FIFTH in the table on 15 points, two off the top with a game in hand and having won seven of their first five Championship matches.

It’s been a while since the Blues have been in such a position moving towards the end of September.

Town are ahead of where they were at this stage in the 2014/15 season, in which they reached the play-offs, and the following campaign when they finished seventh.

The last time the Blues had more points having played seven matches was back in 2004/05 under Joe Royle when they were top, eventually narrowly missing out on automatic promotion, coincidentally to a Sunderland side managed by Mick McCarthy and Paul Jewell's Wigan.

And yet the mood among supporters following Saturday’s 2-0 home win against bottom-of-the-table Bolton Wanderers hasn’t really reflected that situation.

Although the Blues returned to winning ways after back-to-back defeats, the rather ground-out nature of the performance against a Wanderers side yet to win since their return to the Championship, particularly in the first half, brought back to the surface many of last season’s frustrations regarding McCarthy’s perceived preferred style of play and levels of entertainment.

Some were already irked that exciting on-loan Manchester City winger Bersant Celina wasn’t handed his first Championship start, the Kosovo international instead making his entrance as a half-time sub as Town switched to 4-4-2.

Celina made an impression, Cole Skuse’s first goal in 29 months three minutes after the restart helping to open up a previously very tight game and allowing him space to break at pace.

However, the 21-year-old also gave the ball away in dangerous areas on a couple of occasions, perhaps as he was trying too hard to impress having been given his chance.

A promising display, although also one which perhaps illustrated why McCarthy may not yet trust him to start, while Saturday’s initial system of 3-5-2 didn’t really suit him anyway.

While Saturday’s game certainly wasn’t a classic, it wasn’t typical of the season overall and it’s difficult to level accusations of a generally negative approach when the manager’s preferred starting line-up until recently was one into which he was trying to shoehorn four strikers.

The disappointing crowd of only 14,164, the lowest for a league game at Portman Road since October 1998, probably had more to do with the drop in season ticket numbers after last year’s 16th-place finish and the controversial price increase than this year’s displays, although the previous back-to-back defeats wouldn’t have helped.

It’s worth noting that Saturday’s game was the type of match Town tended not to win at home last season.

Rotherham, for example, 2016/17’s stalwart table proppers, came to Portman Road last October and were seconds away from claiming what would have been their only away win of the campaign.

In fact, all Town’s five victories have come against sides in the division’s lower reaches, those currently in 16th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd and 24th.

Inevitably that has led to accusations that Town are only capable of defeating the poorer sides.

But, as per the cliché, you can only beat the teams put in front of you and five out of seven times they have done that.

In truth, it’s too early to judge whether the Blues will be able to maintain their current top-six standing but winning the games they’re expected to, as they have up to now, will do much to improve their chances of doing so.

Whether they are capable of replicating those results against enough of the division’s better sides will become evident over the the next couple of months.

Of course, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the strong start has been achieved against a backdrop of illness and injury and that the team is still very much a work in progress.

Tom Adeyemi only made his full debut on Saturday, Celina is just beginning to make an impact, another summer signing Emyr Huws is yet to play and several other first-teamers remain sidelined.

Town have a chance to rubbish the flat-track bullies claim when they face leaders Leeds at Elland Road tomorrow.

The previously unbeaten Whites showed they’re not infallible by losing 1-0 at Millwall last weekend.

Town replicating the Lions’ success - and depending on results elsewhere perhaps even hitting the top of the table - would do much to elevate the prevailing mood.