Boss Jim Magilton was again delighted with his players' character and spirit after they defeated Sunderland 3-1 to rise to eighth in the Championship. Two-goal Alan Lee was singled out for praise.

Magilton said: "Once again I am very proud of my players. They showed great character and tremendous team spirit and overall I think we deserved to win.

“[Alan Lee's] first goal was a fantastic header and I was delighted for him.

"He has played catch-up since pre-season after returning from an operation. He has worked very hard and now he is in tip-top shape he is getting his rewards. He needs to be battered a little bit to get him going and he got that early doors. He can be a handful and he proved that today.

“It was a pretty competitive opening 45 minutes. At half-time I asked the players to take the game by the scruff of the neck and they responded. It's great to have another three points and now we move on."

Sunderland manager Roy Keane had little complaint with the result: "The goals we gave away were the difference. A lot of the teams in this league are closely matched and if you make one or two mistakes, you are punished.

"I made the changes [at the break] to liven things up a bit, it obviously didn't work. I wanted a bit more from the players.”

Keane said that he had heard nothing from Town regarding the Black Cats' physical approach which saw Ross Wallace sent off and Chris Brown and Dean Whitehead come close to receiving their marching orders: "There's no problems with the tackles from the Ipswich lads.

"If you are on a yellow card, any mis-timed tackle and you're in trouble. Players go down very easily now, it doesn't help.

"When there's loads of bookings by half-time, there's a good chance there will be a sending off.

Keane was unhappy with the goals his side conceded: “The game was there for the taking, which was the major disappointment of today. I didn't think we started particularly well but we got our noses in front.

"After that, with the experience we have got, you expect the players to put their foot on the ball and move it about.

"We gave a silly freekick away and it's 1-1 going into half-time. We conceded two bad goals in the second half, three all together. You don't have to be a genius to work out that if you give three bad goals away, you are going to struggle.”

Keane was facing defeat for the first time since taking over as Sunderland boss and wasn't enjoying the experience: "It hurts more as a manager than as a player. We're all hurting - me, the players, the staff and the fans. It's how we react now.

"It was disappointing and it's about how we react. We have a big game against Sheffield Wednesday now."

Photo: Action Images

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