Welcome back to Portman Road for tonight's Championship game against Cardiff City.

I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate Dave Jones and his side for reaching the FA Cup Final after their win over Barnsley and I wish them all the best for their Wembley date with Portsmouth.

They carry the Championship flag into that game and having got to the Final, they have every chance of winning it.

I'm sure Dave won't let his players ease off over the next few weeks though. They have Play-Off ambitions themselves and with the carrot of playing at Wembley in a wonderful showpiece occasion like the FA Cup Final at stake, I'm sure Dave will use that as a motivational tool to get the best out of his players.

They will know that if they take their foot off the gas, they risk losing their place for the Final on May 17 and that's a nice position for a manager to be in.

I'm delighted for Dave that he is enjoying some good times at Cardiff. He was said to be under pressure there earlier in the season but he has come through it, as I knew he would.

While Cardiff had a weekend to remember, we certainly did not with a disappointing performance and result at Colchester on Saturday.

We started brightly at Layer Road but the first goal in any game is crucial and they got it. It was a bad goal to give away from our perspective, they were both soft goals.
We had a lot of possession in the second-half but we never really opened them up. We didn't get enough shots in, didn't get enough crosses in for my liking.

Their `keeper made a good save from Jordan and one or two other saves as well but we never hurt them enough and that was difficult to comprehend.

I will praise my players when they deserve it and they will get criticism when they are not up to the standards I expect and Saturday was one of those occasions.

Criticism is part of the game and you have to deal with it. How you deal with it often dictates how you get on in this game and I'm certainly looking for a reaction from my players tonight.

They have to stand up and be counted now. We are at a critical stage of the season, with five games left. Five massive games for this Football Club.

I want us playing at a better tempo than we did on Saturday. I want us playing at a better standard than we did on Saturday.

The defeat at Colchester obviously dents our Play-Off hopes but we are still in there fighting and we need the players to be brave now in what is a crucial week for us, with Norwich here on Sunday.

We have come a long way over the past year. We have made massive strides but we are not where we want to be yet. There is still a lot of work to be done but we will get there.

On the injury front, we will still be missing David Norris and Shefki Kuqi tonight. Both players are making progress but are not ready to play yet. Jon Walters is obviously still out after having cartilage surgery but he is doing really well and we might have him back sooner than we expected.

Richard Naylor has had an operation on his neck and will be back with us for pre-season training.

Enjoy the game