A delighted Mick McCarthy hailed his three subs - Daryl Murphy, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Michael Chopra - as the Blues came from behind to beat Bolton Wanderers 2-1 at the Reebok Stadium.

McCarthy was pleased to grab the fourth win of his seven games in charge: “I’m delighted with it, of course.

“The first half was pretty bang ordinary, to be honest with you, from both teams, except an exceptional strike from Mark Davies. I don’t think there was a lot in it, they were probably better than us in the first half.

“But we stuck at it and we managed to come in at 1-0 and we had a good response to what we said in the second half.”

Despite Town going behind in the sixth minute, the Blues boss felt his side never looked like repeating the thrashings at Leicester and Crystal Palace: “We didn’t [look like capitulating].

“I don’t know what happened at Palace or at Leicester, it’s not like the group of lads, not like the team, they’re good lads, they work hard and maybe they’re just getting a bit more belief in what we’re doing and being organised.

“It wasn’t a good game, the first half was pretty awful, I thought. I was just happy we didn’t come in any more down and we could do something then.”

He says he brought on Daryl Murphy, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Michael Chopra with the intention of winning the game: “I wanted to win it. I wasn’t going to put somebody on to try and shore it up, I don’t think I’ve got anybody anyway!

“I thought we were doing all right, we were playing OK. I thought DJ had had a game on Tuesday, he’d put another shift in and it was fairly even. I thought ‘Let’s try and win it’. I said to Terry ‘We can win this’ and as it turned out, we did.

“It’s nice when subs come on and they haven’t got a big lip on as they’ve been on the bench. I tell them beforehand that they’re there to change the game, win the game, save the game and I think the three subs won the game for us today.”

Murphy impressed from the bench for the second game running, winning both the penalty and the corner from which the winning goal eventually came: “When he’s bang at it and he’s motivated like that, he’s a handful.”

The Town manager said midfielder Luke Hyam had no chance of being fit after suffering a calf injury in the Nottingham Forest game: “Miles away, we left him in Ipswich! He had no chance. He’ll be fit for Saturday, I hope.”

Bolton boss Dougie Freedman thought his team ought had had enough chances to win it before the Blues’ goals: “I felt that for 70 minutes we played very well, we created a lot of opportunities and we just couldn’t quite take them.

“And if you don’t take your opportunities you’re going to give the other side a bit of confidence from that, and I thought that was the case today.

“I was obviously disappointed to lose the match, but I think we created enough to win the match. In the last 15 minutes we were a bit edgy, conceded two goals, no complaints, lost the match.”

Photo: Action Images

megamoth added 10:35 - Dec 2 The man does seem to be the best manager outside the prem. He has to be to turn around a ship headed for the Bermuda Triangle. I don't remember feeling this way - even fleetingly - at any time with RK or PJ. A future seems to be emerging and its a future that in the immediate term will see us in the championship rather than the netherworld. Well done to you Sir Mick
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Taricco_Fan added 13:04 - Dec 2 Mick 'n' Terry's Barmy Army!!! COYB!
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BrettenhamBlue added 13:21 - Dec 2 Great result team. Well done!
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wrighty_blue97 added 13:46 - Dec 2 BIG MICKS BARMY ARMY! glad to see chops get the winner, lets hope this is a turning point for the club and michael chopra :) need to get orr, dj, n'daw and barnett on perms in january, in mick we trust, COYB!
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Ipswichbusiness added 19:03 - Dec 2 Wonderful win; away and against one of our rivals! However, before we get carried away, remember that we have to play some strong teams shortly and we still have an appalling goal difference.
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Talbs77 added 19:57 - Dec 2 What a great win, wasnt at the game but must say when I heard us go 1 - 0 down my heart sank. But they dug in, rode it out till half time and by the sounds of it were the better team in the second half. Were doing the ugly things in football right, working hard and taking our chances. N'Daw has been an absolute revelation since MM took over and also feel were seeing a different Tommy Smith. I think Emmanual Thomas may start to finally show theres a really good player in there. Lets keep it going boys, the prettier side of our football will soon be on display f we can keep this run going but to be honest I couldnt give a toss about that, I just love looking forwards to Saturdays again and I thank MM for that.

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Eireannach_gorm added 14:43 - Dec 3 '.....brought on Daryl Murphy, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Michael Chopra with the intention of winning the game'. ' Thats how to build team moral. The 'keeping the score down' mentality clearly does not work. Thanks to Mick we now have a team that is prepared to scrap and win ugly. When we are mathematically safe we can concern ourselves with playing a passing game.

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