Boss Paul Jewell felt Town’s 0-0 draw at Derby was the traditional game of two halves. The Blues were the better side before the break with the Rams on top in the second period.

Jewell said: “I thought first half we were excellent, but we just lacked that cutting edge.

“I think it was the classic game of two halves, we were better than them in the first half and they put us under severe pressure in the second.

“I thought the back four played excellently, they had to defend a lot of corners, a lot of balls in the box. Both sides hit the post and I think their keeper made a couple of good saves in the first half.

“I was disappointed in our second half performance going forward because I thought that in the first half some of our passing, some of the situations we got in, we should have made more of but we didn’t.”

Despite failing to score, the Town manager was happy not to have conceded at the other end for the 12th time this season: “I’m pleased we kept the clean sheet. It’s obviously been an Achilles’ heel of ours, conceding goals. That isn’t just down to the back four, like stopping goals isn’t just down to the back four.

“But I think we had to do better in the second half. The ball came back too easily. In all areas in the first half, we dominated, in the second we had to defend for our lives.”

Jewell felt Jason Scotland had some effect when he came on: “Jason gets hold of it, he backs in and he makes it difficult for defenders but, as I say, in the second half going forward we carried very little threat and that disappoints me. But first half we were excellent.”

Town similarly tired after the break at Watford recently but the Blues boss didn’t think fatigue was particularly an issue: “I think Derby have played the same amount of games. I don’t think we can use tiredness as an excuse.

“It’s going to be a factor on Monday, I would think, but certainly you wouldn’t have said we looked tired in the first half.

“Second half, we went a bit deeper, we couldn’t get hold of the ball, we couldn’t pass it, but let’s give Derby credit, they played well in the second half.

“This isn’t an easy place to come, Nigel Clough’s got them going at home, I think they’ve won three out of the last four here, so it was a good point for us.”

Rams boss Clough felt his side could have done with greater quality and a bit more luck inside the Town box: “I thought in the first half they bossed it, had the majority of the play, but I thought we had the better situations but once again didn’t quite make the most of them - a few long range shots and things.

“I thought we got in some good positions but just couldn’t put one across the face of the goal. Having said that, I think the best first chance of the first half was Theo Robinson’s when Gareth Roberts crossed it, he just got a toe on it and it went just wide.

“That was the story of the day for us. We couldn’t get either a bit of luck or a bit of quality in the penalty area at the end.

“Plenty of corners, plenty of pressure in the second half, and once again when we got on the front foot and pressed them back - like we have done in recent weeks - the majority of the game was played in their half.

“We’re pleased with the clean sheet, we don’t have too many 0-0s here. That’s 41 games and it’s the first 0-0 at home all season, which isn’t bad.”

Photo: Action Images

Wickets added 09:46 - Apr 8 Carson is fitter than Hyam actully,Luke is struggling at the moment,i have seen some training sessions,Carson looks a little porky but is as fit as most Town players but Luke seems to be a bit below par at the moment.Not sure why.
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jas0999 added 10:10 - Apr 8 A fair result, but overall can't get too excited with a point at a poor Derby. In 5 games time, PJ will have been here a season and a half. We currently sit 15th. One of the problems with ITFC is clearly the majority of fans have very low expectation levels. Roy was sacked for sitting 16th in the league - after a season and a half. I fail to see how on earth people can justify and convince themselves that PJ is doing a good job? If anything we have moved backwards this year - relying on loans and ageing players - this is not building for the future. Whats more worrying is PJ thinks we only need two or three new players in the Summer. We clearly need a keeper, defenders, replacements for those leaving and strikers - we can not just rely on Chopra. Probably 6 or 7 new players to even challenge for the play-offs. The fact is, we are a below average Championship side - as the table shows - and will be with PJ at the helm. This has been a very disappointing season - particularly as PJ had a half season and a full pre-season to build a team. On a number of levels he has failed miserably and would rightly be moved on at any other club. However, I respect other people's opinions and it is clear that people on here think he's brilliant! Sorry, can't see it myself - but hope we do much better next season - and will be their to support the TEAM! COYB's!

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bluelady added 10:30 - Apr 8 But Jas when we were 16 under Roy you still backed him and slattered those that wanted him gone this is where your argument becomes floored. PJ was left with a total mess by Keane and is hopefully slowly re building. We need four players maybe five at most. People are not delighted with PJ but they also can see there is no point in sacking and starting yet again when work is in progress. I went yesterday and first half we played some good stuff something we never did undetermined keane. This year we have shown play off form, just a shame we were so poor towards end of last year.

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walberswick added 11:02 - Apr 8 PJ we have a problem, we've only competed in games for half a season and in them, we can't play for 90 mins.
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Mark added 11:19 - Apr 8 What's with the trend of referring to them as Roy and PJ? Why not RK and Paul? I don't think anyone is happy overall with this season, but I see a lot of people being fair to Paul as he had a very good second half to last season and this season, with a poor first half to this season in the middle. Most people know that RK took over a fairly good side, spent around £10M on it and made is into a boring team of underachievers. Most people can see Paul took that on and had to lose three key players, McAuley, Norris and Wickham, for finances outside his control. Most people think that the transfer fees Paul spend on Cresswell, Drury, Emmanuel-Thomas and Chopra were worth it. We are at least better to watch then we were and we do have some hope for next season, so let's stick with Paul and see where he is able to take us in the new world of restricted finances at ITFC.

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tractorboy2434 added 11:20 - Apr 8 No playmaker, no goalscorer, 15th in table, real progress
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IITFC1948 added 11:52 - Apr 8 BLUE LADY-YOU SAY KEANE LEFT US IN A TOTAL MESS ,YOU WERE AT THE GAME AND SO WAS I,SIX OF THE STARTING ELEVEN,SEVEN IF YOU INCLUDE MURPHY WHO KEANE HAD HERE AND WANTED TO SIGN BUT WENT TO CELTIC.AND YOU ARE SAYING FOR MONDAYS GAME YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE SCOTLAND IN PLACE OF CHOPRA, THAT WOULD MAKE EIGHT PLAYERS IN THE TEAM THAT KEANE HAD HERE BEFORE PJ CAME, DONT SEE THAT AS A TOTAL MESS!!!

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bluearmy4life added 12:04 - Apr 8 We have not made massive progress this season but in recent games we have. I think some of you need reminding how poor we were in parts of the season? Can you remember when we lost 7-8 on the bounce? conceding goals for fun? On that form we were on we looked destined to play league 1 football I think even most fans were concerned. Barnsley away was the make and break game and lucky enough and credit to PJ and the players we recovered well from then onwards. Top 12 finish is what we are aiming for but most importantly we have to finish well because last April was utter crap for ITFC. Bring on next season. Play-offs?

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Garv added 12:10 - Apr 8 ^^^ I really do despair at some of the comments on here. Oohh PJ is using Keane's players therefore we should be thanking Keane for our recent form not our current manager. It's one thing buying players, which Keane did at crazy prices, its another thing managing them and turning them into a team. He failed to do this ultimately after 18 months. In that 18 months very few of us saw any signs that Roy Keane could do anything particularly good at this club. Jewell came in and actually got that same team playing! Funny how a different manager can get completely different results with the same group of players, plus bringing Martin back from lowly league one Charlton and bringing in Bullard. It would seem Jewell would go the same way as Keane after a pretty crap first half of the season, bar one promising run. But NOW we have clearly improved and it seems made/making progress. It would be a lot different and I'd be a lot more worried if we'd had our play off form in the first few months of the season but now enduring relegation form.

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Kesgraveblue57 added 12:11 - Apr 8 I will take the point as I did not expect anymore, two poor sides with nothing to play for
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bluelady added 12:19 - Apr 8 Ipswich1948 not sure why you are shouting!!! The argument from Jas is defence and GK a of which RK signed are all rubbish ... also Martin yes Keane signed but was sent away never to play for the dark lord again.... Murphy has been a much better player this time around and the PJ players of Jet, creswell, chopra and drury are all very decent signings. Also I don't necessarily mean a mess as in players but also the darkness that engulfed the club, the lack of belief and team spirit all of which appear to be on the up. I am not satisfied with 15 but for the first time in a ling time I enjoy going to games and feel we can get a result from mosf games, roll on next year and if we are not in the mix by christmas I will back a change of manager.

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Dissboyitfc added 12:28 - Apr 8 Itfc1948.. totally agree with bluelady. the point you are missing is this under PJ players have improved, scotland and martin are transformed, Murphy is being utilised in a different role. Progress is being made under Jewell, sadly the opposite under keane...coyb
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Garv added 12:33 - Apr 8 ^^^ I really do despair at some of the comments on here. Oohh PJ is using Keane's players therefore we should be thanking Keane for our recent form not our current manager. It's one thing buying players, which Keane did at crazy prices, its another thing managing them and turning them into a team. He failed to do this ultimately after 18 months. In that 18 months very few of us saw any signs that Roy Keane could do anything particularly good at this club. Jewell came in and actually got that same team playing! Funny how a different manager can get completely different results with the same group of players, plus bringing Martin back from lowly league one Charlton and bringing in Bullard. It would seem Jewell would go the same way as Keane after a pretty crap first half of the season, bar one promising run. But NOW we have clearly improved and it seems made/making progress. It would be a lot different and I'd be a lot more worried if we'd had our play off form in the first few months of the season but now enduring relegation form.

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Kesgraveblue57 added 12:55 - Apr 8 Both Keane and Jewell have failed , lets move on Jewell not up to the job, and Clegg is a major problem but my friends M E owns the club it's his right to do what he likes, nothing anyone can do about that, he saved this club and I thank him for that!!
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StowTractorBoy added 13:11 - Apr 8 I too was very surprised that we didn't go all out for the win yesterday. A loss of one point was going to make little difference and before yesterday we had a slim chance of making the play offs - very slim yes but in my opinion we should have gone all out for 3 points. As for next season make no mistake we have no devine right to be in the top 6 as there are at least 10-12 other Clubs who expect to be there as well. There will be Clubs with better resources than us but I will say PJ has turned things around and we at least look like a team now which we never had under Keane. I'm optimistic for next season providing we get the right players in which history tells us is not easy.

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IITFC1948 added 13:25 - Apr 8 Its just a shame he has not got same of his own signing playing well,I just hope the signings he make in the summer are like jet ,cresswell.drury and chopra and not like the rest of the crap he signed. ive renewed my season ticket and will back pj as i did rk and jm before them
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Keaneish added 14:05 - Apr 8 I'm happy with where this club his headed and i'm backing PJ to do well next season although the transfers in the summer are going to swing a top 6 finish to a top 2 finish in my opinion. We're finishing strongly and this has to bode well for next season and, as some have pointed out, we're playing good football, something Keane couldn't get us to do!
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TractorBoy666 added 18:36 - Apr 8 Jas. Success doesn't happen in one season with a new manager all the time. Also bringing in 7 players would be poor because that would mean that some players would have to jell with a load of new players. All we need to do is get 1 or 2 CB's and maybe another striker. We have quite many midfielders too, so even if 1 went out i still think we would have a strong midfield.

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walberswick added 20:55 - Apr 8 Fantastic Jewelio, we're 15th in table and only 23 points adrift of the automatic promotion spots. If we get a CB and a loanee we'll definitely be top 6 next season. Well done everyone.
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TractorBeezer added 00:33 - Apr 9 I sense progress and a significantly improved morale within the team. Let's patiently continue to build on that. Who would have thought that we have made this progress with JB in the wings? He could still be a key factor for us. Up the Tractor Boys!
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Keaneish added 01:20 - Apr 9 Walberswick you're becoming another Jas on this forum! We're making progress after the litter that Keane left behind. Next season is the one.
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bluelady added 05:33 - Apr 9 Keanish look at his photo.....I rest my case :-)
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Stretchstar added 09:56 - Apr 9 @walberswick, 7 games beaten mid-season makes 21 points adrift, since then we've improved beyond recognition, and this kind of form next season + a few new signings should see us right back up there, get real, without that run we'd be closing in behind......rapidly........wake up!!!!
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Dissboyitfc added 10:10 - Apr 9 walberswick... you clearly seek attention, instead of posting destructive criticisms all the time, grab peoples attention by talking about the positives, they are there... Go on impress us all with an intelligent post, instead of sarcastic negativity....coyb
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bluearmy4life added 10:17 - Apr 9 Walberswick@ Boring comments. If we were still in the bottom three or still in a dog fight I would agree with you, but we're not. Time to be positive. New season, New kits (Home kit looks a pleasure) a few new players, Scum to be relegated next season????
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