Blackpool skipper Jay Spearing says: My form has improved but I'm still not at my best

Jay Spearing is enjoying greater freedom in his midfield role at Blackpool

And Spearing believes playing in a more liberated role is bringing the best out of him.

He said: “The last couple of weeks I’ve kicked on a little bit. I feel I’m starting to bring out what I’m about and the lads around me are helping me to do that.

“I’ve been given a bit more of a free role from the management, so I’m not solely concentrating on my defensive game.

“Instead I’m letting the back three do their job and getting involved in the middle of the park, and I seem to be getting the rewards.

“But with what I’m like, I’m still not happy. I want to keep getting better and improve for the rest of the season. I’m still challenging myself day in, day out because I want to improve constantly.

“I’ll be 31 next week but I want to kick on and go for as long as I can.

“The ambition now, with the new owner and the fans being back, is to give them something to cheer about.

“They’ve been away for a long time. We want them to come back and support us, and we want to give them something back.

“It’s exciting times but there’s a long way to go. We want to keep climbing up that league.

“The fans have deserved a lot more than they got over the last few years.

“They’ve finally got their club back and they deserve every single bit of it. We now have to show them what they were missing.

“They’re supporting us for 90 minutes and it’s a massive thank you from myself and the players.

“But we have to keep working hard and keep entertaining them to keep them coming through the gates.”

Saturday brings a massive test at Portman Road, with title favourites Ipswich currently second but only three points behind leaders Wycombe Wanderers with two games in hand.

But the Seasiders will not be fazed and Spearing sees no reason why they can’t return home with maximum points.

“Why not?” he said. “We’ve deserved the four wins from four games but we know Ipswich will be a new challenge.

“They’re a very good side with good players but we go there with nothing to lose.

“We believe in ourselves and if we put across the commitment, the desire and the workrate we did against Wimbledon we can hopefully come out with a positive result.

“Ipswich are up at the top and we want to beat the teams that are up there.

“AFC Wimbledon (who Pool beat 2-0 last Saturday) might be near the bottom but we have to win those games as well. We can’t treat them any differently.

“We need to work as hard as we can every week for those three points.”

“The owner has big ambitions and it’s an exciting club to be at right now.”