The Blues got back to winning ways at Watford in midweek (Image: Ross Halls)
THE FORM
Ipswich haven’t been flawless recently, but there’s a lot to say about their results in the last few weeks and across the whole season.
Inconsistency at the start of the term was natural. August was essentially a write-off with all the changes over the summer, and it felt like the season began with that 5-0 win at home to Sheffield United in September.
The first half of the campaign felt frustrating. Town showed glimpses of real quality and ended their lengthy wait for victory in the East Anglian derby, but they couldn’t put a run together.
That all changed on December 20th, where a 3-1 win at home to Sheffield Wednesday proved to be the start of a seven-match unbeaten run in all competitions (six wins, one draw).
Points-per-game (PPG) has the Blues reaching 82 points in 2025/26. It’s not a huge total, one that would usually land a team in the play-offs, but it could easily be enough given the state of the division. One or two more winning runs between now and May could lift them well above that total.
The other automatic promotion contenders aren’t invincible by any means.
Town continue to gel after a difficult summer (Image: Ross Halls)
THE PERFORMANCES
We’ve seen two different sides of Ipswich.
There’s the team that looks rock-solid at the back and limits opponents to very few chances but struggles to capitalise on their own opportunities, even though they create a fair few. This has been quite common for Town this season.
There’s also the team that shows plenty of attacking threat, often scoring quite a few goals, but then collapses defensively. This hasn’t happened as regularly, but Wrexham away last Saturday is the best example.
Putting the two things together to create a balanced performance has been tricky for Ipswich, but we’re seeing it more now than we did at the start of the campaign.
Victory at Coventry City is a great example. The Blues comfortably beat Blackburn Rovers after that before dominating Bristol City. Wins at Derby County and Watford showed real fight and determination on the road.
There aren’t too many times where Ipswich have looked really flat – Sheffield United and Wrexham in 2026 will obviously come to mind. More often than not, we can go into games confident that Kieran McKenna’s side will put in a good display, although it obviously isn’t guaranteed week in, week out.
But those off-days and shock results do happen in a Championship season, as Coventry and Middlesbrough have found out.
Ipswich are looking to chase down Coventry City and Middlesbrough (Image: PA)
THE COMPETITION
When Ipswich were last at this level, it was fiercely competitive. Dropped points felt fatal because of the rate that others were winning.
Leicester City had a strong team and a top boss in Enzo Maresca. Leeds United arguably boasted the best squad in the division, with Elland Road a fortress and manager Daniel Farke boasting top Championship pedigree. Don’t forget Southampton’s 25-match unbeaten run under Russell Martin on the way to promotion via the play-offs.
While Town don’t quite feel the same as they did two years ago, Coventry and Middlesbrough certainly aren’t as good or as ruthless as the teams at the very top of the division that season.
This isn’t to discredit them in the slightest. Coventry have done a great job under Frank Lampard. Their last three results – all wins – have seen them back at their best, with opponents struggling to stop them.
Kim Hellberg has gone above and beyond since arriving in English football, and his Middlesbrough side play slick, attractive, attacking football that can pierce a team open when they get it right.
But neither have the star power that the likes of Leicester and Leeds boasted in 2023/24. In fact, teams like Birmingham City, Southampton and Sheffield United have – on paper – got better squads than the Championship’s current top two, despite none of them occupying a play-off spot after 34 games.
Coventry and Middlesbrough have both slipped at different times. The Sky Blues lost four of seven games between December 29th and January 31st, while Boro are currently winless in three (two draws, one defeat).
Neither Lampard nor Hellberg have done this before while McKenna has. The pressure on Ipswich feels less intense as they try to return to where they were last season. For Coventry and Middlesbrough, it could be make-or-break.
The former last played in the Premier League at the turn of the century, having dropped down to League Two before rising back up, falling agonisingly short of promotion to the top flight twice in recent years.
The latter are into their ninth consecutive season in the Championship, having finished below the play-off places in seven of them.
The pressure is on.
Kieran McKenna’s side will play their next three games at Portman Road (Image: PA)
FIXTURE COMPARISON
Automatic promotion is in Ipswich’s hands.
The Blues sit six points behind Middlesbrough but with two games in hand and a better goal difference. They also have to host Hellberg’s men in April.
While the chances of Town winning all 14 of their remaining Championship games is incredibly unlikely, it would guarantee a spot in next season’s Premier League.
Their fixtures between now and the end of the season are relatively kind, too.
Much has been made of Ipswich’s away form and understandably so. They rank ninth in the division for it, with six wins, four draws and six defeats.
But there’s only one top-half side that they still have to travel to – Southampton. Trips to Coventry, Middlesbrough, Millwall, Hull City, Wrexham, Bristol City, Preston North End, Birmingham City, Derby County and Watford have all been ticked off.
Boro, as mentioned, still have to come to Portman Road. The same can be said of Millwall and Hull, giving Town the chance to open up a gap on teams who could threaten to gatecrash the top two. McKenna will back his team to do that, knowing that they have the second-best home record in the division.
On the flip side, Ipswich have away games at five of the current bottom eight (albeit including a derby against resurgent Norwich City, where form and league position will be rendered irrelevant).
Coventry have still got to go to Hull and host Wrexham. Middlesbrough head to Birmingham next before trips to Town and Wrexham in the run-in.
It also helps that the Blues have got three consecutive home games coming up. A high points return would pile pressure onto the top two.
Jaden Philogene is one of just two first-team players sidelined through injury (Image: Ross Halls)
SQUAD DEPTH
The games are coming thick and fast, especially for Ipswich, who still have to find space for a rescheduled trip to Portsmouth.
However, if there’s any team in the Championship with the depth to deal with it, it’s Town, with Jaden Philogene [MCL] and Ashley Young [hip] the only first-team players currently sidelined through injury.
Of course, that can change quickly, but even if the absences did suddenly start to pile up, the Blues have two players for every position, if not three in some cases.
They aren’t just any players, but premium, top-level Championship assets, worth millions of pounds in many cases. Can the same be said for Coventry and Middlesbrough?
The Sky Blues had some tough times without Haji Wright and Brandon Thomas-Asante. You could certainly see an injury to Hayden Hackney, for example, derailing Boro’s season.
I can’t see the same happening with Ipswich. Even losing Azor Matusiwa, which could easily happen given that he’s one booking away from a two-match ban, feels manageable following the arrival of Sunderland’s promotion-winning captain Dan Neil.
Recruitment and squad building hasn’t been perfect, there are clearly areas that warrant criticism, but this is where Town should look stronger than their rivals.