IT hurts, and it will still hurt for many weeks and months to come.

IT hurts, and it will still hurt for many weeks and months to come.

But Ipswich Town simply have to move on from last Thursday’s East Anglian debacle, at the hands of Norwich City, starting at Swansea City this afternoon.

The crushing 5-1 defeat by the Canaries will fester long in the memory of all Town supporters, and no one knows that more than manager Paul Jewell.

And yet Jewell also realises that the only way to respond is to look forwards, not backwards.

Local pride is lost, for the moment.

That can only be regained when the two clubs meet again, whenever that will be – Paul Lambert’s men are on the brink of promotion to the Premier League.

Ironically, Ipswich can lend them a helping hand by ending the challenge of one the outsiders for the top two, home-loving Swansea, at the Liberty Stadium.

“We can’t dwell on what happened last Thursday,” insisted Jewell.

“It’s not going to go away easily enough, and I realise what it means to the supporters.

“I hope they know what it means to me, and the players as well, who are as devastated as the fans. It was just a horrible night for the club.

“But we have got to go Swansea and look at the positives.

“We were just three points clear of the relegation zone after my first game, at Millwall, and looking to be in a dogfight, but if we had won the other night (against Norwich) then people would have been talking about the play-offs.

“We need to get the balance right. We have to move on.

“I don’t want that one game to prick that balloon. We want to keep the optimism going throughout the summer by bringing in players that will hopefully excite the crowd,” added Jewell.

Today’s hosts Swansea, who have the second best home record in the Championship, only eclipsed by champions-elect QPR, are currently in fifth spot, although they are six points behind second-placed Norwich with just three games left.