I’ve been out for a few weeks injured and I am looking forward to getting back playing, we have got some tough games coming up with a bit of travelling but we are used to it at Preston because we do have quite a few long journeys from up here.

The mood in the dressing room is really good because we have played quite well, even though we have been beat. Obviously we could have prevented a couple of the goals but our overall play has been quite good, the atmosphere is good and the confidence is still up there, we know we are a decent team and we know we can beat most sides when we play well.

There’s a couple of little things we could have done a little bit better at either end of the pitch but overall the possession we had and the way we played and the chances we created were decent so if we can keep that up we will win more than we lose.

I didn’t think they were as good as I thought they would be. They are doing really well and they are at the top of the league because they deserve to be there but I think we played really, especially in the second half, I think we bossed the game and they struggled a little bit and were hanging on towards the end. But they are a decent team, you can’t say that if they are that far ahead that they don’t deserve to be because they have won a lot of games.

I probably wouldn’t expect a similar result scorewise, I know that we can win the game but 4-0 would be a big ask because Ipswich are a decent side. We played them at the start of the season when they weren’t on their best form and we caught them at a good time but they are a decent side and a big club. I think it will be a hard game, a real tough game but I am sure we can get the three points.

It seems to be all defenders, we have got suspensions in the same part of the team, sometimes when you get them spread out of the team you can cover but we do seem to be short of defenders this weekend so it is going to be a tough game and we are going to have to adapt and somebody is going to have to play out of position on Saturday but I don’t see that being a problem because we have got enough good players in this squad to cover.

It’s a little bit of both really, he’s a decent player, he can really take people on on his day and he can score a lot of goals and I was looking forward to him playing against Claude Davis, his big friend, it would have been a good old battle and it would have been interesting to see. For us we would rather him not play because he is a decent player, even though we are not frightened of him or anything, he is one of their better players so it is better for us that he is not playing.

I wouldn’t see that happening to be fair, I’ve played all over the park this season but I don’t think centre-half would be one of them options. If I was asked to do it I would do it but I don’t think the gaffer would be looking along them lines.

The second half of last season we did really well and it did seem to happen from halfway through but this season we have started our run a little bit earlier and we are in a lot better position this year than we were last year and I think the squad is a lot stronger. The team is quite similar in strength but the squad size is a lot deeper and the quality throughout is better, we have probably got 18 or 19 players playing for the positions.

A couple of us had played in the last one against Bolton but for most of the lads it was a new experience and I think that you do learn from your experiences. As a footballer the more big games you play the better you handle the next one, I think if we get there this year what we went through last year will stand us in good stead.

The teams just outside the Play-Offs are probably looking at our position and trying to take it off us. We are in sixth place at the minute and there are a couple of teams, Wolves are coming strong, Cardiff are hanging in there and they could pick up some good results. Out of the teams below us I could see Wolves maybe going on a good run towards the end and getting there but we are not really looking at what other teams are doing, we know what we need to do, we know how many points we need to get to get into the Play-Offs.

We know roughly what it takes to get into the Play-Offs, what sort of point mark it is and we just want to get to that mark as soon as we can, we don’t want to leave it over the next 12 games, we want to get it as soon as we can, we are going out for wins every week.

The one thing I have learnt from Play-Off experience is that it doesn’t matter who you play, I think I’ve finished third, fourth, fifth and sixth in the Play-Offs and been beaten every year. Anyone can beat anyone, it’s like a Cup competition once you get there, we don’t fear anyone and whoever you get you need to beat them so there’s no worries on that front.

The target after what we did last season was to get to the Play-Offs, we didn’t start off too well this season but the target was still to get in there and now that we are in there we want to stay in there. If we did drop out of it and finished seventh or below it would be a massive disappointment for the whole team.

Wigan and West Ham have shown that if you have got a positive attitude towards it then you can achieve what you want. They have gone up there and they haven’t shown any fear and I think that is the major thing, teams have gone up with good players before and maybe not attacked it as much as they should have and they have come back down. Wigan and West Ham have both been positive teams and really gone for it and they have won some games which will keep them in the Premier League next year by a good margin. If we achieve the goal of getting in the Premier League you have obviously got to add a bit of quality to your squad but we hope we could do the same as them two clubs.