Town boss Mick McCarthy was pleased with his side’s second half performance during their 0-0 home draw with Huddersfield, feeling two incidents late on were crucial in a game either side could have won.

“I was pleased with the second half and it hinged on two chances and two saves,” he said.

“Didzy’s still saying the ball didn’t go out when he crossed it and Dougie got tripped and it would have been a penalty.

"I couldn’t see it so I’m relying on Didz’s opinion and if I was Didz I would say it hadn’t gone out as well, like everybody else when you’re playing.

“But the two saves, Gerks made a great save in the second half when the freekick dropped to Huws. And their keeper kept their point when the ball dropped to Didzy.”

McCarthy agreed that it was a game of two halves: “It was. I made a change at half-time and brought Didzy on.

“I feel sorry for Tommy Oar because it turns out he’s got concussion. I didn’t know that when I took him off. I knew he’d been affected by the ‘collision’. It was a nasty bang, I’ve just watched it again.”

Might the keeper have been sent off for the challenge? “I wouldn’t know what would happen today, no idea. If I can’t say anything pleasant about them I’m not going speak about them at all.”

Regarding full debutant Oar, McCarthy added: “He didn’t play well but neither would anybody else if they were concussed. He quite clearly didn’t have double vision as he would have said something to us, but it really did affect him.

“He got a right smack in the hooter. And as it turned out it quite clearly affected his performance.”

The Town boss was able to take a number of positives from the match: “A clean sheet is one. I think the reaction in the second half was another one, we played well having not played so well in the first half. But sadly we were a man down really with Tommy [Oar concussed].

“And the fact that I thought we were back to being competitive. We certainly weren’t going to allow them to play and I thought some of the players who had tough starts, like Tommy Smith, I thought he then won that battle with Ishmael Miller having had a tough start. So there are positives to take out of it and the clean sheet is certainly one.”

He says on another day the Blues might be celebrating all three points via McGoldrick’s late chance: “If you don’t do all the basic stuff, you’ll get beaten regularly.

“On a different day, last season maybe, we’d have scored that and would have eked a 1-0 out of that and that’s why we ended up in the play-offs.

“That’s just not happening for us at the moment but it will happen if we do all the other things and get back to basics and scrapping and tackling and blocking and working hard.

“That’s not to say we haven’t been working hard but perhaps not stopping the opposition as much as we should have done.

“If we get back to that then maybe those 0-0-ers will turn into 1-0-ers or 1-1s will turn into 2-1s in our favour again.”

Why does he feel the Blues have failed to maintain their early season form which saw them top the table? “Maybe the teams looking at us and the way we play is a big thing.

“I got asked in August ‘Are you going to be suffering from a hangover?’ and quite clearly we weren’t. Maybe teams thought we would be but we weren’t, we went a steamrolled teams.

“And I think others have looked at us then and thought ‘We’re going to have to be on our mettle playing against Ipswich and be at our best’.

“There are two teams in it, not only us, and I thought Blackburn did it to us two weeks ago but it’s not happened today, it’s a been a real tough Championship game and probably a fair result but either of us could have won in the last 15 minutes.”

McCarthy, who opted not to make significant changes to his team, was pleased with the reaction from his players: “I am because the reality is that it's us conceding goals that’s been our real achilles heel and we haven’t conceded one.

“And there were times Bez [Christophe Berra] and Tommy [Smith] got in a mix-up and Nahki Wells got in but he hooked it off the line. The first bit’s not great defending but the second bit’s brilliant defending.

“Jonas slipped but they got back and blocked it. Somebody else had another slip on this side, got free and Bez got in and blocked it. That’s great defending.

“With the chances that they got, they made up for, they repaired the damage and so if anything it was giving goals away that had been the problem and we defended goalkicks and corners really well today against another big side. So, I’m pleased with the lads who played.”

The Blues boss says he’s not inclined to react to chants from the crowd with fans calling for the introductions of McGoldrick in the first half and Kevin Bru in the second.

“I’ll just tell you that the more they shout probably the less chance they’re going to come on,” he added.

“I’m not being that belligerent about it but if anybody thinks that Freddie Sears and Brett Pitman aren’t good players, I think they’re a really good partnership.

“You know what, the ones that came on had the chance to be the hero today, didn’t they? Maybe on another night it might be Brett and Freddie that come on to be the hero. Dougie headed one over the crossbar and it’ll be Dougie’s turn.

“It’s the same everywhere I’ve played since I’ve been a kid. There are always a couple who get it in the ear hole and they have favourites, and that won’t change.

“If Didz’s ball didn’t go out we’d have had a penalty and that was Dougie in the box. I thought he was great.

“So when it’s going badly I’m not really the flavour of the month and the players who are playing aren’t flavour of the month. We’ve just got to change their taste buds again, haven’t we?”

McCarthy felt his back four repaid his faith by recording the Blues’ third clean sheet of the season: “I think you’ll find that over the course of my career I’ve known who the best players are and who the best defenders are and who the best frontmen are and have a pretty good idea of what I’m doing.

“It might not always look like that sometimes when the results go the wrong way, but everybody has a different team in their head, everybody. When it’s going badly the knee-jerk reaction is ‘Let’s change it all’.

“Then, of course, when you do that if that goes to mush you have to change it again. And if that goes to mush you’ve got to change it again.

“The back four that played there, apart from Jonas Knudsen - who was excellent I must add, apart from his slip, and he was playing against one of the better wingers in the league - were fantastic last year. They’ve not become bad players.”

McCarthy was also pleased with Daryl Murphy’s performance from the bench and also with his other subs, David McGoldrick and Larsen Touré: “I pleased with the response from the subs who went on. I was delighted with them all.”

Huddersfield manager Chris Powell agreed with McCarthy that a draw was a fair result: “I think so, on the balance of play.

“We started off very well, we thought there would be a response from Ipswich’s last performance but we more than matched that.

“At half-time I said to the players that I thought we should be a goal or two up because we had very good situations which, especially away from home, you would like.

“But Ipswich made a positive change at half-time bringing David McGoldrick on, so we knew we would have to be quite resolute in our defending, which is something we had spoken about all week because we hadn’t had a clean sheet all year. It was about time we got one and we knew we’d have to earn it today and I think we did.”

Regarding James Vaughan’s late red card, he added: “It’s put a bit of a dark cloud on what’s been quite a decent day, a decent performance.

“He’s let himself down because he’s worked very hard to get back and he was close to possibly starting. I thought I’d bring him on for 20 minutes to see where he’s at.

“You manage the game, there were two or three minutes to go, it’s our ball. He shouldn’t even get involved.”

Photo: Action Images

rendoblue added 08:22 - Oct 18 Can we all then please insure if Douglas, Gerkin, Smith, Pitman or Skuse ever make the bench again we all chant their names as much as possible so the stubborn idiot keeps them there!
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Harlowtractorboy added 08:44 - Oct 18 Come on mick we all see it. Sort it out . You send a couple off Young players out on loan they could off played here and done much better. The midfield is rubbish to central midfielders the same type off player we can see it how can't you play bru or when bishop is back play him
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IpswichLummis added 09:23 - Oct 18 I didn't want to comment on this post last night as I thought I may feel better about the situation after some sleep. I missed the first 25 mins yesterday due to work and had to rush all the way from Attleborough just to catch the end of the 1st half and the 2nd half. I also live in Naaaarwich so then have the joy of a long drive home. I was absolutely amazed that at no point did we once change our shape. It was obvious that no matter who was out wide or who was upfront, we were never going to create anything. We had the perfect option on the bench to play a 3 man midfield with Bru but at no point did we change it? I am and have been a big supporter of MM and am very grateful for what he's done for the club in recent years. However, that doesn't excuse picking the same team and the same formation week in week out due to stubbornness. If there was a poll run in the stadium asking all that attended to pick their preferred starting 11, 99% would have had at least 3 changes to the team Mick put out. I guess the real telling factor is that had they gathered team sheets from all the fans on what we all expected to see, we'd have all come up with Micks like up and that is where the problem lies. I'm not in a Mick out brigade and believe we owe him time, but i do feel that unless we improve quickly, it will soon run out.

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Penguinblue added 09:25 - Oct 18 MM- go - today please
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Penguinblue added 09:34 - Oct 18 When we do scrap a win against sub-standard opposition despite MM's nonsensical selection and tactics, please don't start singing that ridiculous Mic ma song, it only encourages him. He clearly believes he is super mick from his usual post match rubbish comments and was watching a different game/players to us as usual. I'm envious of those of you who do sing it, you must be too young to remember that Ipswich were once a good footballing team.

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Geoff added 10:12 - Oct 18 So you are happy with a point against Huddersfield that just shows for your ambition for OUR club. I hate to say it but the difference between our club and the scum up the road is simple,their board are ambitious and went out and searched for a young manager who had ambition and backed him in the transfer market. In the last 10 years we have been going backwards or at best standing still we have never been better since Jim Magilton.Blame the clueless board who have no idea about football what so ever. appoint a young manager with perhaps Joe Royal as his advisor then be patient and i think we would reap rewards but it would take time.

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delias_cheesy_flaps added 10:15 - Oct 18 HarryS_H I don't disagree with your comments but the one thing you forgot to mention which irks the majority of fans and that is the lack of football being played. Am I looking forward to Cardiff....no...not really, as I don't see us playing anything other than hoofball.....but a lot of pre-match beers will help the viewing pleasure I'm sure!
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Seri added 10:42 - Oct 18 I can fully understand that Mick is unwilling to obey anything from someone shouting from the stands - or some as superanonymous as us commenting in here. Mr Blue or Blueboy or whatever appears very tall and dark in here when he thinks he's right(and Mick is wrong), but is completely gonners when Murphy scores 27 or Smith is MOM. Mick is good at losing and drawing. That's the most difficult part of the game. When we're winning again I hope alle the moaners will stand up.

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TimmyH added 10:42 - Oct 18 Just hope we can do the opposite of last season and have a good second half to the season because we'll need to if we are to make the play-offs at this rate, I know a few wins running will get us back in the picture but the way we are playing currently with too many players out of form you can't see us winning back to back games. Saying that I'm not even sure the current bunch of players we have are strong enough mentally to have a good winning streak when it matters most (at the business end of the season).

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Bert added 10:47 - Oct 18 Many of the posters on here have one thing in common with MM; stubbornness ! All have there views and opinions based on what they think and assume everyone else is wrong. Perhaps however, MM has the advantage of knowing who plays well and the pairings each player is more comfortable with; hence the team that plays. No doubt we are not playing cohesive football and have lost that early tempo but moaning and groaning about our players will never make a difference. Support whoever plays and please, those of you who are so stubborn that you cannot say anything good, reflect before you speak. At least MM does that because that' what management is about.

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truthhurts added 11:32 - Oct 18 One of the worst games i've ever seen Ipswich play. Typical McCarthy attitude of starting with a point, so lets not loose it. We can't pretend (and pretend is the right word) to be challengers in this league with tactics like this. His style of play (but play i mean hoof ball) belongs in the Stone Ages. Yesterday i virtually fell asleep and, in all my years of having a season ticket, was the first time i walked out early. Bored. Bored. Bored. Will i be back? Very debatable. Oh. And our captain Chambers. What a utter disgrace taking that throw in for a Town attack when Huddersfield played the ball out for an injury (however pathetic the contact may have been)

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ChestnutSe added 12:17 - Oct 18 Currie, well done for a sensible comment amongst all the rubbish comments on here. MM is doing a great job with the resources at his disposal. Like some on here I would prefer to see Bar in goal but in all fairness Gerks did well with the couple of efforts they had today. Berra saved the day as he so open does and even he gets slated on here sometimes. Smith, so often the targets of fans on here played really well today after a while and out muscled and out fought Ismal who is a bit of a monster. Oar looked ok till he got battered. Douglas has been a target on here but I thought he did really well today. Played some really good balls forward and was unlucky with the header. He was very competitive in the tackle as well. We don't have a divine right to win any game and the margin between success and failure is very slim in this division. Any team can beat anyone of the day and it's going to be a long hard slog to get promoted. We have 3 games this week and Mick will be trying to manage his resources to get the best results. No doubt that was why Murphy and Bru did not start today. Keep the faith and COYB

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Gingerblues added 12:17 - Oct 18 Wow! What a turn around in just a few weeks from 'in Mick we trust' to 'Mick out'. Understandable we are getting tired of the same words and tactics from MM but I can't help feeling this is a product of his own success last season. Expectation has risen sharply, especially after last seasons home form. Lets not forget though that we 10 years of finishing 15th before MM. We are currently 10th with a long way to go. I do however think that the reason we are struggling is that MM hasn't (for whatever reason) signed good enough players. Particularly in defence there are no competition for places, no wonder the likes of Tommy Smith and Berra's form has dropped.

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senduntd added 13:11 - Oct 18 We got what we deserved.
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ChrisFelix added 15:40 - Oct 18 As a person who welcomed his appointment I also wonder what gone wrong. Prior to Brighton I thought we had arrived, but after 6weeks of playing a conference goalkeeper, a fullback who is clearly often caught out of position plus a central midfield pairing who rarely venture forward with ball I too doubt it..Why didn't we spend the money from Mings to improve our midfield. Douglas Coke are not the answer

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oldtimer3 added 16:29 - Oct 18 After our awful showing against Brighton, Reading, Blackburn and now Huddersfield I cant see us getting promoted with MM so maybe a change is whats needed i can only see us rotting in this division How many seasons have we been in the Championship? Get a young manager take a gamble Chairman it may pay off if not at worst we will be in a different division watching different teams instead of the crap we are watching in the Championship!

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Cheshire_Blue added 17:09 - Oct 18 Well said, Mick. I am sure you will disregard all the "expert" advice on here that would have us in League 2 in no time. Carry on the good work.
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roytheboy added 17:42 - Oct 18 Could we now try playing proper football on the grass Mick, as the other type isn't working very well at all, there is very little accuracy in all this aerial passing and playing hoof ball is not generating much either, please have a good rethink about what we need in midfield also because it is not doing much to supply the strikers or to protect the defenders, we have some very good players but we are not playing as a team and not playing creative football, changes are urgently required, COYB.

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hinchers1066 added 18:58 - Oct 18 Wake me up when Bru starts, hoofball stops and most importantly when MM concentrates on ITFC instead of all THE GOOD MANAGERS and TEAMS out there. Currently we are where we belong in this league, and it could get worse. I am not an MM basher as he has in the past done well by ITFC, but I believe in the blues and do not give a toss how good other teams are supposed to be. Will we get promoted NO!! will we stay in the championship, hopefully , will the attendances improve or decline, jury's out on that one. Football is an entertainment industry, the better the entertainment the bigger the attendance. Current admission charges demand top quality entertainment, so until that happens I will not be attending home or away games for the foreseeable future, why should when I can be enthralled with the Scotland performance against Australia (Rugby Union) that was full of passion, commitment and they didn't believe that the Aussies were better than them. That is what I call entertainment.

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jabberjackson added 19:27 - Oct 18 Shame on you Superblue 70 Disgraceful post
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Funky4000 added 20:29 - Oct 18 What's happened to James Alabi? Why isn't he getting a chance when the current strikers are struggling to score goals??
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welshtractorboy added 20:31 - Oct 18 Well not long ago winning all home games and taking a point away we would be promoted Now struggling to hold onto a point at home Very poor need fresh legs and quick MM
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Razor added 10:46 - Oct 19 Another dire boring insipid match----am I wrong to want or expect more, or even dare to criticise? We are on Sky TV for 3 consecutive weeks, do they know what they have done----it will be like administering chloroform or sleeping pills to the whole nation. Nevertheless I will still stay and support my team whatever, but could I suggest putting some CREATIVITY (sorry Mick for swearing) in the team by including Bru, and if we want to get Didds and Smurf playing back like they can,hopefully, play them from the start and give them game time and not leave them sat on the bench? Finally, I prefer Bart in goal but for a fantastic reaction save by Gerks in the last 5 mts this could look a whole lot worse today!!

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