‘The season’s not dead’ - Skuse says Town won’t throw in the towel

The defeat, Ipswich's seventh in their last nine games, saw an improved display from the 1-0 loss to Fleetwood earlier that week, but meant Paul Lambert's side dropped to 10th in the League One table as their slide down the division continued.

Town are now seven points off the play-offs having played a game more than Peterborough, who currently sit sixth.

'We're realists, we know how hard we've made it for ourselves,' Skuse said.

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'We're not in the position we want to be in by any stretch. We wanted to be sitting at the top of the league like Coventry are and to hear our fans signing 'we are top of the league' and 'we are going up'.

'We're not hiding away from it and we didn't shirk the responsibility. We were brave and got on the ball and us as senior players had been drumming that into the players throughout the week.'

The midfielder continued: 'We were sitting top of the league and everything was looking rosy but we've had a bad run where we've dropped into a position, speaking on behalf of the players, the staff and the fans, that nobody wants to be in.

'That doesn't mean we've thrown the towel in by any stretch and we still have a chunk of games to go. The season's not dead. We put in a spirited performance and we'll be doing out utmost to finish the season as strongly as we can and see where it takes us.

Ipswich Town owner Marcus Evans pictured before Town's 0-0 draw at AFC Wimbledon. Photo: ROSS HALLS (Image: Archant)

'We've regrouped over the last few days and had meeting after meeting. If I could come in front of you now and pinpoint one thing that's going wrong then we wouldn't be in this position. The one issues would have been eradicated weeks or months ago.

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'It's not for the want of trying, it's just not happening for us at the minute.'

Teenagers Armando Dobra, Tyreece Simpson and 20-year-old striker Ben Morris were all on the bench at the weekend, with Skuse admitting Town's struggles, both with injuries and in terms of their position in the league, may benefit the club's youngsters.

'The give us a breath of fresh air because they are great kids as well,' he said.

'They're like sponges and take everything in. They take every word, train really hard and look to improve themselves, so it's brilliant for them to get their chance.

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'It's maybe not come in the positions where you'd want them to be getting their chances. You'd rather be sat top of the league and have them coming into a place which is buzzing.

'But it is what it is and they have to come in and take their chance.'

When asked if there has been any further developments regarding a new contract, with his old one expiring at the end of the campaign, Skuse said: 'It's being spoken about.'