Two points against Middlesbrough and West Ham would be more than we expected

Four words you hate to wake up to in the morning: Narwich 2, Sunderland 1.

Listening to the last 15 minutes of the game last night my heart was in my mouth. Though it was a shame not to hear Connor Wickham net a last minute equaliser against the Budgies - I found it really exciting.

Fair play to the Nodge, they're making a reasonable impression in the top flite - I feel they'll do a Blackpool this year: not embarass themselves too much, but not stay up either.

Something else that struck me while I was listening to the game was that had the team we have now played them in April - the scoreline would not have been the same. I think we'd actually have given them a match.

If the Blues that played on Saturday had gone 3:0 down to the scum, I think they'd have had the passion, character and organisation to make a comeback. Nowadays, Jimmy, Bowyer and Andrews would refuse to lie down and take the embarrassment;Sonko and Collins would have far more control of fat boy Holt; and the forwards (AKA Chopland, thanks to @gavinbarber) would've at least rattled the woodwork up our end of the pitch...!

On that point I move to our current games, which, at the start of the season, were earmarked as our most difficult run of matches.

The opening games of Bristol, Southampton and Peterborough were considered by some to be a reasonably relaxing warm up to get us on our way. Well, you could argue that they did serve to be a 'warm up' to help us get organised. Though I'd have preferred a lower goal difference at the end of them...

While in the next month Middlesbrough, West ham and Brighton were expected to show us what a tough league we are in. Who knew that when the time came there'd be a feeling of more chance for success in the latter three games?!

The result last Monday and following performance on Saturday has, finally, renewed the faith of the loyal Blues supporters. After the Coventry game it was easy to consider that we were not playing the best of teams and the bigger test was yet to game... but against Middlesbrough I think we finally started to prove ourselves.

And who'd have thought that such a #twitfc positive response would come from a nil nil draw?!

I think it was summed up best online by my Town Tweep buddy @samstannard: 'The green shoots of progress are finally starting to show through'.

So, to Upton Park go over 1500 Ipswich Town fans, all hopeful that their boys in blue will get a point or three out of tonight's trip to London.

May I be so bold as to suggest that they will be happy with a point? Just as Saturday seemed to be us demonstrating how much we have improved; tonight will see us holding our own against another 'Premier League' side. So to take two points from these two difficult away games would make me a happy Tractorgirl... that's not to say I can't see Chops sneaking a late winner though!


Something to think about on your way down to the capital; with news filtering through this morning that Carlos Edwards has been arrested (again) for driving without a licence - how much could this have an affect on our new found confidence? For me, he's the one player we cannot replace. If he were to be sent to jail for this latest offence - who would you play instead? Is there anyone?

For me you could swap and change the central defence and even the midfield four, if injury forced you. Meanwhile there are plenty of options up front if Chops or the in-form Jase Scotland were unavailable for some reason. But Edwards and Cresswell are less easy to replace.

To a certain extent Carlos has been forced to play the right back position due to a lack of other options and Jewell has done well to turn that situation round to our advantage, by using it to make our midfield stronger. But what would we do without Edwards?

Hopefully, we'll not need to worry about it, the club have said that there were 'extenuating circumstances' for his actions. But is this not the kind of unreliable player we could do without at Portman Road? Can we forgive him this disgression? Certainly food for thought.

Either way, expect many rounds of 'Oh Carlos Edwards, he's taking the bus' tonight' and if we come home with a point I'll be smug that I got it right!

I expect and hope for a 1:1 draw and the Blues fans continuing to keep the faith...