TEN games gone and 22 goals conceded.By my reckoning, if Ipswich Town's defence continues to be as charitable for the remainder of the season, then they will end up leaking 102 goals.

Carl Marston

TEN games gone and 22 goals conceded.

By my reckoning, if Ipswich Town's defence continues to be as charitable for the remainder of the season, then they will end up leaking 102 goals.

Not surprisingly, that would also guarantee relegation to League One, so following in the footsteps of deadly rivals Norwich City.

The last club that conceded 102 goals in the Championship was hapless Stockport County in 2001-02. They ended the season rock bottom, a massive 23 points adrift of safety and with a meagre haul of just 23 points.

Of course that is looking on the very black side! Town may have failed to win any of their first 10 league games, but the signs are there that a change of fortune is just around the corner.

However, manager Roy Keane has chopped and changed his defenders all season, whether it be due to injuries, a loss of form, suspension or just personal choice.

And as yet, Town's supremo is still struggling to find that perfect partnership.

Any team scoring three goals away from home, in successive games on the road, would expect a haul of six points, or four at a bare minimum.

But although back-to-back 3-3 draws in Yorkshire, at Doncaster Rovers and more recently Sheffield United, have ensured some good entertainment, they have done little to restore any of Town's confidence, which has been ebbing away from day one this season.

A meagre two points from two free-scoring away displays is not good enough.

Town have a third chance to put the record straight tomorrow, when they return to Yorkshire for a crunch Championship duel against Barnsley.

You wouldn't bet against them scoring three more at Oakwell. But then again, that won't necessarily equate to a first victory of the season!