DEPARTING Danny Collins has told his former Ipswich Town team-mates to not give up on their Premier League dream – despite their lowly league position.

Collins has seen unbelievable highs and grim lows during his three months with the Blues.

But after signing off in style following Saturday’s 1-0 win over Derby County, the Welsh international insisted: “I definitely think the play-offs is still possible.

“The games come thick and fast in December and January and if you put a run of wins together, I don’t see why we can’t be around the top six.

“I’ve had opposition players come up to me in matches and say ‘What’s going on here?’.

“They look round the talent of our squad and think we should be up near the top of the table. And I still think they should be at least pushing around the play-offs at the end of the season.”

Town are currently 19th in the Championship, just three places off the bottom three, and manager Paul Jewell last week admitted they could face either a promotion or relegation battle in the months to come.

But Collins believes the confidence gained in the thrilling comeback at Barnsley, followed up by the weekend’s gritty 1-0 victory over Derby, will stand the players in good stead going into the busy festive period.

He explained: “Confidence is crucial. If you have four or five boys in the team where the confidence isn’t there, it is easy to see heads go down when you concede goals. I think that has happened in a couple of the games.

“Against Barnsley, it seemed to get to the point where the lads thought ‘enough’s enough’ and we rolled our sleeves up and did it for the fans, the manager and ourselves.

“We turned it round and showed what we could do.”

Collins has now returned to his parent club, Premier League Stoke City, but he will spend the next couple of weeks weighing up his options with a move from the Britannia Stadium expected.

We understand that rumours linking him with a switch to Wolves, where he would join up with former boss Mick McCarthy, are a little wide of the mark, with the Premier League side targeting a younger centre-back – Manchester City’s Nedum Onuoha tops their list.

Collins confirmed: “My aim was to try to do well for Ipswich and I have been pretty pleased with my form.

“The aim now is to go on, whether here or elsewhere, and try and play regular – that is what every footballer wants.”