IPSWICH Town manager Mick McCarthy says he is losing no sleep over the club’s relegation battle.

The Blues are just four points above the Championship drop zone with eight games to go, starting with today’s visit of a Bolton Wanderers side in red-hot form.

Three more wins would take the Suffolk side onto 52 points – a total that only two clubs have been relegated on (Leicester in 2008 and Millwall in 1996) and one that everyone is aiming for.

Five clean sheets from the last eight matches gives hope that Town’s ultra-organised and workmanlike approach will see them over the line, but just two goals scored in seven provides worry that a lack of attacking quality could be costly.

“As (Manchester United manager) Sir Alex (Ferguson) says, it’s ‘squeaky bum time’,” joked McCarthy, at yesterday’s pre-match press conference.

“I don’t lose any sleep over it though.

“It concerns me because I don’t want to be relegated. I came here with the sole intention of keeping Ipswich Town in the league. That’s still my motivation and raison d’etre.

“Worrying about it is not going to do me any good though. We look at how we can play, at how we can stop other teams playing, but if you ask me whether I’m walking around on a daily basis worrying about it, then the answer is no.

“We plan for the games and we do our best.”

He added: “It’s vital to keep a quite even demeanour and not be too up and down about things.

“This stage of the season can do funny things to teams. Cardiff and Leicester have had some strange results in games they’ve been expected to win recently, while the scrap for survival can see those at the bottom start winning. Fighting for your livelihood is bound to make you run a bit harder.

“Ultimately it’s a case of just keeping doing what you’ve done to get results in the past, because changing things is not going to help.

“If you’ve got some level of consistency to your performances then you’ll get some results. And I think we have had that.”

– See today’s EADT for full match preview. Follow @Stuart_Watson and @ChrisBramms on Twitter for live match updates.