Boss Mick McCarthy felt the Blues were the better side in the second half until they conceded the goal which won Blackburn the game.

McCarthy said: “I thought in the second half we were the better team until they scored but goals change games and probably the course of performances.

“To concede the way we did was pretty galling, from a corner kick. We just didn’t mark properly and Hendo gets an own goal, heads it in his own net, which is even worse.”

The ball appeared to rebound home off Blues keeper Stephen Henderson after Aaron Cresswell cleared it off the line, however, video evidence suggests Rhodes got a touch prior to it striking the Irishman.

The Blues manager says scoring the first goal makes a big difference in tight games: “It does because then we have to throw a little bit of caution, which we did and I thought we had good chances towards the end to get something.

“I was pleased overall with our performance. I can’t ask for any more effort, just [take the opportunity] when you get the chances to put one away.”

He says that despite the differing results, there’s been little in the performances during the losses to Bristol City and Blackburn, the draw with Barnsley — for whom Jason Scotland scored his third goal in three games this afternoon - and the 4-0 win against Middlesbrough: “I thought we played well at Bristol City to get the points. Barnsley scored against us in the 90th minute with a header, that took two points from us.

“Bristol City scored with a finish in the last minute and you’ve got to find that finish from somewhere.”

McCarthy says he’s confident there’s the spirit in his side to beat the drop, despite the result moving them to a point from the bottom three: “You’ve seen that already.

“That performance out there was full of it. We’ve conceded from defending badly from a corner kick, that’s all. But there was not a lot wrong with that performance at all.”

Rovers manager Michael Appleton explained why one-time Blues striker Jordan Rhodes was claiming the goal: “He had the last touch on the ball before Aaron Cresswell tried to clear it.

“It’s one of them, if you’ve got Hawk-Eye probably they’ll be able to tell us if it was over the line or not from the clearance, but it’s difficult to tell when you look back on the DVD.

“But, like I say, the last touch came from Jordan as it was heading towards the goal so I’m sure he’ll get the rewards for the goal.”

He says that in the dressing room Rhodes was in no doubt that the strike which would match a club record of scoring in seven successive league games was his: “Most definitely. It was Grant Hanley who prodded the ball towards goal initially, but Jordan did get a touch, the lads are saying he definitely got a touch on the ball.

“Whether the ball was over the line before Cresswell cleared it, obviously no one really knows. In all honesty I couldn’t care less, but from Jordan’s point of view there’s the record that stands and he’s obviously got his own personal goals and targets.”

[Edit] Video evidence shows Rhodes touched the ball after it was cleared off the line and on its way back towards goal.

Appleton was pleased to gain the three points from what was a tight match: “They turned over Middlesbrough 4-0 last week and we knew it was going to be a tough, tough game.

“Probably a lot of the game we cancelled each other out a little bit. I said last week before the Bristol City game that there are times when you’ve got to grind results out.

“We did that, but I have to say I thought the quality of the second half was much, much better, the tempo of our play was much better.”

Photo: Action Images

BrettenhamBlue added 11:39 - Feb 10 Scotland was the perfect impact sub. I said at the time that the decision to terminate his contract could prove costly. Barnsley fans can't believe they have picked up such a bargain striker. Fair enough, he's only good for 30 mins but what he can do in those 30 mins! Believe he will save Barnsley from the drop single-handed
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R_LAMB3 added 12:28 - Feb 10 I cant wait to see what you doom and gloom moaners put on here if we win our next two home games and others results go in our favour for a change. As for Scotland he is to old and cant even play 90 minutes any more so let him have his little moment of glory because at the end of the season his team will sign some fresh young strikers and he will be back to where he was here watching games or playing for some team like Lowestoft. As for Campbell its all about money with him and Town cannot be held to ranson with greedy players because we offered him a contract and he turned it down end of story. Since he left Town several other teams offered him contracts and he turn them all down and now he is back to square one on loan because Harry dont want him because he dont rate him and if he dont score goals at Blackburn they wont pay him the huge wages he is looking for either. As for the story going on why we let Wickham go to Sheff Wed and we had first refusal its because Town cannot aford his high wages. Lets forget about players who have left Town and cheer on the ones we have playing for us now. Lets stop the talk about div one next season because we still have loads of games to play and Mick is doing the best he can with the players he has to pick from at the moment and as we all know half of them will not be here next season when Mick start building his own team. A lot of you knockers will have egg on your faces at the end of the season thats for sure and i cant wait to read some of the comments then. For christ sake get behind the team and start cheering them on for change.

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jas0999 added 13:06 - Feb 10 Keanish, no I disagree. A draw would have been a good result, a defeat is poor. The manner of the defeat was disappointing as well I.e. lack of opportunities created. You are entitled to your opinion, as am I mine. I fear you are simply playing on words. If you are happy with a defeat ... When other clubs around us won, then great. But please accept that others might not be. The lack of opportunities, last week aside, is worrying in my opinion and thus poor.

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walberswick added 13:06 - Feb 10 Hendo stood on the burning deck His lips were all a-quiver He gave a cough, his leg fell off And the ball ended up in the net
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Talbs77 added 13:38 - Feb 10 I think us as fans keep expecting town to pull away when we pick up good results like last week, but this league isnt the sort were you can go on a 5-10 game run unbeaten, everyone can beat everyone, thats why its such a crazy league. In fairness MM said that from day one. What I would say is that it is complete and utter madness to PAY Scotland off for the rest of the season and let him join one of our rivals which, even if they didnt know that at the time, was a possibility. I found it weird as he always looked like he had a goal in him most of the time I saw him play, utter madness! We were always in trouble from very early on and we have to just accept we will be right to the end of the season. Its squeaky bum time guys.

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walberswick added 13:43 - Feb 10 perhaps Clegg was shown the door because of the Scotland debacle btw we haven't got enough in this team, it's div 1 next season
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Talbs77 added 14:00 - Feb 10 I heard Clegg give an interview on the radio and it just sounded like he'd had enough, I think he feels he's done as much as he could here. What I did respect him for was his honesty in stating his tenure was ultimately a failure. We have to concentrate on getting out of the trouble were in and forget about Clegg and move on.
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RetroBlue added 17:06 - Feb 10 Clegg should never have been given the CEO job. He did have the right credentials and IMO has cost us several good players.
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blues1 added 17:16 - Feb 10 retro blue, i think youll find that we havent missed the point at all. i agree with you when you say the decision not to play scotland even as a sub could be seen as a mistake by mm. but its a decision he made and gave a reason for in that he wants younger players in the team, which many on here have been urging the club to do for some time. its because of this that scotland decided he wanted to leave so he could get some football elsewhere. so the club agreed to mutually terminate his contract. something i believe that he wanted, not the club, but mm felt it only fair to allow considering he wasnt going to pick him. so those of us saying he was a free agent and could choose who he wanted to play for are in fact correct on that point. as i say tho i agree he maybe ought to have played more for us, tho when he did come on for us this season he rarely did anything.

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Keaneish added 18:01 - Feb 10 Jas0999 - you're saying that if we drew we'd have been good and got a result but as we lost we were poor and it's a poor result. You're also saying that if we drew without creating anything it would have been good but as we lost without creating anything it was poor. This is exactly the fickle nature that's endemic in some of our fan base! Also, I read a post querying whether MM's absence from the game last week coinciding with our biggest win was perhaps not a coincidence? Good God... Ill be putting these on my coupon for the rest of Feb: Blackpool W Watford D Huddersfield W

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Norwichbeater added 20:29 - Feb 10 Lord Mac. Spot on correct.
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Steelmonkey added 21:20 - Feb 10 I dare say that if you put anyone of our strikers into the Barnsley's of this league they would score goals, even money bags Chopra. Their midfield are clearly creating more chances than ours do, or are they! Perhaps we still need a player for that final telling pass, or have we got him in Wordsworth. It takes time for MM and patience from us fans to put together a team that clicks every match. Not much wrong last week against Middlesborough. Inconsistancy is still the name of our game, however with the resources Blackburn have I think that a 1- 0 loss away from home to them is no shame, especially to a fortunate goal, whoever got the last touch. So no use harping on about this game, it's always the next game which is the important one to get it right. (

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R_LAMB3 added 00:48 - Feb 11 Steelmonkey At last someone on here talking sense and i agree its the midfield thats the problem with our team at the moment not the strikers because they are not creating enough chances for them because going back to saturday game how many shots did the strikers have hardly any. I see we still keep bringing the Scotland saga up and if Ellington signs for crewe and he score a couple of goals for them and i heard Priskin is scoring a few goals for his team whoever he play for now. Perhaps at the end of the season Mick could resign all these great old goal scorers and even change our name to the IPSWICH VETERANS.

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walberswick added 10:40 - Feb 11 should have sacked chopra and kept scotland till end of season
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TimmyH added 15:20 - Feb 11 @Talbs - for once I'll disagree with you re: the unbeaten run, in fact a number of teams have gone on unbeaten runs and winning quite a percentage of them in doing so e.g. Cardiff (obviously), Palace, Watford, Millwall, Leicester and Burnley until the weekend. I really thought we were making good gains under MM for nearly the first couple of months but for some strange reason perhaps too many players unlucky number is '13' because so far this year we've almost slumped back into a 'double dip'. Still think we'll be ok as Mick likes a relegation scrap. he's been used to it :)

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TimmyH added 15:26 - Feb 11 anyway not worried about the 'unbeaten run' as long as we win say 40/50% of our games would suffice but this year Mick's win % has gone pear shaped.
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h32 added 19:14 - Feb 11 There is an element of support for this Club who will find / make excuses for anything / everything in terms of failure. Maybe that says much about the ambition of the Club today - in days past much more was expected and ultimately delivered. Argue with that - and hit the minus button - but it will only serve to prove my point.
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