TALK of a late promotion push was always way wide of the mark.

So admits Ipswich Town manager Paul Jewell after his resurgent side were brought crashing back down to earth with a 3-0 defeat at Brighton on Saturday.

“I don’t think too many people were seriously talking about play-offs,” said the Blues boss, who has always remained a level of perspective throughout the highs and lows of a roller-coaster campaign.

“We were in a relegation fight not so long ago, so to be talking about a promotion fight less than a month later was madness. “It’s a tough league and there are no easy games. Anybody can beat anybody in this league – everyone knows that.

“We know where we are and we know where we need to strengthen to move forwards next season.”

No panic buttons certainly need to be pressed, with Saturday’s game a lot closer than the scoreline suggested.

However, the fact remains that Town have shipped three or more goals in a game on 12 occasions this season – their 60 league goals conceded making them the Football League’s third leakiest defence.

“It’s a cause of concern for us that we don’t seem to be able to draw games,” admitted Jewell.

“I was speaking to Lennie Lawrence (Crystal Palace assistant manager) the other week and he was saying they very rarely lose heavily, but he looks at our results and notices we either win well or lose badly.

“The game today looks like a bad result – although it’s not as far as the football is concerned – but the goals column against shows you we’ve got to be better.”