ESSEX COUNTY STANDARD TOWN CORRESPONDENT MATT PLUMMER DELIVERS HIS WEEKLY THOUGHTS ON THE NEWS FROM PORTMAN ROAD:

Predicting Roy Keane’s post-match mood can be as difficult as guessing his team.

The Ipswich boss is an enigma in terms of his brooding but fascinating, mesmerising personality.

And we often joke that it’s virtually impossible to forecast the tone of his post-match quotes, unless in extreme cases like after a big win (not many to choose from) or heavy defeat.

Sometimes after seeing his side lose, Keane is more upbeat and philosophical than we thought possible.

And on other occasions after a victory, he’s been strangely withdrawn and subdued.

Tuesday night was a classic example of that.

To me, Town’s performance against Cardiff was the best they’ve produced for weeks, certainly in 2010.

They’ve played well in spurts and had good halves, but never been able to maintain that tempo for 90 minutes. This was different. Decent in the first period, they totally controlled the second half and should have won more comfortably than 2-0.

Not that you’d have got that impression from a philosophical and, by his own admission, grumpy Keane.

The Irishman was only just satisfied by his team’s display and felt there was plenty of room for improvement. Perhaps he was right.

But in a season when negative undertones have rumbled throughout, it was just nice to leave the ground feeling positive for a change.

Problems and issues have plagued them from the start, whether it be late goals, shoddy defending, lame second halves, missed chances or an absurd amount of draws.

And while one swallow doesn’t make a summer, I was a happy and content man on Tuesday.

For one thing, it made a change having two goals to celebrate.

Town hadn’t scored in their last two games and only managed to net twice once in their previous ten (during the win at Queens Park Rangers).

The dearth of goals, made more galling by the volume of squandered chances, has been deeply frustrating and it felt good to be positive again after the disappointment of Saturday’s defeat at Blackpool.

In my opinion, Town didn’t play as badly as Keane suggested (another example of him being hard to second-guess).

He kept the players locked in the dressing room for nearly an hour afterwards and had a face like thunder when I saw him approach the press room.

But I thought there were positives.

On a disgraceful pitch, they tried to play football and only the woodwork and another inspired goalkeeping performance kept them out.

Town are four points above the drop zone and the burning question now is whether they can finally notch back-to-back wins by beating Scunthorpe.

Somehow, they haven’t managed consecutive league victories all season but there would be no better time to start than against one of the few teams below them in the Championship table.

Who knows, a win tomorrow and three more points against Watford (another side now below Town) next Tuesday could even put their relegation fears to bed.

That might be wishful thinking with nine games left, including tricky matches at Nottingham Forest and Newcastle, plus a home date with Sheffield United.

But if they could achieve the unthinkable of three successive wins it would leave everyone feeling euphoric, not to mention amazed.

Then again, maybe it’s best to take a leaf out of the manager’s book.

Getting carried away is a dangerous pastime, leaving you susceptible to disappointment. Especially when you follow a frustrating and inconsistent team like Ipswich.