PAUL Jewell is hoping to achieve in two weeks, what his predecessor failed to achieve in 20 months.

PAUL Jewell is hoping to achieve in two weeks, what his predecessor failed to achieve in 20 months.

Ex-Ipswich Town boss Roy Keane never managed to record a hat-trick of league victories on the bounce, during his largely unsuccessful stint as Town supremo.

But current manager Paul Jewell is gunning for just that – three Championship wins on the spin when struggling Sheffield United visit Portman Road this afternoon.

Following hot on the heels of a 3-2 home win over Doncaster, and a 2-1 victory at Derby County on Tuesday night, Town have a golden opportunity to make it nine points out of nine, especially as the Blades are now squatting in the relegation zone.

“We‘re not getting carried away. We’ve still got a lot of points to get before we can think of ourselves as safe,” insisted a down-to-earth Jewell.

“But at the moment we are going in the right direction. When you are winning matches, you always look forward to the next one.

“Every manager likes to say that it’s the sign of a good team, when you don’t play particularly great and yet still win.

“I think we are in the process of rebuilding confidence, so it’s not going to happen overnight. It’s a long-term job, I keep saying that, but the shoots of progress are there,” added Jewell.

Goals from debutant Jimmy Bullard and skipper David Norris secured a 2-1 win at Pride Park in midweek, to lift Town to a healthy seven points clear of the relegation zone.

And a third successive league win this afternoon would open up even more daylight between themselves and the bottom three, because Sheffield United are currently third-from-bottom and on a miserable run of no wins in eight games.

Jewell could well name an unchanged side this afternoon, although he might revert to a 4-4-2 formation on home turf,