Richard Wright's multi-million pound departure to Arsenal was a sucker-punch for Ipswich.

That's the candid verdict of manager George Burley, reflecting on events of the past year at Portman Road.

To plug the gap, he invested a club record £5m in Sampdoria keeper Matteo Sereni.

And, although pleased with the progress of his Italian stopper, Burley admits his Premiership strugglers have missed Wright's presence.

"Losing Richard, who hardly missed a game in five years with the club, was undoubtedly a big blow. He developed a special understanding with the defence and communicated with the whole team.

"Matteo has done well but it takes a while for new players to settle in."

The arrival of foreign imports like Sereni and Finidi George has been pinpointed as one reason for Ipswich's dismal Premiership form this season.

The Blues are currently second from bottom, having accumulated just 18 points from 21 games.

But Burley said: "People are always going to speculate on where things have gone wrong but there's no single reason. It's more a combination of things like the fact we've had more injuries this season.

"Even so, we've only been outplayed once - against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

"We've also had a tremendous time in Europe, winning in Moscow, Helsingborg and then beating Inter Milan at Portman Road. We might be second-bottom in the table but there have been some encouraging signs recently.

"We picked up nine points from a possible 12 over Christmas, recorded our biggest Premiership win and now have some key players coming back from injury."

Ipswich set sky-high standards for themselves last term, raising expectations for a repeat performance this time around.

But Burley said: "The truth is that the players performed out of their skins last season.

"We were odds on to go down in the summer and the bookmakers rarely get things like that wrong.

"Yet we exceeded everyone's expectations - even mine - by finishing fifth and qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

"The problem is that it's not always possible to reproduce that kind of form.

"Despite our disappointing position so far, things can change very quickly in football and I'm still confident we've got the quality in the side to avoid relegation.

"Our aim has always been to stay in the Premiership. That will never change and anything else we achieve this season will be a bonus."

Published Monday January 14, 2002