Town boss Mick McCarthy felt his side just about deserved their hard-fought 2-1 home victory over Doncaster Rovers. Rovers boss Paul Dickov believed Blues midfielder Luke Hyam should have been sent off for a challenge in the run-up to Luke Chambers’s winning goal.

“We just about deserved it, I think,” McCarthy said. “It was a hard game, as I expressed on Friday at the press conference. I thought it would be.

“I’d heard all sorts of things that they might do. I asked somebody if they were going to play 3-5-2, they said no, and of course they did.

“That caused a few problems to us and I thought they played well in the first half, it was just a scrap with not a lot in it. The changes, I think, helped and getting a goal early in the second half certainly helped.

“Murph was on the pitch anyway and he got the goal but [the changes] probably gave them something to think about.”

He added: “We just about deserved it, barely. That was one of those days where we’ve had to grind one out against a team who are well organised, prepared and fighting for their survival.”

The Town boss was pleased that his team again received praise for their own battling qualities: “It’s nice that people recognise that there’s a good spirit in the team and good players in the team, but you don’t always get them with the same character and spirit that ours have got.”

He was delighted with Chambers’s goal: “It was great, wasn’t it? The defenders have chipped in with goals, to be fair to them. Christophe, Chambo and Tommy.

“It was nice for him to get the winner, he’s been excellent, Chambo, playing out of position, but you wouldn’t know it, he’s been fabulous.”

Earlier, the Blues captain had received a blow to the head and McCarthy joked: “He had a bang on the head and he thought he was Carlos Alberto!”

Tyrone Mings came into the side for Aaron Cresswell and had an eventful afternoon, playing a part in all three goals.

“When he gave the penalty away I wasn’t very happy with him!” McCarthy said. “I’ve said to you before how much I think of Ty and I think he should have been helped [on the penalty incident], he should have been in front of [Mark Duffy] and Tommy Smith should have been behind the player that got fouled.

“It was only a tangle of legs but it was clumsy. He was knackered, but he kept going and he responded really well because he was involved in both goals for us.

“I thought it was a stonewall penalty. He brought him down. He’s run across him and I think Ty’s just tangled with his legs. It was a penalty, it was a stonewall penalty. I didn’t think there was any doubt about it at all.

“He’s great. It’s hard when you come in not having played. I remember Tabby coming back in and finding it really tough to get going. It’s a different ball game to the U21s and training. I’m really pleased with him.”

McCarthy said it was his decision not to risk Cresswell: “I think he quite fancied playing, which they all do but I didn’t want him to play and go off after 20 minutes when I’ve got such a good left-back as cover.

“Because if you come off after 60 minutes [as Cresswell did at Huddersfield] there’s something wrong. Yes, it might start to heal but he couldn’t carry on on Tuesday night.

“Yes, he’s recovered a great deal but if he came off in this game, he’d miss the rest of them because he’d probably strain it or pull it, and why risk it when I’ve got Tyrone? So I made the decision for him.”

Doncaster boss Paul Dickov was unhappy with Town’s second goal, believing that Luke Hyam should not only have been penalised for a foul on Gabriel Tamas but also red carded: “I feel really hard done by.

“We were 1-0 down, we reacted really well against a good team, got back in the game and then to lose it at the death in the manner we did when it was a blatant freekick on Gabby Tamas.

“He’s one of our defenders, the ball gets crossed in from his side. Gabby was lucky not to get his leg broken. He got a bad one right down his shin and the referee’s got to see that.

“If he gives the right decision, the goal doesn’t happen and I’m getting a little bit sick of talking about decisions which don’t go our way because you end up making yourself look stupid half the time. For him not to give it, I can’t get my head around it.”

He also felt his side ought to have been awarded an earlier spotkick: “Chris Brown should have had a blatant penalty at the back post in the first couple of minutes and then he got booked for winning the ball, then Gabby got six studs down his shin and nothing happens. That inconsistency is a little bit frustrating. I’m going to go and see the referee now.”

He added: “He got six studs down his shin from his knee all the way down his leg. I think Ipswich is a fantastic club, they’ve got a fantastic manager and really good players, good pros, and I don’t want to see anybody sent off, I want to make that straight, but it wasn’t just a foul it was red card.”

Having seen the incident after the game, McCarthy admitted that it was a foul, although said there was no malice on his player’s behalf: “I was just talking to [Doncaster assistant manager] Brian Horton and he’s said much the same.

“I said to him firstly that Luke Hyam doesn’t have a bad bone in his body and wouldn’t leave his foot in, but he didn’t do that, he just tried to win the ball.

“As it turns out, it was a foul. I’m not trying to be smug about it. We’ve had decisions go against us. It’s horrible when it goes against you but I’ve said to my players ‘If you think it’s offside put the ball in the net, if you think it’s a foul, put it in the net. Just put it in the net and argue about it afterwards. If he disallows it, he disallows it. If he gives it then maybe we’ve got away with one’.

“But certainly Luke did nothing other than try and win the ball. At the time I didn’t think it was a foul, I didn’t know what all the fuss was about, but I’ve just seen it.

“It’s great when we all see it afterwards, it’s a piece of piss the game then, I’m a great player afterwards, I know everything that’s gone wrong.”

Photo: Action Images

Pimtastic added 10:23 - Apr 13 Let's face it Dickov, you've taught you team to play in your image. Your players dived all game - just as you did. How can you expect consistency when you treat the game like that.
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TimmyH added 12:05 - Apr 13 I thought we got away with Hyam's challenge to be honest but as said that really didn't have that much to do with the goal thereafter and I think Dickov has been watching too much of Morinho and his excuses on TV. Glad to get the three points yesterday and it sounded a bit of a 'nervy' one, just wish we weren't playing bloody Watford next weekend, I think we've only beaten them once in god knows how many years. All I can say now is come on Leicester!

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Slambo added 13:15 - Apr 13 The ref was the worst I've seen all season. He booked 4 players after the first 35 minutes for crying out loud. I suspect refs dish out cards early on so as to assert themselves, but then the penalised player(s) will then do something that genuinely deserves a yellow card later in the game and the ref will have no choice but to send him off. This ref didn't no what kind of game he wanted to run. The Hyam one should have been a foul, but a red card..?! And yes, Mings did commit a foul, but the player was brought down on the edge of the area sprinting away from goal! How is a penalty - practically a dead cert goal - an accurate punishment..?! Whole penalty laws need to be overhauled, in my opinion...

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WestNorfolk_Blue added 20:11 - Apr 13 Dickov is a c*ck must have seen a different game to me Brown was all arms and elbows and i was impressed with how Berra handled him, got a yellow but never un-nerved and stood his ground. Tamas likewise most Donny players was quick to foul and even quicker to blar ar*e when they got it back. On watching replays Hyam's was a foul but to say red was harsh. Definitely the best footballing team won and not as tight as Mick made out. Thought Skuse played well in the middle and played some lovely balls, Gerks made a couple of great saves and picked a couple out of the air holding on well under pressure. On the down side so many passes and interceptions went to Donny players, must cut that out for next week. Top six next week looking good>

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