Ipswich Town column: Kieran McKenna’s men have made astonishing start to season with draws feeling like defeats after Rotherham United late equaliser

The fact draws are now feeling like defeats should show you exactly how far Ipswich Town have come under Kieran McKenna.

Saturday's comeback at Birmingham was followed up by a pretty disappointing performance on Tuesday night which ended with stoppage time agony to deny the Blues all three points.

It wasn't great and truth-be-told, since the injury of Wes Burns, I'm not sure Town have had that same velocity or attacking aggression since he's been missing from the team.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, but Town's number 7 is absolutely vital to the way we play.

He is the out-ball to get in behind, he supports his full-back with all of the defensive duties and his presence and movement paves the way for the likes of Nathan Broadhead and Conor Chaplin to do their magic, with the latter having not had the same devastating affect since his mate Wes has been absent.

He'll return, of course he will, and although I'm not a fan of international breaks, I think this one has come at a good time for Ipswich.

Let's be honest, nobody would've predicted before the season had started that Town would be second placed, eight points clear of a side worth £200M in Leeds United and top goal-scorers in the league.

Sometimes you need to take a step back and appreciate just how far this side have come, seeing as this time last year we were literally playing Bracknell Town in the first round of the FA Cup.

But now we're here, of course we want to stay and I do think if Town are in a similar place come January, then Ashton and co will look to strengthen and do all they can to get us over the line.

Before that though, there's a small task of seven games in December to get through, which includes Leeds and Leicester as well as a certain event on the 16th, which we won't start talking about just yet.

We're all looking over our shoulder now, let's be honest, we are. Town will need to use their squad and hope and pray they aren't subject to any more injuries, if they are to keep ahead of the ever chasing Leeds.

We all know Ipswich Town can perform so much better than they have in recent weeks, yet they have still not tasted defeat since late August.

I trust the manager and I trust the players to get back to their dazzling best, starting with this Saturday.

Swansea City are not going to make it easy for Ipswich Town, nobody ever does. But Portman Road has become such a wonderful place to watch football and I don't expect any team in this division to come here and dominate the ball like we do.

Although we didn't expect to be in this position at the start of August, we now want to stay here and if Kieran McKenna’s men are to do that, you'd think they will probably need to be beating the likes of Swansea at home to do so.

So strap yourselves in and let's hope Town are back to their best this weekend. I'm sure they will be.