Ben Pringle was pleased his match-winner at Huddersfield helped Ipswich Town stop the rot, but the midfielder knows the Blues must string a run of wins together if they are to propel themselves firmly back into the promotion race.

The midfielder lashed home after 19 minutes to secure all-three points from a tough afternoon at the John Smith’s Stadium, ending a run of three-straight defeats and securing the Blues’ first away win since the victory at Brighton on December 29.

The three points moves Mick McCarthy’s side to within four of sixth place, with a game in hand, but Fulham loanee Pringle knows their form must significantly improve if they are to remain in the chase for the Premier League.

“We have a game in hand so we need to capitalise on that and get back in there,” he said.

“We needed to break the mould and stop the rot, and these are the types of performances that you need to do that with.

“When you’re at home and battling over teams then you are getting more of the possession, so you need to be winning those games, but when you go to Huddersfield and keep a clean sheet and soak things up that’s exactly what you need.

“It wasn’t pretty but that’s the Championship. You come to these places where you know they’re going to get on top of you and the (home) crowd are expecting things, so you need to dig in and put a performance in, which we did.

“The international break is in a few weeks but there are a lot of games between now and then so it’s about getting as many points as we can between now and then to keep ourselves in there.”

The Blues had to soak up near constant pressure in the opening exchanges in west Yorkshire, with McCarthy making a number of tactical switches to stem the tide, including using striker Brett Pitman to nullify marauding Huddersfield right-back Tommy Smith.

“I didn’t really know what day it was in the first 20 minutes, let alone where I was playing, but you have to deal with that in the Championship,” Pringle said, when asked about the opening minutes.

“Teams come at you and they don’t stop, but it just shows that the gaffer can change it round a bit and we responded really well.

“We soaked it up and kept a clean sheet.”

Pringle’s loan from Fulham is initially for a month and, a little over two weeks into that spell, he is hopeful of extending the deal until the end of the season.

“It’s initially for one month with the option to extend it until the end of the season,” he said.

“If you’re not getting games (at Fulham) it comes to a certain point where you need to get out and play.

“The gaffer said that if I’m enjoying it and if he’s enjoying me then we’ll have a chat and we can look to extend it. I haven’t spoken to anyone yet, I’ve just been trying to keep my head down, but I’m sure something will get sorted.”