Mick McCarthy says he needs men, not jesters if Ipswich Town are going to halt their alarming slide down the Championship table.

The Blues boss always talks about the need to stay level-headed after both wins and defeats and again spoke pragmatically at yesterday’s pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Huddersfield.

Asked which players had lifted the mood in training this week, Tuesday night’s 1-0 home loss to Hull making it five defeats from six in all competitions, he said: “They’re not up on the roof one minute and the down on the floor. They are all pretty consistent characters.

“You can’t just put on the jester’s hat and the pointy clown’s shoes to try and lift people after a few defeats.

“It’s not always about loud characters who are the life and soul. Those characters can be pretty shallow actually, the ones making all the noises and getting all the laughs.

“You just really want men around the place who continue to do their jobs properly – and I think I’ve got that.”

Asked if his experience in the game meant he was able to deal with difficult spells like this any better, he replied: “I still get angry, I still get disappointed and I still get frustrated, but I understand those emotions now and I can control them a bit better than I did all those years ago. Perhaps I can see beyond those feelings and recognise that it will turn around, because it always does turn around at some point.

“I do handle periods like this better. That’s one thing that gets better with age, there’s not a lot, but maybe that’s one advantage!”