Shaka Hislop admits his pride was "shattered" after the
two recent away defeats in which he had to pick the ball out of the
net 12 times.
But he believes the two home victories have gone a long way towards laying those ghosts to rest.
"Two wins in four days can't be bad and, especially after what happened to us in the previous two weeks, we really needed to turn that corner," he says.
"The game against Southampton was a difficult one for a number of reasons, the Chelsea game equally so for very different reasons.
"We had to come out and battle to show that we have the class, and the calibre of player to stay in this league and compete with the best.
"The pride was shattered; professionally it was a big, big blow, so as a team we had to show a lot of character.
"We will have to continue to do so during the course of the season, and that was a good test, a good building block for this club, simply because we had to pick ourselves up after what was a demoralising period for us all."
Indeed, he agrees that some good may have come from the Blackburn and Everton games and adds:
"I certainly think so: it will prepare us for the battles ahead.
"It really hurt us as a team, as a club, and as professionals, but we bounced back, dealt with it in the right way, and I think we can be proud of the way we came through that spell.
"It is a long old season to go and I'm sure there will be a number of challenges to go before May, but we will have to deal with them just as we have had to deal with recent events."
With David James due to play a full reserve game soon, he knows he faces his own personal challenge to stay in the team, and he says:
"We all know David is a quality goalkeeper and will be pushing hard when he regains his fitness but, as I have said before, I leave the decisions to the manager.
"All I can do is do my best for the club and be happy for every game I get."
In fact, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's goal on Wednesday night was the first he has conceded at home this season, but he says:
"It doesn't matter on a night like that, though of course it would have been nicer to have kept a clean sheet.
"But I was pleased to get on to another of his shots, and I think we will have to settle for the three points; that's what we set out to get, and it is a case of mission accomplished."
Next up is Portman Road, and Shaka adds:
"Ipswich always make it difficult for you and again it will require a team performance to dig deep for."
In the corresponding game last season, a collision between Shaka and Igor Stimac put the croatian out of action for some time, and Shaka says:
"The memories are not too fond as far as that is concerned, but we picked up a point last season and I'm sure we would be happy to do the same again this year considering what happened in the last two away games.
"But that is not to say we won't go looking for a point; we will be ourselves and look for a win, but the most important thing is to get a result."
But he believes the two home victories have gone a long way towards laying those ghosts to rest.
"Two wins in four days can't be bad and, especially after what happened to us in the previous two weeks, we really needed to turn that corner," he says.
"The game against Southampton was a difficult one for a number of reasons, the Chelsea game equally so for very different reasons.
"We had to come out and battle to show that we have the class, and the calibre of player to stay in this league and compete with the best.
"The pride was shattered; professionally it was a big, big blow, so as a team we had to show a lot of character.
"We will have to continue to do so during the course of the season, and that was a good test, a good building block for this club, simply because we had to pick ourselves up after what was a demoralising period for us all."
Indeed, he agrees that some good may have come from the Blackburn and Everton games and adds:
"I certainly think so: it will prepare us for the battles ahead.
"It really hurt us as a team, as a club, and as professionals, but we bounced back, dealt with it in the right way, and I think we can be proud of the way we came through that spell.
"It is a long old season to go and I'm sure there will be a number of challenges to go before May, but we will have to deal with them just as we have had to deal with recent events."
With David James due to play a full reserve game soon, he knows he faces his own personal challenge to stay in the team, and he says:
"We all know David is a quality goalkeeper and will be pushing hard when he regains his fitness but, as I have said before, I leave the decisions to the manager.
"All I can do is do my best for the club and be happy for every game I get."
In fact, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's goal on Wednesday night was the first he has conceded at home this season, but he says:
"It doesn't matter on a night like that, though of course it would have been nicer to have kept a clean sheet.
"But I was pleased to get on to another of his shots, and I think we will have to settle for the three points; that's what we set out to get, and it is a case of mission accomplished."
Next up is Portman Road, and Shaka adds:
"Ipswich always make it difficult for you and again it will require a team performance to dig deep for."
In the corresponding game last season, a collision between Shaka and Igor Stimac put the croatian out of action for some time, and Shaka says:
"The memories are not too fond as far as that is concerned, but we picked up a point last season and I'm sure we would be happy to do the same again this year considering what happened in the last two away games.
"But that is not to say we won't go looking for a point; we will be ourselves and look for a win, but the most important thing is to get a result."