Ipswich Town have made a flying start to the season well but defender Cameron Burgess insists “we can still reach another level”.
After securing automatic promotion from League One with 13 wins from the final 15 games, the Blues find themselves second in the early Championship table after winning seven of their opening eight league games.
In addition, Tuesday night’s 3-2 comeback win against Premier League side Wolves at Portman Road has the club in the last 16 of the Carabao Cup for the first time since 2011.
Kieran McKenna’s men have lost just three games this calendar year – a farcical game in the fog at Oxford, a narrow FA Cup replay at Premier League bound Burnley and a seven-goal thriller at home to a Leeds side just down from the top-flight.
“The way we played last season, some of the football we produced along with everything else that is going on at the club, we feel we’re at a level where we belong – now it’s up to us to prove that to people,” said centre-back Burgess, who recently earned his first cap for Australia, in an interview with the matchday programme.
“I don’t think there’s ever a time where we don’t think we can go and win the game that’s in front of us. We always have that belief, no matter who we’re playing against.
“There’s big belief in the group and I think we all feel that we’ve still got another level we can go to. There is big belief here that we can go to new heights and do something special.”
Right-back Harry Clarke, who returned to his hometown club in a £1m+ deal from Arsenal back in January, echoed those thoughts.
He told BBC Suffolk: “I think with the way the club is, and the manager we have, we went into the season full of confidence that we could do well. I think we have a special group and I don’t there are any limits to what we can achieve.
“It has been an incredible start. It’s difficult to say exactly what I thought we would do, but we are delighted with the way things have gone so far. We were determined to play well and doing that has earned us some excellent results.
“We’ve been brilliant, to be fair. We don’t really take much interest in the league table and what position we are in. We just take it step by step.”
Welsh forward Nathan Broadhead, who has provided 12 goals and seven assists since arriving a £1.5m deal from Everton back in January, said: “We’ve always had great belief in ourselves, especially last season when we won promotion, and it has just carried on from there really.
“We have just got stronger and stronger together, the way the manager wants us to play. We go out trying to win every game.
“Hopefully we can get promoted again this season – that’s the aim. I think everyone wants promotion. As long as we’re winning games, we could have a chance.
“Don’t get me wrong, there is still a very long way to go, but let’s just say it’s an encouraging start. We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves this early in the season. You know us, it’s one game at a time.”
Town head to Huddersfield on Saturday, then host Hull and Preston next Tuesday and Saturday respectively.
“We probably won’t even glance at the table until Christmas with the group and even then there would still be 23 games to play,” said McKenna.