Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy has admitted that he is pleased to have come out on top in a 'six-pointer' with Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium this afternoon.

The Tractor Boys won the topsy-turvy encounter 3-2 thanks to a late David McGoldrick strike, handing them just their fourth win in 15 attempts to move them eight points clear of the Championship relegation zone.

"If you were sending a text you'd put 'TFFT'. That's what they put don't they? I'm down with the kids me. The more polite thing to say would be 'phew'," McCarthy told the Ipswich Star afterwards. "We feel a lot better after that win – we can enjoy the next few days a little bit more now.

"If we'd have lost that our demeanour would have been so different. Our fans would have rightly been thinking 'we're in a relegation scrap'. Now we're on 28 points and it all looks a better place. We've not been that far away. We've not been great, but we've not been rubbish either. It looked today like it was going to go against us again, but if it's the team spirit and togetherness that's got us through then great.

"Our fans have been brilliant with me. I've had four years of nothing but upward and onward and real support. We're not doing great and I'm getting a bit of stick, but I probably deserve it."

Town next face home encounters with Fulham and Bristol City over the festive period.