Paul Cook has his sights set on continuing Ipswich Town’s winning run against Sheffield Wednesday.

It’s been a difficult start to the season for Ipswich, but Cook is hoping to put that all behind him after the side’s first win of the season, away to Lincoln City last Saturday.

“We just want to make those supporters happy”, Cook told the Ipswich Star after the game.

“Now we’ve got to make sure we follow that up next week against Sheffield Wednesday.

“We’ve got that elusive win now that will give us a platform to go on. We’ve only played seven league games. Seven! And we’ve got 39 to go.

“If we can play like we did in the first half for longer, the reality is we’ll be okay.”

There were high expectations on Ipswich pre-season despite the huge squad turnover. However, Cook is not believed to be under any immediate pressure to turn things around to save his job. 

Cook was a candidate to take over at upcoming opponents Wednesday following the sacking of Tony Pulis late last year, but instead the club opted for Darren Moore. 

Cook has also been struggling with personal problems, which gave added meaning to their victory over the weekend. 

“It’s been a tough couple of weeks, with my dad passing away. I don’t want to go into all that. I'm just really pleased now to be going to see my family. I haven’t been home to see them since my father passed away,” continued Cook. 

“I’m just pleased for everyone. You see Mark Ashton and Michael O’Leary at the end of the game, all our staff. It means so much to us all."

The Owls know as much as anyone the struggle of expectation in League One, but both clubs will be looking to chase the promotion places this season. 

Ipswich sit in 19th in the table after seven games, taking only six points. Sheffield Wednesday are 12th, with 11 points.

The Verdict

With such a high turnover of playing staff it is understandable that Ipswich would suffer a slow start to the campaign. Getting that first win will be a huge relief to Cook and the players. 

But they will need to keep their momentum going and a victory over Wednesday would be a great way of doing that. This will be a big game for both sides as they are already losing ground on the automatic promotion places.