Ipswich Town column: Blues fan Nick Wells feels his side are showing the skills for survival
AFTER the nadir of last week's defeat at Peterborough, we can breathe a little easier now.
But only a little.
Four successive away games were always going to be a tough test for our boys, so to take seven points out of 12 is a reasonable return.
Yes, the defeat at London Road sticks in the throat but if we were going to come away pointless from any game, then surely this was the best one.
The Posh are rooted at the bottom and have about as much chance of survival as Ashley and Cheryl Cole's marriage, whereas QPR, Sheffield Wednesday and Scunthorpe are true rivals in the fight to avoid the drop.
We have secured four points in the week since the Peterborough debacle and there have been a number of good signs to indicate that we can haul ourselves out of this relegation battle.
Roy Keane questioned the characters of players before the trip to Hillsborough but I think they have since demonstrated the necessary survival skills to save our Championship status.
They managed to grind out a well-earned win at Sheffield and scrap for a valuable point at Scunthorpe, showing plenty of heart.
Another pleasing element of the last seven days is Keane's selection risks are paying off.
On Saturday he gave debuts to keeper Brian Murphy (not surprising) and left-back Shane O'Conner (astonishing) and both players have been instant successes, in a defence which has leaked just a solitary goal in two away games.
I have to admit until a few weeks ago, I had forgotten we had even signed O'Connor in the summer, as he seemed to be so far out of the first team picture.
If the former Liverpool Academy player ends up solving our left-back problem, it could prove to be Keane's best business of the season.
Carlos Edwards looked like he was going to join Lee Martin and Tamas Priskin in Keane's list of costly mistakes but he was brought in from the cold against Wednesday and got the crucial winner.
Hopefully now the Trinidad and Tobago international can start to show the form that he displayed for Sunderland.
But we can't get carried away. We have been here several times before, where Town have looked like pulling away from the bottom, only to slip up at the next hurdle.
Ipswich need at least five wins from our last 14 games to stay up, with Bristol City on Saturday the next game up.
Three points there and we might even be able to loosen our collars a bit.
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Weather for Sudbury
Thursday 09 February 2012
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