IPSWICH TOWN COMMENT

TUESDAY night was one for the number crunchers.

The most important digits, clearly, were those in the scoreline 'MK Dons 0 Ipswich Town 1'.

However, there were others that caught my eye in the aftermath of the Blues' third away victory of the season - one that kept them second in League One.

Those startling figures concerned the number of Blues fans in attendance at Stadium MK.

There were 3,360 there (in a crowd of 10,167) - an extraordinary number and even more mindboggling when you consider that the total number of away fans across the other ten League One matches on Tuesday was 3,361.

Unbelievable.

Rotherham took a sizeable contingent to Sunderland (1,004) and 450 Lincoln fans went to Rochdale.

Some 424 Blackpool fans saw their side win at Doncaster but, after that, numbers dip and the 3,361 total is topped up by Oxford (364), AFC Wimbledon (330), Gillingham (231), Peterborough (229), Southend (137), Burton (116) and Accrington (75) diehards.

From Ipswich to Milton Keynes is hardly a marathon trek. It's a two-hour drive and a shade over 100 miles.

However, for such an enormous number to hit the road and support their team shows once again that the buzz is back (especially following a near 19,000-strong crowd at Portman Road for last week's stalemate against Doncaster).

Enthusiasm levels will have been ignited by the victory and many of those fans will be back on the road this weekend, this time for an even shorter journey to Gillingham.

It'll be Town's first trip to the Kent club since March 2005, when the sides drew 0-0 during Joe Royle's regime.

In each of the previous campaigns, Ipswich came away with maximum points.

Quickfire second-half goals from Martijn Reuser and Darren Bent saw them to a 2-1 victory in April 2004 and a year prior to that Pablo Counago was the two-goal hero in a 3-1 victory. Marcus Bent grabbed the other.

So what price another victory on Saturday?

Second in the table, unbeaten in eight and with the best defensive record in the division, it would take a brave man to bet against them.

Especially with the backing of another bumper away support.