IPSWICH Town goalscoring hero Pablo Counago today confirmed: “We're in the mood.”

Elvin King

IPSWICH Town goalscoring hero Pablo Counago today confirmed: “We're in the mood.”

The 29-year-old striker scored a fine solo goal as the Blues moved to within two points of the play-offs with a 3-1 Coca-Cola Championship victory at outplayed Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.

And he says that the players feel confident they can finish the season in the top six.

Counago, who has been named in the Championship team of the week for his display against Rangers, said: “The belief is there in our squad that we can make the play-offs.

“You can see that we have a very good team spirit and we are now in a better position for the top six with 12 big games to go. It was important for us to take six points from our last two games, and we have done that.

“It's good for the confidence of the team and for the future. It's good for the club.

“We've always believed that we can be in the running for the play-offs but results against Swansea and Blackpool this month were disappointing.

“Going down 1-0 in the first minutes and then coming back to win away from home shows a lot about the character of our team.

“It was a very good and very important performance on Saturday.”

And reflecting on his ninth goal of the season, Counago added: “I thought about passing to Jon Stead, but when I beat one player the space opened up for me.

“I was happy with the finish with my left foot. It was a vital goal because it put us in the lead and gave us a good chance of getting the win that we needed.

“We deserved the win as well. We were the better team on the day against a team that had not lost for ten games.”

David Wright had treatment yesterday on the foot he injured at Loftus Road but will be okay for Saturday's trip to Preston.

Gareth McAuley came through the win at Rangers with no reaction to the injury he suffered at home to Nottingham Forest last Wednesday.

Town's players were given the day off yesterday, but were back at the training ground today.