Lee Bowyer insists Ipswich can still be part of the play-off picture come May.
An awful seven-match losing sequence from late October through to early December saw the Tractor Boys plummet from sixth place in the Championship down to 21st.
But things are looking up again at Portman Road with Ipswich having stopped the rot with seven points from a possible nine heading into their New Year's Eve encounter at Reading.
The Royals currently occupy the final play-off berth nine points ahead of Paul Jewell's side, although that could become six this weekend with victory at the Madejski Stadium while Ipswich also boast a game in hand.
Experienced midfielder Bowyer, who bagged the opener in Town's 1-1 Boxing Day draw at Leicester, told the club's official website: "We've picked up recently and I think we are starting to dig out results and move in the right direction. It is really tight and we're only a couple of wins from being back in the play-off picture.
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When you consider we still have over 20 games of the season left to play there is definitely reason to feel we can get into that top six.
Time is in our hands and if we can perform to the levels we have shown in the past then I would expect us to be in amongst the shake-up come the end of the season."