Andy Warren spoke to Ipswich Town captain Luke Chambers following the defeat to Millwall, with the skipper openly discussing his side’s relegation battle
The loss to Millwall must have been a real blow to you and your team?
LC: We just have to get our heads together and see out the really tough times in games.
Some tough refereeing decisions have obviously cost us but we need to have more about us to stay in games because the fans have been fantastic. We gave them a reason to get off their seats in the first half and if we’d taken a couple of chances then the game could have been out of sight.
That’s the Championship, though, and you have to kill off games. We weren’t good enough in both boxes.
We have to stand up and be counted. We just have to keep going.
But how do you do that after another blow like this?
LC: Just keep believing. The way we’re playing is good and we could have been three or four up in the first half.
That’s not coincidence, that’s repetition and training. We have shown that in most games now.
We’re lacking in a few areas and have been left in a bit of a pickle by the previous man but we can’t blame anything. That’s plain to see and that’s all I’ll say on that.
All we can do is keeping standing up to be counted.
There will be people out there fuming at us as players but all we can do is keep playing and keep giving everything we can for the club. We need to get a result and hope we can get on a run.
How hard is it to stay positive?
LC: I feel that if we weren’t creating chances and that people were coming in and feeling fed up with the way we’re playing (then it would be hard). But I don’t feel that’s the way.
You’re coming off and feeling a different frustration because you know you’ve been in the game, whereas before over the last few years I don’t think we can really say we’ve dominated games or looked like we can go and score three or four against a team.
But we have looked like we can do that.
It will take a while to get over it but I don’t think there is anyone in Ipswich or Suffolk feeling any worse than the players right now.
We need to get over it, come back again and keep playing.
It will turn at some point, we’ll give someone a thumping and we will believe in ourselves even more.
Surely you can forgive even the most optimistic of fans for thinking that this is a situation you can’t get out of?
LC: Yeah, but we’ve seen before that teams like Birmingham last year can do it. They ended up eight points clear so it’s doable.
We’ll keep believing and we’ll keep going.
Are the performances of the young players giving you something you can spark off?
LC: I think they are, definitely.
For me, Flynn Downes has been our best player all season and he’s running over the top of people. His calmness and his quality on the ball is there for all to see.
Jack Lankester has shown everyone with that goal exactly what he can do. He opens the goal up like that and scores a great goal.
They are the moments we need and everyone’s giving everything.
It speaks volumes the way the fans stayed behind and, while there are obviously one or two murmurs in the crowd, everyone is behind us. We’re all in it together and as long as we stick together the longer we can believe we have a chance.
This is hurting you, isn’t it?
LC: Obviously, yeah.
There is nobody going home after this game and feeling the way I feel. It’s a dark place to be in when you’ve got beat and you know how big a game it was.
But you have to keep going and that’s a big part of being a professional footballer. You have to take a lot of baggage home.
I’ve not been in this position during my career really so it’s one I’m trying to learn on my feet.
It’s my job to keep everyone going but there’s not many people that will make me feel much happier over the next 12 hours. You just have to get through that dark period and come back fighting again.
Is it good to have the FA Cup game now?
LC: Maybe because it gives us a bit more time for the manager to work in the transfer market.
That gives us an extra week. It’s plain for all to see that if we can get some new faces in the door then things can change very quickly.
If you win two or three games in a row in this league, the picture changes quickly.
Will this latest defeat hurt the ability to bring those players in?
LC: At the end of the day you can pay a lot of money and be linked with every name under the sun, but it will be about who really wants to come and play football.
There will be a lot of players in the Premier League or the Championship happy to sit there not playing.
I’d like to think if people have actually watched us play then they would fancy playing for us. We’re not the team we were a few years ago who were getting results but people weren’t happy to watch.
It will be about the character, not bonuses or money, and it will be about whether they really want to come and play football because that’s what we need.
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