Darnell Furlong celebrates another Ipswich victory at Pride Park. (Image: Ross Halls)
In the words of Leif Davis, and thousands of others, we needed that!
The win at Derby could not have come at a better time. Last week felt tumultuous. The closure of the transfer window brought discontent in some quarters. Another postponement at Portsmouth was not ideal. On Friday, Kieran McKenna cut a figure that we have rarely seen during his tenure. His comments around the departure of Sammie Szmodics raised a few eyebrows too. All did not seem so well in the Ipswich camp.
Throw in two games without a win, the pressure was on and I was not in my usual confident mood on Saturday morning.
However, I should have factored into my thoughts that this was Pride Park. What an outstanding record we have there. Derby fans must be sick of the sight of us rocking up into their manor. That is now nine wins, three draws and a single defeat in our last 13 visits there.
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There are 16 current grounds in the Championship that we have visited on 13 occasions or more. Looking back at the last 13 visits to any of those, Pride Park is the most profitable with 30 points gained out of 39. To put that into context, the next best anywhere is Fratton Park and Hillsborough with 21 points gained. The good news is that we have both of those still to visit this season.
Kasey McAteer provided the match-winning assist off the bench. (Image: Ross Halls)
We also deserved the win. Lewis Travis was the latest ex-Town player to become our panto villain. If he felt harshly done by in being sent off this time, for me, it makes up for the clear stamp on Jens Cajuste that he got away with in the reverse fixture.
With subsequent results for Coventry and Hull later in the afternoon, these three points have a pivotal feel about them. And I like the way they were earnt. We were much better in the face of physicality and, in Anis Mehmeti, we have a player that will give us extra quality in the final third. Kasey McAteer can feel much better after his cameo appearance too.
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Kieran McKenna was serenaded by the 3,000+ travelling fans at the end. (Image: Ross Halls)
It was also another win in a live TV game. That is three wins on the trot now on TV. That has not happened since October and November 2022. Incidentally, that run also included a win over Derby County.
Lewis Travis’ own-goal, meanwhile, meant that own-goals has drawn level with the legend that is Marcus Stewart with the most goals scored in live TV games – 12. We all remember the first to be scored for our benefit. Yes, Robert Ullathorne’s back pass that bobbled over the foot of Bryan Gunn back in April 1996.
I hope that we can build on this with a couple more difficult away fixtures at Wrexham and Watford to come this month. Show the same qualities as we did on Saturday, then we will give ourselves a great chance.
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Before then, we have the FA Cup tie at Wrexham on Friday night. Forget any worries how a cup run might detract from the promotion push. We need to progress. It is the best opportunity we have of getting game time into the legs of the fringe players in our squad. We need as many the bodies up to speed as we can for the run in and the FA Cup provides the best opportunity for that. I feel Wrexham, in their current league position, will also want to make changes too.
A final word for our support at Derby. I thought that over 3,000 Tractor boys and girls were brilliant. It was a real sign of backing given the grumbles of the last few weeks and for much of the season. You could tell how much it meant to Kieran McKenna at the end too. It was a return to much of what we saw in our promotion campaign two seasons ago.
Prior to the postponed Portsmouth game, I looked at our ticket website for the five away games ahead. All five games had sold out. When you think that included successive weekends at Wrexham (one on a Friday night), the quantity of our support can never be questioned. The quality needs to match that and, on Saturday, it certainly did that.