Darnell Furlong has made a solid start to life at Ipswich Town.
Ipswich Town defender Darnell Furlong is confident that the team’s performances can hit new heights in the second half of the season.
It’s been an inconsistent campaign so far, with Kieran McKenna’s men failing to win three in a row and often failing to fully convince as an expensive collective.
Saturday’s 3-1 home victory against rock-bottom Sheffield Wednesday was far from perfect, but it lifted the Blues to third in the Championship and within five points of the automatic promotion places.
Asked if he felt the best was yet to come, Furlong replied: “I think that’s the really exciting thing for me.
“It’s been up and down, maybe hasn’t gone to plan at every moment of the season, but we’re third and still able to produce a lot more on the pitch.
“I think it will come as the season builds. You get stronger together, you understand each other a bit more as a new group
“I do think the quality that we have is just going to eventually shine through and it will all click into place.”
Darnell Furlong gives his shirt to a young fan following Saturday’s 3-1 home win against Sheffield Wednesday. (Image: Steve Waller)
The long-awaited East Anglian derby win was followed by back-to-back defeats to Middlesbrough and Charlton. After a hard-fought victory at Hull came a loss at Oxford and poor display at Blackburn. Successive home wins against high-flying Coventry and Stoke were followed by defeat at Leicester.
On the search for consistency, Furlong said: “I wouldn’t say it’s been a problem, it’s just how it’s gone.
“Sometimes it can be up and down in a season. I’ve been promoted before (with West Brom) and that season certainly wasn’t plain sailing the whole way. I don’t think any season is.
“It’s just a case of working on the things you want to work on. Games like Leicester you learn a lot from. We also learned a lot about what we did well in the two wins before.
“There has been a level of consistency there for us to have been at the top end of the table for so long. So, yeah, I’ve no worries or doubts.
“It would be nice to go on a winning run – that’s what you’re always trying to achieve. We were firmly hoping and believing that we were going to get the third in a row against Leicester. It wasn’t to be though, so it’s just about starting again. We’ll keep taking it one game at a time.”
Jaden Philogene scored his eighth goal of the season at the weekend. (Image: Steve Waller)
Fresh from Premier League relegation, Town started the season as promotion favourites. This squad cost £130m+ in transfer fees to assemble.
“There’s an expectation from outside, from fans, from other teams that we play against, for us to be a good team fighting at the top,” said Furlong.
“But it’s all pressure that we welcome and something we enjoy. You want to be playing at a strong team that’s trying to get promoted. Ipswich obviously is that, has been that and will be that going forward.”
There’s a real sense that the Championship standard isn’t as high as recent years, but Furlong, who knows the division well, doesn’t concur.
“I think the level is definitely as good as it’s ever been in the Championship,” he says. “But I think I’m playing in a team that’s also one of the best – if not the best – I’ve ever played in.
“The Championship has always been hard. It’s certainly very hard at the moment. Anyone can beat anyone.
“But I believe if you do the right things over the course of the season, you’ll end up where you deserve. And I think we do everything right.
“We play well. Not all the time, things are up and down, but I think we’ve got a great squad that’s been playing well and there’s a lot more to come as well.”
Alex Neil’s Millwall have taken one point from their last three games. (Image: PA)
Ipswich now have two big away games over the festive period. First comes a trip to sixth-place Millwall – a team who have taken one point from their last three. Then the Blues got to league leaders Coventry, a team they beat 3-0 at Portman Road earlier this month. The Sky Blues have subsequently dropped points at Preston and Southampton. After that is a New Year’s Day game, at Portman Road, against lowly Oxford United.
“We’re really looking forward to the games ahead,” said Furlong.
“We’ve got a busy schedule coming up again and we’ll see where it leaves us in the new year.
“It’s a lot of hard work, a lot of travelling, a lot of training, preparation, recovery. But it’s what we love doing. Games are the pinnacle of what we love to do. So it’s nice to have lots of them.”
Having played seven games in 22 days, last week was the first without a midweek match since the middle of November.
“That break had to come at some point,” said Furlong. “The games had been coming Saturday, Tuesday, Friday, Tuesday, like that, for a long time. It’s always difficult with that sort of schedule.
“We had a week off from that though and now we’re back at it.
“We’ve got great staff here that recover us after games and prepare us for the next one. It is a massive help. I think everyone looks at the footballers and wonders what they’re doing to recover, but the staff are the ones that are really looking after us and doing a great job.
“So we’re thankful of that and raring to go again for another busy spell.”
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