BACK in the old days, a sign that your team was doing well was that you found yourself constantly flicking to the Ceefax page showing the league table.

The equivalent these days is probably regularly bringing up the relevant webpage, something I suspect Town fans have been doing a lot this week with the Blues sitting proudly second in the Championship.

Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Leeds was probably the most complete performance of the season.

Town’s success has largely been built on just getting the better of the opposition in tight, keenly-contested games, such as last week’s last-gasp 1-0 win at Charlton.

But Leeds were well and truly taken to the cleaners, despite having gone ahead after an uncharacteristic early defensive lapse.

Once the Blues had got back on terms via Daryl Murphy’s excellent headed goal, it was virtually one-way traffic.

David McGoldrick netted one of the most nonchalant penalties you’ll ever see, Murphy tucked his second of the game between the keeper’s legs and then three minutes after the break Christophe Berra ‘stole’ the fourth from Tommy Smith on the line.

The only disappointment was that they didn’t go on to rack up a few more, so in control were they against a Leeds side which looked like they’d rather have been anywhere other than Portman Road for most of the second half. I suspect it was a long, silent trip home up the A1.

But overall, it was as good a day to be a Town fan as there’s been for a while. The belief that this might finally be the Blues’ year grows game on game, perhaps more so on Saturday given the margin of victory and the quality of the performance.

Championship top scorer Murphy continues his remarkable season, Saturday’s two goals taking his tally to 13, the same as he recorded in the whole of 2013/14.

By my reckoning, if he continues at his current rate the Irishman will net 31.47 in the league by the time the campaign ends in May, more than anyone has managed since Ray Crawford banged in 33 in Town’s 1961/62 First Division championship campaign.

OK, expecting him to continue at quite the same pace is asking a bit much but all being well the 31-year-old ought to become the first Town player to net 20 league goals in a season since David Johnson grabbed 22 in the 1999/00 promotion campaign.

Can Town maintain their automatic promotion challenge? Who’s to say they won’t? As we’ve said before, consistency is the key and Town’s current run of one defeat in 16, none in the last seven and only three all season is nothing if not consistent.

Manager Mick McCarthy has often cited Burnley’s success last season as the benchmark for Town this year.

And the similarities are certainly there. The Clarets were a solid if perhaps unspectacular outfit with an impressive front two — Danny Ings and Sam Vokes – always likely to score, much like the Blues with Murphy and McGoldrick at present.

Looking at Burnley’s position at the same 20-game stage last year, they were second on 40 points, two points behind then-leaders QPR having lost only four times. The Blues currently have 37 and are just a point behind top side Derby.

So it certainly can be done. As was the case with Burnley last year there may be teams who are better on their day but, aside from champions Leicester, no one else was as consistent.

Monday’s FA Cup third round draw handed the Blues a testing tie at Premier League high fliers Southampton.

Coincidentally, the Blues faced the Saints at the same stage at home in the 1999/00 promotion season. Hopefully that’s an omen, even if Southampton won that tie 1-0.

No one will need reminding that Saturday’s opponents Bolton were the Blues’ play-off semi-final opponents in that memorable campaign.

A repeat of the extraordinary 5-3 second leg down here seems unlikely, but I don’t think anyone would complain too much if there was a reprise of the 2-2 draw from the first game.

There’s no such thing as a bad away point, as Mick McCarthy has said on numerous occasions.

That might mean the Blues temporarily drop from second but even so that league table will still be worth a glance every now and then.