SAM Ricketts hopes the new-found winning mentality at Wanderers will not be derailed after their last-gasp defeat at Ipswich on Saturday.

After successive 1-0 victories of their own, Dougie Freedman’s men were on the receiving end in Suffolk when Carlos Edwards ended their five-match winning run with minutes remaining.

It was a hammer blow to the Whites who were hoping to keep the pressure on the play-off chasers above them in the Championship table and extend their unbeaten run to nine games.

Ultimately, it did not transpire, but boss Freedman is retaining his belief the chase is not over, and Ricketts is of the same mindset.

The 31-year-old said: “It was disappointing to get beat in the last minute and disappointing to get beaten after winning the last five games.

“I don’t think we thought it was going to happen.

“We just have a belief now that when we go out on the pitch we are going to win games.

“That’s a huge difference. With the game 0-0 going into the last 10 minutes, we now think we can win this.

“Before, maybe, going into the last 10 minutes we thought ‘hopefully we won’t lose this now’.

“That’s the difference in our mindset.

“We go into every game feeling we are capable of winning it.

“There was a spell in the second half when we played like we have done recently. For 10-15 minutes we looked on top.

“They could tell we were on top and the way the game was going, there was only going to be one winner.

“We certainly didn’t deserve to lose and we hoped to nick it 1-0 like we have done a few times recently.”

The 1-0 reverse handed Ipswich a first league double over the Whites in 33 years after also netting a late winner at the Reebok through Michael Chopra in December.

It also stretched the gap back to five points between Wanderers and Leicester in the final play-off spot ahead of the two-week international break.

Ricketts, who is now away with Wales for their World Cup qualifiers against Scotland and Croatia, is far from despondant despite the setback.

He says the team will regroup and be ready to go again against Charlton after the fortnight’s break.

“It’s only one result,” he said. “We didn’t lose by five or six.

“We went there and were robbed. I certainly don't think we deserved to lose.

“But you have to take it on the chin and learn from it as always.

“You can always take things from when you lose.”