Ipswich Town defender Christophe Berra says there needs to be a bit of realism about the club’s current situation.

The Blues have made steady progress under Mick McCarthy’s management, finishing 14th, ninth and sixth in the Championship table, but have seen their hopes of another shot at promotion fade in recent weeks after a slow start to 2016.

Town start their 13-game run-in with a home match against Nottingham Forest tomorrow looking to build upon their gutsy 1-0 victory at Huddersfield last weekend. Prior to that they had lost five out of six in all competitions.

“Obviously there has been a bit of frustration this season, more so maybe because we’ve not won as much at home,” said Berra, Town are currently ninth and four points adrift of the play-off places.

“No-one was complaining last year, but this year the league is tougher and a lot of teams have spent some money.

“Maybe we have been punching above our weight a little bit, we’ve had a few injuries recently and we’ve just got to deal with it.

“We’re not world beaters. Maybe we need to be level-headed and realise where we’ve come from.

“A couple of years ago Ipswich were down at the bottom, but this is the third year we have been fighting for promotion. Expectations have raised and fans expect the best, which we fully understand.”

He added: “We’re all down to earth guys, we don’t get carried away. We know we’re not Barcelona, we know we’re not going to go out there and outplay teams and be on the front foot the whole game.”