Ipswich’s top flight status is increasingly tenuous after loss to Spurs – but their young stars continue to impress, writes IAN HERBERT

There’s a gathering sense of fatalism about how all this might turn out for Ipswich.

The talk on the train heading south out of town early on Saturday evening was consumed by the question of whether the club, now five points from safety, had been promoted too early and manager Kieran McKenna was also emphasising perspective. 

‘The supporters know the journey they have been on,’ he said. ‘Five years ago, we were in the middle of League One and they (Tottenham) were in the Champions League final.’

But though McKenna looked subdued – ‘It’s not in our hands,’ he said – Ipswich at least played with brio and fire, and the 4-1 scoreline flattered Spurs. On a weekend when Southampton and Leicester were smashed up again, you thanked God for Ipswich’s fight. At least one of the bottom three is making a fist of this.

Portman Road is a world away from the division’s global elite. ‘Always Proud. Always Ipswich, Always Suffolk’ reads the legend on the wall outside the club store. No Premier League club feels more quintessentially local. It’s a throwback, contributing to a sense that they can barely believe they’re up here. Echoes of the great ‘70s and ‘80s days when the club also punched above its weight.

Moss grows on the main stand roof, now, but the club did not let the grass grow under their feet when they reached the top again. That much was evident in a compelling first half against Spurs, full of Ipswich teamwork and flair.

Despite the unflattering scoreline the club had plenty of positives to take from their display

Kalvin Phillips produced a good performance in midfield and looked to be getting back to his best with regular football

There seems to be a trend among some Ipswich players of wearing their socks down around their calves. It telegraphs the work ethic and it just so happened that the three who did it on Saturday – Liam Delap, Jack Clarke and Leif Davis – were working triangles on the same side of the pitch.

They shone together in front of that old stand – and Delap above all. There’s a schoolyard feel to his football – thrashing his foot at any opportunity, leaping to navigate high balls into others’ paths. Superstar quality.

There was a subtlety to the excellent Omari Hutchinson’s contribution, carrying the ball and easing pressure. It was good to see some of the old Kalvin Phillips back, at the hub of Ipswich’s midfield – deft touches and unflinching collisions. There was a wonderful balance to this team.

The holes Ipswich let Spurs punch in their midfield did for them. Pinpoint counter-attacking passes for Son Heung-Min to leave full back Ben Godfrey for dead. McKenna’s post-match assessment skirted around these defensive failings.

The problem with the manager’s aspiration to ‘pick up points at a greater rate, now’ is that Ipswich don’t have a sequence of ‘winnable’ games until the end, when they face West Ham and Leicester in May. This week’s visit to Old Trafford is one of only three games before May 3 against a side outside the current top eight. Some story it would be if they could find a way through and survive.