Ipswich Town manager Mick McCarthy insists he is going for the win against Huddersfield Town - but a recent poor run means he would take the draw.

The Tractor Boys' streak of five losses in six has seen them slide down the table and into 10th, and the manager is desperate to stop the rot amid faltering dreams of a promotion bid.

Town meanwhile are hoping to extend a run of three matches without loss, although they will be without the suspended Philip Billing, who lost an appeal against his red card at MK Dons in midweek.

“We certainly don’t want to get beat because that would be four on the bounce," declared McCarthy.

“In terms of stopping that rot, I’d take a point, but we’re going there to win because we need wins if we are going to get back in the top six. A couple of wins can do wonders, but getting them is not easy.”

He added: “I’d be stupid if I sat here and said I wasn’t concerned by three defeats on the bounce, albeit from three tough games."

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Ipswich lost 1-0 to Hull City on Tuesday night, and McCarthy has urged his team to relax on the field.

The club's top scorer, Daryl Murphy has eight goals to his name this season, five fewer than Town talisman Nahki Wells, but he remains a potent threat - he was the Championship's top scorer last term with 27 league strikes.

McCarthy addressed the issue ahead of the meeting with Town - in which he is likely to be without injury concerns Ryan Fraser, David McGoldrick, Ryan Fraser, Cole Skuse, Giles Coke and Teddy Bishop.

“I thought we were all a little bit hurried the other night in trying to get back in the game, a little bit rushed. We weren’t as considered as we could have been," explained the former Wolves chief.

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“I think Murph (Daryl Murphy) sums that up. He’s got eight goals at the moment when he had something like 19 at this stage last year.

“We’re all getting frustrated and he is as well. You start trying to get goals out of nothing and that’s like putting the cart before the horse. Goals follow performances and Murph has always got his goals out of being a big handful, running in the channel, sticking the ball, upsetting defenders and bringing others into play.

“I think, at the moment, we’re all just a little bit rushed; be that shooting, the final pass, getting a cross in. Maybe we just have to relax a little bit, Murphy included.”