesn’t think that Ipswich Town will get dragged into a relegation battle.

The Blues are firmly in the bottom half of table and just a handful of points above the drop zone following Tuesday night’s 2-1 loss at Birmingham City.

Mick McCarthy’s men have claimed just 14 points from their last 14 games ahead of Saturday’s trip to second-bottom Wigan.

Asked if he was worried about Town getting sucked into a dogfight, Ward said: “Never, I’m always looking up the table and not down.

“We just need a few good results and we’ll be back where we should be. We are all determined to be moving up the table in the next few weeks.

“It’s been a bit tough for us recently but we’re trying to rectify that. It doesn’t necessarily take much. It could be something little, like someone doing something brilliant in a match, to turn things for us.

“It’s such a tight league that a couple of wins will soon have us moving up.”

A summer signing from Tottenham, Ward was involved in a successful Championship relegation fight when on loan at Rotherham last season.

“We got a couple of wins and we were flying,” recalled the 21-year-old.

“It was all about belief. We got a few wins and built on them, which is what we need to do now.

“We need to string a few results together and if we can get a few back-to-back wins it will be a completely different season for us because the league is so tight at the moment.”

He added: “We owe it to the fans to go out and put in a good performance. I think we did it against QPR – that was a good performance from the team – and also in a few other games but we haven’t been able to do it often enough.

“As a player you can always sense it when the fans are down in the dumps and if I’m being honest I’ve felt it at Portman Road recently.

“There are a few jeers at times, maybe if we go backwards or if we lose the ball, something like that, and at the end if we haven’t won the game.

“But there’s been nothing outside of the ground – all the fans I’ve met have been fine – and the mood at the training ground is always positive.

“We know we can put things right.”