The Blues secured back-to-back promotions to reach the top flight from League One, but were relegated last season after finishing 19th.
Town started the campaign as the bookies’ favourites to secure the Championship title, but find themselves behind Coventry City and Middlesbrough in the promotion battle.
Southampton and Leicester City, who were relegated alongside them, have found it even harder. The Saints are hoping a late run of form will land them in the play-offs, while the Foxes have suffered a points deduction that sees them in a relegation battle.
That, in Ashton’s eyes, shows just how tough the league is, and how well Ipswich have done to remain in the mix.
Ipswich Town are right in the thick of the fight for the top two (Image: Ross Halls)
“I think the reality is that you always want more, let’s be really clear,” he told BBC Radio Suffolk last week. “But the Championship is the fourth or fifth of the biggest, best leagues in the world.
"It’s a great product and, in some ways, it’s more entertaining and more enjoyable than the Premier League. Getting out of this league is tough.
“We’d always want more points. I’d certainly want four more points on the board this week (from draws against Leicester and Stoke City), but coming out of the Premier League back into the Championship is a challenge and it leaves scars because the Premier League is so brutal and so tough.
“If you look at the likes of Leicester, Southampton and Sheffield United, they’ve all suffered the same challenges. It’s been a challenging season.
Promotion rivals Middlesbrough have dropped points in their last two games (Image: PA)
“But we’re right there, competing right at the top end, and we’ll compete right at the top end for the remainder of the season, I’m sure of that.
“With this fanbase behind us as one, we’ll be right there.”
In another world, Ipswich would have a comfortable cushion in second place. They were denied two penalties against Leicester and had one incorrectly given against them at Stoke, where Cedric Kipre was given his 10th yellow card of the season, handing him a two-match ban.
Then, Leif Davis was suspended for three games for a violent conduct incident against the Foxes, which left Ashton feeling incensed.
Now, he wants the fanbase to come together to create a siege mentality after two games where ‘injustice’ was the overriding feeling.
“We run two plans, we have to run two plans,” he replied when asked if failure to secure promotion this season would be seen as a failure. “We run a Premier League plan and a Championship plan.
“Right now, I’m focused on one thing and one thing only, that’s getting this club back into the Premier League as quickly as we possibly can.
“I’m a big believer in self-fulfilling prophecies. I’ve said this before, the fanbase have been incredible with me since we joined.
“You’ve got to believe, nothing comes easy. If this was easy, everyone would do it. There’s a reason it’s one of the toughest leagues in the world. Some people will tell you that getting out of the Championship is tougher than staying in the Premier League.
Cedric Kipre and Leif Davis have both been handed controversial suspensions (Image: Ross Halls)
“We have to believe, we have to stay as one, we have to use all the challenges we’ve had in this week, all the injustice we’ve had in this week, use the hurt that I’ve seen in my players’ and manager’s eyes this week, to come together as one.
“We need to create a siege mentality right now, because let’s be clear, everyone outside of Ipswich doesn’t care. They’ll look at us talking about the decisions that have gone against us and say, ‘Oh, poor Ipswich, poor Ipswich, yeah, yeah’. No, we care.
“The people who really care are Ipswich Town, our fanbase, our stakeholders, our supporters.
“To do this – I’ve said this before – when this club really comes together as one, it’s an unstoppable force. No matter how you feel about a certain player, a style of play or a result, we need to use the injustices that we’ve faced this week to come together as one.
“Continue to make Portman Road a fortress, continue with the unbelievable volume of fans that travel on the road with us. If we do that, we give ourselves the best chance of getting out of this division as quickly as possible.
“I’ve asked this of the fans a couple of times and they’ve never once let me down. There’s a reason that this club is tattooed on my skin and I care about this club passionately and more than I’ve ever cared about any other football club.
“The fans have always dug deep, they’ve always delivered. Right now, I’m asking them to go again, to dig that bit deeper, to stay as one, to make more noise, to create the best atmosphere at Portman Road, to get behind Kieran McKenna and the team, and to drive this club on.
“We need them [the fans]. We cannot do this without them. We have to be as one. I’m so grateful for what they’ve done in the past, but right now, we need this fanbase more than ever.”
Ashton has called on fans to get behind Town boss Kieran McKenna (Image: Ross Halls)
We’re about to head into the run-in. Promotion rivals Millwall head to Portman Road next, with the East Anglian derby against Norwich City and a crunch clash at home to Middlesbrough coming next month.
Ashton expects that a lot will change in the coming weeks.
“We’re at the business end of the season, we’ve been here before,” he explained.
“There will be a lot of twists and a lot of turns. We’ve had results that have been brilliant, we’ve had results that have frustrated us.
“This league gives the unexpected. Did anyone expect Charlton to go to Middlesbrough and win the other night? Probably not, but there will be twists and turns.
“I go back to the plea I made earlier – we can do this. We’ve done it before, but we can only do it together. The fanbase here is so amazing and so special. We need to electrify Portman Road.
“Whether we have bad moments in the game, whether we have challenges, we need to stay together. We can’t do it if we’re not as one.
“I’d ask the fans to believe and continue the support that they’ve given us since day one, because that’s been a key element of getting promotion and having the success. Get behind Kieran and get behind the players.
“Together, we can do this.”