CONFIDENCE is sky high around Portman Road going into tomorrow’s home match against promotion-chasing Cardiff City.

The Bluebirds might have been far more consistent this season than the equally much-changed Town with a Carling Cup final to look forward to next week.

But three wins on the spin and goals aplenty have left Paul Jewell’s men full of confidence ahead of the clash.

Assistant manager Chris Hutchings is fully aware that has not always been the case.

It was not too long ago that Ipswich were on the cusp of the bottom three, couldn’t buy a win and with increasing pressure on Jewell.

But his number two said: “In any sport, it is about confidence. You can have good players but sometimes they doubt their ability.

“And individually, it only takes three or four to drop their standards and it can affect the whole team. It is a nice place to come to work at the moment but we know there is a long way to go in the season.”

While keeping everyone’s feet on the ground, Hutchings can only see positives ahead of tomorrow’s 3pm showdown.

He explained: “We have got young players in the side and they still have to maintain their form. It is JET’s first year playing in a first team, Luke Hyam has come back into the side, we’ve got Lee Martin playing in a different role in the past and Aaron Cresswell has come in for his first season at this level.

“Michael Chopra has been scoring goals again which is a big plus for us. We always knew he could do that, but the test for him is can he maintain that against one of his former clubs?

“It is all pluses and we have to continue.”