THERE are still 35 games to go, but young midfielder Liam Trotter admits that Ipswich Town are in a “relegation battle.”

Carl Marston

THERE are still 35 games to go, but young midfielder Liam Trotter admits that Ipswich Town are in a “relegation battle.”

Roy Keane's men conceded yet another injury-time goal to crash to a depressing 2-1 defeat at fellow strugglers Barnsley on Saturday.

And Plymouth's 2-1 win over Scunthorpe means that Town are now cast adrift at the foot of the Championship table, five points shy of safety.

There might be those who insist that Town have too much quality to go down, and are in a false position, but Trotter does not agree.

“We are in a relegation battle,” confessed Trotter

“We are bottom of the league, with just five points. There's no getting away from where we are, and you can't say that we are in a false position, because we've not won any games.

“You can't just have two months of bad luck.

“We have the quality to get out of it. I think we're a good team but we're not earning the points at the moment,” added Trotter.

Town had chances to chalk up that elusive first win in the second period at Oakwell, with Trotter himself missing the best opportunity when scooping a shot over the bar with a clear sight of goal.

But just four days after conceding an injury-time equaliser in a 3-3 draw at Sheffield United, Town this time leaked a killer winning goal from Jon Macken.

“There's no ifs or buts, we have got to start picking up points,” insisted Trotter.

“We have to tighten it up, and begin grinding out the results.

“The main thing is that we all have to stick together. At the moment, the results are killing us, but we still have the belief.

“We still have the confidence that we can get out of this position. We can do it. If we didn't feel this, then we'd be in for a very long season.

“The two-week break (for internationals) will give us time to reflect, but then this latest defeat will also be preying on our minds, that we have lost again, so it's not necessarily a good thing.

“We have to get our heads around the position that we are in.

“None of us want to be in this position. Looking at the table at the moment makes for bad reading,” concluded Trotter.