Town boss Mick McCarthy admitted that the Blues were “very poor” during their 2-1 defeat at Huddersfield. Nahki Wells and James Vaughan gave the Terriers a 2-0 half-time lead and Town were unable to add to Luke Varney’s goal three minutes after the restart.

“We were very poor but when you say that it takes away from the other team’s performance and I can’t because I thought that Huddersfield played well,” he said.

“It’s easy for me to say that we were poor, which we were. We weren’t as competitive as we’ve been all season and that’s been a real hallmark of my team and we were nowhere near as competitive.”

He added: “I thought we started well, we hit the post, we had a good chance. I thought we were settling into the game and then we gave a goal away and it seemed to dent everybody’s confidence, knock everybody.

“It certainly helps when you get the first goal. Had we scored when Tabby had his chance, it would have been a lot different.

“I think it affected Zeki as well for the first half, that really put it on him and Sean Scannell was having a good time.

“But, of course, the first goal changes everything. You can relax. And we didn’t play well and then the second goal left us with a bit much to do and although we had a bright start to the second half, we never really followed that up.”

McCarthy admits he was annoyed by the performance but says he’s not one for throwing teacups: “I was pretty angry but I don’t throw things around because it really is counterproductive, I don’t see people responding to that.

“People look at the floor and say they’re hanging their heads in shame, that’s not the case, they’re just saying ‘Come on, shut up, let’s get on with it’.

“Strong words were spoken rather than shouting, and the same at full-time. Screaming and shouting at people doesn’t get a reaction and I’m not going to start now.

“I did walk off, I had to walk off to calm down slightly after the game. I would normally shake everybody’s hand coming off but that wasn’t the case, I waited until I got in the dressing room.”

He says that while Chris Wood and Richard Chaplow were subbed at half-time, anyone else could have received the hook.

“The two lads that have come off have not been regular starters, I feel for them because I could have taken off any two off at half-time but I chose those two,” he added.

“Teddy Bishop wouldn’t have got through a full game today anyway. I decided to change it, it’s not worked so I take the responsibility for that.”

The Town boss says the Blues are now behind his personal points target for the current games.

“I was thinking privately beforehand that we’ve got this game and two home games, would I take seven points from them?" he said. "Yes, I would have taken coming here and drawing and winning our two home games.

“It’s put a massive pressure on the two home games now and we’ve going to have to find something at Wolves or something at Blackburn, that’s made it even more important.”

Despite the disappointment of the defeat, he doesn’t expect it to significantly impact on Saturday’s game against Blackpool.

“I can hardly come in here and be ‘happy slappy’, can I, because I don’t feel like that and I won’t feel like it tomorrow,” he continued.

“I’ll go in with TC and watch the game at seven o’clock in the morning and start repairing myself and get ready for Saturday.

“That’s not happened too often with us and I don’t fear for Saturday’s game at all.”

McCarthy gave Jonny Williams his third debut from the bench but warns that the on-loan Crystal Palace midfielder is still a long way from full match fitness.

“I’d like to have him starting and had him fully fit but in terms of how he is, it was tough for him because he’s not match hardened.

“He hasn’t played, that’s the first time he’s played since we played Watford in November.”

The Blues boss also revealed that David McGoldrick has suffered another setback and now seems likely to miss the rest of the season: “He’s injured, he hurt his thigh in training on Saturday morning.

“He’s had a bad injury and it keeps niggling away at him, sadly. We missed him at the end of last season and we’ve suffered again this season, I reckon.”

Huddersfield boss Chris Powell felt it was probably his team’s best display since he took over in September.

“It was a first class performance by my team today,” he said. “I think our display in the first period was arguably the best we’ve played since I’ve been manager.

“We scored two but we quite easily could have scored more and for us to do that having played less than 48 hours ago is a testament to my players. I’m very proud to be their manager the way they played.”

Photo: Action Images

bluefeast added 21:59 - Apr 6 Well on the 15th of January we were 2nd in the table. We have now done far worse than 7 other clubs in the top 8. mentality plays a huge part , we have a real lack of quality in our side compared to a lot of championship clubs. We are also one of only a few teams that does not have recognised players playing in specific positions. If for example you compare all the right backs in the championship Chambers would not dislodge any of them in my opinion. Our wide midfield is weak and so on ,we don't score enough goals. But the real problem of late is signing unfit players that are supposed to help us. Plain stupid

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bluesince84 added 22:28 - Apr 6 surely now is the time to play our two wingers who have been forgotten all season. What have we now got to lose, we're 8th, well off the pace, other teams hitting form i.e. coming from behind to win games. We are actually now at the point where we have absolutely nothing whatsoever to lose. just try it for Christ sake.if it fails so what, our 1st team choice constantly fails..... Today was unforgivable. Wood?????? hasnt scored, assisted, created, overweight, i mean christ, does he also have dirt on MM??? can we honestly say we are going to beat blackpool? DM has been sold i would imagine or a deal has been done, will see over the coming days, Im sure against them well play 3 defenders out of position, goal getter skuse in midfield and the goal machine Tabb of course is nailed on to start ( although i will concede hes having a batter few weeks than he has done) our players on the bench or not in the squad must be scratching their heads in disbelief!

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notoriousITFC added 22:40 - Apr 6 I get the impression David McGoldrick has played his last game for town. That would be a serious shame. Something isn't right though.
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Keaneish added 22:40 - Apr 6 Hold on a f**king minute! A month ago we went to Leeds and left some of our best attacking options on the bench and bring them on far too late when chasing the game because some dreary tactical 'nous' hasn't paid off and EXACTLY the same thing has happened again. Why? Oh, because we have to play 2 games in 3 days...what a load of s**te! That's 6 points thrown away due to incompetence. We don't deserve a top 6 place. Other teams play better football, have a more adventurous style of play and want it more. End of.

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dannyrr added 22:50 - Apr 6 No sh*t we were very poor. The starting lineup was uninspiring. We were giving the bal, to them and if we won it we hoofed it up the pitch. There didn't seem to be any commitment to win the ball. Tabb was his usual headless chicken. Why is he nailed on to start every week - it's becau he's not creative. Really disappointed with today's perf and the games we've given away this year. Not promotion material and will be luck if we make the playoffs with this level of football. Blackpool must be looking forward to the weekend thinking they can turn us over. We normally can't beat teams that struggle because we aim to get a point not to go for a win. Disillusioned 😡

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AbujaBlue added 23:23 - Apr 6 @lonelyblue I know, the comments section on this website seem to spawn a totally different breed of poster compared to the forum after a loss. Posts that call to back the team such as this will be down-voted. But it is unsurprising when you look at the long queue of knee-jerk callers on Radio Suffolk after a loss and empty phone lines following a Town victory.
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Cheshire_Blue added 23:42 - Apr 6 Well said Lonelyblue, you are spot on but not as lonely as you might think! As I said earlier, the moaners amount to a very small proportion of our fan base but seem to congregate on here to vent their negative ill informed nonsense. Jay Tabb seems to have taken over from Grant Leadbitter as public enemy number one and look what he is doing for Middlesborough. Tabb is the workhorse of the team (as was Leadbitter) and is very under rated. MM has achieved wonders on a shoestring budget and it is a pity the investment was not forthcoming in January to consolidate our position. This raises the question 'How much does ME want to reach the Premier League?'

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Simonds92 added 23:42 - Apr 6 Lots of issues with tactics in our team at the moment (consistently playing 442 which we're awful at or having two big strikers upfront hoofing the ball up towards lumbering cbs when we need a quick player to run them ragged) but defenders back-pedalling is not one of them. If you flew in to tackles 40-50 yards out constantly you would get battered every week. Defenders backpedal to hold up the striker to get bodies in and around him from midfield close down the angles and also wait for the opportune moment to put a toe in rather than getting done and allowing the striker to score or getting sent off. It's very basic defending strategy tbh and there's got to be a reason why 99% of professional teams do it.

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westernblue added 00:34 - Apr 7 I'd be interested in MM being clearer about what he means by 'very poor'. It seems to me that he and TC have given Town fans a season full of possibilities (and we have long been well safe from relegation). And he needs to be accorded a lot of respect and thanks for that. But the general level of football we play is dire. And we are often outplayed by teams with a bit of pace who are not afraid of passing the ball. I think most fans will quickly get over it if we are not promoted - and heaven help us if we were - but it would be really welcome to see us playing some football, using some of our (mostly fit from what we are told) young players from now till the end of the season.

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clint_eastwood added 02:29 - Apr 7 No sh@te sherlock
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BrettenhamBlue added 03:15 - Apr 7 Our HoofBall tactics are far too predictable now. Teams are well prepared fot it (notice how Huddersfield went to a sweeper system every time our defence had the ball). blackpool will be well prepared too.
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MacMan added 06:03 - Apr 7 In the cold light of day (I am in nz!) it seems like a bad result. But talking of getting rid of the manager is, well, just plain dumb. Are we doing better than last season? Yes. And was last season better than the season before? Again, yes. So are we making progress? Of course we are. We have a crop of good young players coming through, and I am certain that Mick knows exactly what he wants to do next season if we don't go up. That might be selling Mings and/ or Mcgoldrick and rebuilding with the money. That won't be something new to most of us, we have done it countless times from selling Brian Talbot and getting some Dutch players who turned out Ok if I remember, to selling Keiron Dyer and getting Marcus Stewart who could play a bit. On the other hand, we could get a new manager and be right back where we started. They would come in, want their own staff, and there is no guarantee that they would do any better. Then what? Someone else? And how long would they be given before fans were demanding they get the sack? Sometimes teams play poorly and lose. We did against Huddersfield. That is why we are all fans, because it is totally unpredictable. Get over it or support Chelsea. Oh and as for questioning Marcus Evans commitment, he could have taken the cash from selling Mings and Mcgoldrick mid season but didn't. He gave mick the cash to get Williams back, so it seems to me that he has put his money in. If people want him to go, I think they should be careful what they wish for.

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oddball added 08:02 - Apr 7 Very odd team selection for me, why sears does not play regular is very strange, wood has been very poor since coming. Abit perplexed by un inspiring team yesterday and away draw mentality, shame but season with early promise is slipping away to mediocrity.
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Razor added 10:14 - Apr 7 Cheshire Blue----you just can not be serious----can you!! Very very poor performance, after scoring so early in second half some hope of saving the game but dont think we ever tested the goalkeeper. It is not fair to expect Chambo to play as a winger which is what he has to do as we have no wide men and what happenned to our defence after Watford, all over the place. What would we off er a new manager-----fantastic ground and training facilities and great fan base if playing attractive football. Mcgoldrick-----has he played his last game for town, does he actually care and am I really bothered. No doubt we will play to protect the point on Saturday and consider it a huge success when done. Comments not moans.

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peteswindon added 10:26 - Apr 7 For the first time I am starting to lose faith in MM Sick to death of him biging up teams that we should easily beat. I feel all his comments before a match makes our players believe we will struggle. When I first checked the scores yesterday both us and Bournmouth where 2 nill down. Surprise surprise we lose 2-1 abut Bournemouth win 4-2 pure and simple we are miles behind the best teams.

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finidi added 10:33 - Apr 7 Don,t get it you so called fans on here have been screaming out for 4-3-3 for sometime but we have been overrun in midfield because we are short of number Bournemouth and Huddersfield being the example so that is why Mick plays 4-2-2. Can't understand why Evans is not providing more cash if you look at the Sunday Times rich list he is one of the richest in the country and with all the trappings that the premier league offers he would get all his money back and the debt he took over speculate to accumulate. We have been badly let down this season. But it's not over yet!!!

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Warkys_Tash added 12:09 - Apr 7 PHIL you were quick to squah the McG rumours earlier in the week and said he just had an injury. Are you still thinking the same now? Surely, the physios would have passed him anywhere near fit to be on the bench against Bournemouth if he was likely to break down and how come MM was quick to rule him out for the rest of the season?? Has MM finally lost patience with his star player not be available? Its a sad loss for all ITFC fans and the season is in danger of going down the drain.

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jocasaja added 12:55 - Apr 7 We have, and are having a really good season - everybody has played their part. The away support has been fantastic. We have a good team of honest, hardworking pros, and there is still a play off spot to play for - Win our next 2 home games and that should see us back in the mix. Too much criticism of Tabb - he does his job very very well - just got to get the right blend around him - Bishop, Bru, Williams. Lets not forget that we have players out injured - Big win on Saturday and we will all be feeling better ...'gonna make some noise for the Tractor Boys...COYB !!!!!'

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PortmanTerrorist added 14:05 - Apr 7 Since January, of all the teams in the top 10, we are the ONLY team who have been trying not to lose matches. Everyone else is set up to go out and win whether at home or away. Maybe that is all we had left, maybe MM has been too cautious, maybe the players are not good enough to set up any other way. What I do know is that in October/November we played just about the only free-flowing football seen at FPR in a decade......and then immediately abandoned the set up never to be seen again. Now that IS confusing and we will never understand why we did not revert to that esp when the wheels started buckling in Jan....the signs were there over Xmas for goodness sake.

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bobble added 14:12 - Apr 7 at least norwich are doing well
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karls_dad added 18:11 - Apr 7 Ok lets be realistic for once, forget the Blue tinted glasse,s, if and i say "IF" we should make the playoff,s highly unlikely with current form! And then "IF" we shock of all shocks managed to win them! Just how well would we fare against the like of the top six in the prem? with our current squad! i foresee some embarassing results coming our way. We simply do not have the quality in our squad! end of! Not that many on this forum are being very realistic, i,m blue to the core but a realist! we had our chance when we were flying up the top to strenghten and we did,nt! no money available for quality players coming in, i do wonder why?

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Cheshire_Blue added 19:04 - Apr 7 Razor : Yes, I am very serious and factual. Actually, apart from your first and last sentence I don't disagree with what you say. It is the silent majority who are the backbone of our support, not the few who comment on here. 'Empty vessels make the most noise' as the saying goes!
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