VIDEO: Mick McCarthy in top form after Middlesbrough win

Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy is hoping to restore Suffolk’s only professional football club back to the top table of English football — and our post-match Middlesbrough video shows what the Premier League audience is missing out on if they do not make it this season.

The charismatic former Republic of Ireland manager jokingly almost walks out of the press conference before he has begun to properly speak after one journalist eloquently sums up his side’s performance in their impressive 2-0 win on December 20.

He goes on to have the assembled press pack in fits of laughter, a regular feature of his press conferences in Suffolk, with one quip about the height of diminutive goalscorer Jay Tabb going down particularly well.

* Ipswich Town host Charlton Athletic, who include former Bury Town goalkeeper Nick Pope in their squad, on Tuesday (December 30 7.45pm) at Portman Road, looking to use their game in hand to go back to a point behind leaders Bournemouth in the Skybet Championship table after passing the halfway mark in the season.

* Read our take on all things Ipswich Town in the paper and online every week from deputy sports editor and lifelong Blues follower Russell Claydon.