IT’S difficult to think of too many worse results in the club’s recent history than Tuesday’s humiliating 1-0 FA Cup replay defeat to non-league Lincoln City.

Maybe the 9-0 at Manchester United, but they were Manchester United in their pomp and Town were truly dreadful as they were relegated in 1994/95.

Perhaps the 7-0 FA Cup loss at Chelsea in 2011, but the squad was still collectively punch drunk following the best part of two years of Roy Keane’s management which had ended earlier that week. The freakish nine-man 7-1 loss at Peterborough later the same year also springs to mind.

But there can be few worse feelings in football than seeing your side defeated by a team from three divisions below you, in front of a global and national TV audience.

We all love the magic of the cup, except when it’s your club being turned over by less heralded opponents.

If the result itself was galling enough, the manner in which it came about was even worse.

Usually in these David v Goliath (OK, Goliath-ish) matches the underdogs scrape a goal then hang on for dear life as the bigger club desperately tries to avoid embarrassment.

But rather than sneaking a goal against the run of play, Lincoln, managed by former Braintree boss Danny Cowley, were the better side throughout the two games.

The Imps may be Vanarama National League leaders but that shouldn’t happen against a Championship side, even one hit by a multitude of injuries and bereft of confidence.

It was difficult to disagree with Blues legend Terry Butcher’s post-match assessment that Town had been a “disgrace” and that he couldn’t "remember ever being so embarrassed and humiliated as an Ipswich fan”.

Having again promised to name a strong side, manager Mick McCarthy made five changes from the team which played well and beat Blackburn 3-2 at the weekend, although one was forced with Adam Webster joining the already lengthy injury list.

It looked a weakened - and unadventurous - XI, even if McCarthy viewed it otherwise, and as has been the case with so many of his ‘cup teams’ the players played like strangers.

Town, still to win an FA Cup tie under McCarthy, kept the ball much better against Blackburn and in several other recent matches but they were barely able to string a single pass together against Lincoln.

Where does the result leave McCarthy? Even prior to Tuesday a significant majority of Town fans felt it was time for a change and many of those who previously backed him will now have jumped ship.

Owner Marcus Evans is unlikely to pull the trigger as a reaction to one defeat and MD Ian Milne gave what can be taken as the traditional vote of confidence on Wednesday morning, while McCarthy seems unlikely to resign.

But it does feel like we’re entering the final chapters of McCarthy’s time at Portman Road.

It’s rare that a manager is able to turn around fans so dead set on change, which plenty have been for some time, as recent attendances illustrate and season ticket sales may indicate further.

It’s a situation which cannot be allowed to drag on indefinitely, it’s not healthy for the club and a parting of the ways seems inevitable, if not immediately, once the Blues are firmly ensconced in the safety of mid-table or at the end of the season.

That uncertainty regarding the manager’s position - as well as Tuesday’s result and performance - isn’t going to help with recruitment during the remaining days of the transfer window with new signings desperately required.

While striker Kieffer Moore, signed last week from Forest Green Rovers, and free agent Jordan Spence are welcome additions, more are urgently required.

Most notably that line-leading experienced striker to replace Daryl Murphy and a central midfield player capable of dictating play.

If McCarthy is to have any chance of turning things around then he needs positive results and quickly.

But the Blues are about to go into their toughest run of the season, starting with Saturday’s visit to fifth-placed Huddersfield, then a trip to Preston, before home matches against Derby and Reading, games at Aston Villa and Brighton, Leeds at Portman Road and then the East Anglian derby at Norwich.

And after Tuesday even a consistent run of good form during those games - something the Blues have been incapable of so far this season - will probably come too late to save the Town boss’s job.