Hayden Coulson knows Ipswich Town must start beating League One’s leading lights, heading into tonight’s clash with third-placed Wycombe Wanderers.

The Blues went down 2-1 at Plymouth on Saturday but gave as good as they got against the League One leaders, missing late chances which would have earned them a deserved draw.

Ipswich have yet to beat a side currently in the top 10, recording two draws and three defeats in their five attempts so far this season. Town’s next four league games are all against members of the top six, with the trip to Wycombe followed by clashes with Oxford, Sunderland and Rotherham.

“Definitely,” Coulson said, when it was put to him his side must start beating the big hitters. “That bridges the gap between where they are and where we want to be. We need to do that.

“Every point takes you higher up the table.

“We’re still confident. We knew it wasn’t good enough at the weekend but we had chances to turn it round or even won. If we’d got a draw away at the top of the table it would have kept people happy but we have to win big games like that.

“We need to put away those chances and if we can start seeing games out we can get clear.”

Coulson returned from injury at Home Park following a six-week lay-off, taking up a right-wing role as Paul Cook shuffled his pack, with Janoi Donacien and Wes Burns ruled out through illness.

Asked when he last lined up on the right wing, Coulson replied: “It would have been last season at Middlesbrough, coming off the bench to play right or left wing.

“The gaffer asked me to go and see what I can do. I knew the position but it’s a bit of a different style of play here than it is to Middlesbrough. I was familiar with it.

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“The night before we were waiting on Wes and he didn’t feel any better, so the gaffer pulled me before the analysis meeting on Saturday morning and went through what he wanted. I found out on the morning.

“We didn’t know who would be at right-back but Luke (Woolfenden) found out at a similar time to me, so we had a little chat beforehand about what we would do. It worked out alright.”

The Middlesbrough loanee could come into Cook’s consideration at left-back at Adams Park, where the Blues will be cheered on by a sold-out away crowd of around 1,800.

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“When I first came I did the tour of the stadium and all of the facilities are top,” Coulson said.

“It’s a massive club and I think a few of the lads were blown away by the support. Especially the away crowds at places like Plymouth, which obviously isn’t a short journey.

“The fans are a massive part of a club this big so we need to repay them with wins and by getting promoted.”