Town boss Mick McCarthy felt his side had the best of the second half of their 1-1 pre-season draw with Dutch side FC Utrecht with the visitors having been the better team in the first period.

“I thought it was a really good game, a good competitive game against a good side, a very technically gifted good side, keeping the ball,” he said.

“I thought we had a great start and conceded pretty poorly, actually. I thought we should have won the ball. The ball in the box we should have defended.

“Nevertheless, it was a great cross by them and a great finish. And then they’re playing 3-5-2 and they can keep the ball and we were trying to press and they were making it hard, not allowing us.

“So I had to change and go 4-3-3 and I thought when we got to grips with it we sorted it out and I thought we were much the better side in the second half.”

McCarthy was pleased to see David McGoldrick skip into the area and win the late penalty, which he netted to claim the draw.

“It was [a terrific run], that just shows Didzy’s bit of magic,” he added. “They’re saying it wasn’t a penalty so I said that the referee said it was and that’s enough for me.

“It was interesting when I made the substitutions because we’ve got different players with different qualities.

“When we had him and Pits on the pitch and Kevin Bru and Skusey and Cokey, we had some really good footballers on the pitch, who drop in and play, and it was a different game - we weren’t trying to stretch them. It was great, it was interesting to see, I enjoyed it.”

Left-back Jonny Parr missed out with what’s been a niggly injury he has suffered throughout pre-season.

“He’s had a tight thigh," McCarthy continued. "He’s not had a great pre-season in terms of minutes and training, so having played the last two games, bit parts of them, he just didn’t feel up to it, it felt a bit tight.

“I’m sure he might be feeling a bit better having seen Jonas Knudsen make his debut.”

The Blues boss says the Norwegian could be a doubt for next Saturday’s opening day Championship game at Brentford: “Possibly. I’ll see. He’s not done a lot of training. I’ll have to wait and see, he’s not done anything really this week. I’ll play it by ear.”

With Christophe Berra suspended for the match against the Bees, skipper Luke Chambers seems certain to start at the centre of the defence alongside Tommy Smith, as he did at the start of today’s match.

If Parr is unavailable, 17-year-old right-back Josh Emmanuel could be handed his first-team debut.

Photo: Action Images

bluefeast added 19:15 - Aug 1 Selection headaches big time. Could see different team selections home and away. We are looking to pass it thats for sure. Different feel ,we may be a bit softer and concede but we will create chances and will definitely win more away games than last season. Brentford have signed some class players ,radio commentators purring about brentfords performance vs norwich today. Its a tough opener for us.

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ArnieM added 19:56 - Aug 1 Hard to judge Brentford with them playing such inferior opposition.
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commuterblue added 19:56 - Aug 1 I hope there's nothing between the lines there with Parr.
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bluefeast added 20:04 - Aug 1 Micks clearly peed off with Parr. He's next out i reckon
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muccletonjoe added 21:20 - Aug 1 Will have a very tough time next week I think, really don't think it's been the best of pre seasons
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bluefeast added 21:53 - Aug 1 We will score 3 vs Brentford
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blues1 added 22:11 - Aug 1 Bluefeast. Parr was out due to a niggle so why write such rubbish. Typical of u tho isn't it. Muccletone. Preseason means nothing. In 2000 when we got promoted, that preseason we lost nearly every match. These matches are mainly to get fitness. Yes, its nice to win them but means nothing if u don't. Has no bearing on how ur season will go. But h bluefeast, like me ur 2nd post tho. Hopeur right about 3 goals next sat

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jas0999 added 08:56 - Aug 2 Disappointing after having 3 months to sign players that we may have to make do with a 17 year old with absolutely no experience at a tough place like Brentford. Surely the club have a plan? Many on here have been voicing concerns over Parrs injury proneness. Perhaps we should have thought about that prior to flogging Mings. Sign someone this week Mick. Let's not just hope for the best again.

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parhamblue added 11:39 - Aug 2 It looks like the Club are keen to deal, but still not for silly money. Looks like there has been some movement, so I am optimistic that one, hopefully two more key signings are made this week. We don't have long to find out!
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Vic added 16:16 - Aug 2 Blues1 - I'd just read Micks comments re Parr and wondered what he meant to so don't be too hard on BF this time. 'He may feel better having seen Knudsen make his debut'! He was either joking can't tell from the report) or he was having a little dig that maybe Parr is being a bit of a sick note and needs to man up. Legitimate comment by FS I think.
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