WE know what is expected.

That’s the message today from inside the Ipswich Town dressing room after new Blues boss Mick McCarthy made it clear what the future holds.

The no-nonsense 53-year-old wasted no time in holding a meeting with the first-team squad before taking training ahead of tomorrow’s crucial trip to Birmingham City.

But loan duo Richie Wellens and Danny Higginbotham have no doubt that McCarthy is the man to lift Ipswich off the bottom of the Championship table.

Wellens, who is a slight doubt for the trip to St Andrew’s after being laid low with tonsillitis, said: “Ipswich have done really well to get someone like Mick McCarthy in as I am sure other clubs would have been in for him.

“He is up for the challenge and the players need to be as well. Mick has done so many good things in the game and we now need to translate what he says on the pitch.

“I spoke to the lads and they said training was nice and sharp. Everyone wants to impress the new man.”

Higginbotham, who last week signed a two-month extension to his loan deal, was equally impressed.

He said: “It was an unfortunate situation for Paul Jewell, but we couldn’t have asked for a better manager in terms of the situation. He has laid down what he wants.”

Giving his first press conference as Town boss, McCarthy insisted his only priority this season was Championship survival and called on his players to convince him not to make wholesale changes. But he will also have to rebuild confidence and team spirit.

Leicester City loanee Wellens shocked supporters with an attack on team-mates in the wake of Saturday’s dismal 3-0 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.

But the midfielder, who questioned whether enough Town players cared about losing, last night said: “I was really disappointed and I just walked into the dressing room and the only voices I heard were Danny Higginbotham and Nigel Reo-Coker. But it was said in the heat of the moment.”