Ipswich Town must beat Wigan Athletic to stand any chance of catching them, says Mick McCarthy
Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy. PHOTO: PAGEPIX LTD - Credit: Archant
Ipswich v Wigan: Ipswich Town must beat Wigan Athletic today to stand any chance of catching them.
So says Blues boss Mick McCarthy, who admits that the next four games will make or break his side’s top six hopes.
Currently ninth place in the Championship table, Town are five points adrift of fifth-place Nottingham Forest, four behind Reading (sixth) and Wigan (seventh) and two points off Brighton (eighth).
Following this afternoon’s match against the Latics – a team who have won their last seven matches in all competitions – McCarthy’s men travel to Brighton (eighth), then host Derby (third) and Nottingham Forest (fifth).
“They (Wigan) have got two games in hand on us and they’ve got more points than we have. We need to beat them really to stand any chance of catching them,” said McCarthy.
“I thought fifth place was out of bounds but it isn’t. How crazy is that? We’ve hardly been ripping it up and yet we were 10 points behind Nottingham Forest and now we’re only five. That could continue to the end of the season. Who knows where we’ll finish?”
Would defeat today end his side’s top six hopes?
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“Who knows?,” said McCarthy. “We could lose this one and then go and win three on the bounce.
“With 10 games to go after this one, I’m not going to say anything would be dead and buried.
“Anything is possible in this league; teams can go on winning and losing streaks.
“It’s a watershed four games for us. It could determine where we’ll end up and where some of the other teams will end up. It should be exciting. They are good games in prospect.”
– Follow @Stuart_Watson on Twitter for live match updates.
