Ipswich manager Paul Lambert hopes the 1-0 victory over Wigan can drive his team forward as they look to climb off the foot of the Sky Bet Championship.
Freddie Sears scored the only goal in the 67th minute as the Tractor Boys picked up their first home win of the season.
It was also Lambert’s first victory since taking over the reins from Paul Hurst towards the end of October, and although Ipswich are still five points from safety, the manager knows there is still time to escape the bottom three.
“The first half I thought we were dominant with the ball,” said Lambert. “We played a good game and never looked under threat really.
“The second half we had to defend strong with the conditions. Deano’s (Dean Gerkin) had a great save.
“We have a hell of a lot of games to go and it’s one win. They are playing well, that’s the thing, and the atmosphere in the stadium – I have never experienced an atmosphere when you are at the bottom of the table. This is not normal, the support has been absolutely unbelievable. They are loyal and vocal.
“I had a feeling that our first win was going to be a scrappy one. But there’s a long, long way to go and if we can get a little bit of help from somewhere then great and let’s see what happens.”
The visitors pressed for an equaliser but home goalkeeper Dean Gerkin made two crucial saves to deny Wigan a point.
Latics manager Paul Cook was gracious in defeat, saying: “I think it was a really tough day for football and everyone will have their own opinion on the game.
“I didn’t think that we were ever in danger of losing the game. But great credit to Ipswich for winning the game, it was a strong result for them.
“It was a very spirited performance but we were never under any pressure in the game but we could not go on to win.
“It’s a tough league, you don’t get given anything today. I felt our lads worked hard, with two honest teams having a good go at each other.
“I felt we came out of a result that we didn’t deserve but that’s football.
“We are an almost team away from home, we have lost so many away games by an odd goal in games we never deserved to lose.
“We were naive in the goal and we never deserved to lose the game, but credit to Ipswich. It’s their day, the supporters were excellent at the end.”
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