Town boss Mick McCarthy says today’s 0-0 home draw with Cardiff City was the type of match the Blues might have nicked all three points from last year. Despite recording their fourth home draw in a row - and their second successive 0-0 at Portman Road - McCarthy was pleased with his side’s performance and to have kept a clean sheet.

“We’ve got attacking players on the pitch, it’s just not happening for us at the moment but we’ve got a chance to build on it if we keep a clean sheet,” he said.

“If we’re one down and we have to get back into a game all the time that puts added pressure on them. I’m pleased with the clean sheet, delighted with the clean sheet, as I’m sure the lads are.

“We’ll just have to keep working and turn it into a win. Last year we would probably have nicked that, I keep saying that, but it’s just not happening at the moment.”

He added: “We’ve played well against a good team, they’re a good side. I’m not coming in here saying we deserved to win by a hatful, it was going to be a goal either way.

“They’ve only conceded 11 goals, they’re a tough nut to crack and the more we pushed the more you leave yourself a little bit open to the break and we got done a couple of times. But overall I thought we played well, it was a good performance.”

McCarthy feels his team has been more like themselves in recent games: “We’ve been far more competitive.

“We didn’t start competitive [today], it took me and TC to start barking at a few, I think, [for them to start] chasing things and hunting things down and competing for everything, because that’s the league.

“And when we did it, we got to grips with it in the first half, I thought we played really well and it was a far better performance.”

Striker Daryl Murphy came close to breaking his duck for the season when Cardiff keeper David Marshall tipped his header on to the woodwork, while the Irishman had a couple of other chances but found himself closed down before he could get in a shot.

McCarthy says it's no surprise that last season’s 27-goal top scorer might be lacking in a bit of confidence.

“It doesn’t matter what job you’re doing, if it’s just not happening for you at a certain period of time then your confidence will hardly be flowing,” he continued.

“He needs to find one from somewhere, he had a couple on his right foot where he’s checked back and tried to put it on his left and they defended them well.

“On a different day, maybe when he’s scored 20 goals, he swings his right foot and it flies in the net. But that is football, that’s strikers.”

McCarthy’s continued faith in Dean Gerken paid off with the keeper impressing and arguably Town’s man of the match: “I was asked a question the other night about being loyal to people and he was one of them.

“He’s been outstanding Gerks, he’s been fabulous. I’ve felt sorry for him with goals going in because they’ve not been his fault and he’s played well again today, as has their goalkeeper I might add.”

He added: “Gerks is a good goalkeeper. I’m very fortunate I’ve got two very good goalkeepers.

“And when one gets in it’s hard work for the other one, however it happens. Whether it’s because he got injured or there was a bereavement or somebody gets injured while his wife’s in hospital watching the game and he gets carried off on a stretcher with oxygen on his mouth.

“It’s been bizarre how they’ve [lost their places], neither one of them has been left out because of poor performances. I’m very fortunate goalkeeping area.

“Malcolm Webster, the goalkeeping coach, should take a lot of credit for that, he was the one when we brought them in that recommended them and he works with them.”

McCarthy had no issue with the second half penalty claim which saw Kevin Bru booked: “No. I had a complaint because I thought it was a foul on Murph [outside the area] before and I was appealing for the foul when Kevin went down.

“We were all having a look at it and it was one of them that could have been given, so I said ‘Kevin, was it a penalty?’ and he said ‘No’, so that cleared that up.

“I don’t want to be coming in here and bemoaning it and I don’t want to be going to the referee and bemoaning it because it was one of them that you can see it and see it, you can keep looking at it and you could make a case for it being a penalty.

“But I don’t want to be making a case for it, I want to know the truth and he said no, so it’s saved me all that embarrassment and growling at people.”

The Town boss praised the Portman Road crowd for the backing they gave his side: “They were brilliant, I think there was an added bit of support for us all there today, it was lovely.”

McCarthy says his side suffered no new injury problems with Jonas Knudsen expected to be available again after the hamstring problem which saw him miss today’s match.

However, he says Teddy Bishop is still a little way off a return to the senior side: “Bish has no chance for Tuesday, he’s only had the 90 minutes for the U21s and that doesn’t equip him well enough to play in the first team on Tuesday.”

The Blues manager says that despite the disappointment of not ending the winless run, the result and clean sheet are something to build on when Bolton are at Portman Road on Tuesday: “Absolutely. Providing we keep going like that and scrapping away and playing like that because we played well and we created some chances, something will drop for us. It’ll turn.”

Cardiff manager Russell Slade was pleased with his side’s continued solidity at the back but disappointed with their lack of penetration at the other end of the field.

“Somebody’s just told me that it’s the first time since 2005 we’ve had four clean sheets on the bounce,” he said.

“We’ve got that side of it right at the minute, clearly our problem is at the other end really.

“I think we had one more shot than Ipswich today, a couple of good chances in the second half Sammy Ameobi, Craig Noone in the dying minutes could probably have gone with his head rather than attempting to volley.”

He added: “I do see it that as a good point. Ipswich is always a difficult place to come and it’s been a difficult place for Cardiff to come. I think we’ve lost 21 and won 12, history will tell you, I was just looking in the programme.

“It’s always a difficult place to come and Mick McCarthy’s sides are always very difficult to play against.

“They’re fighting to turn their form around. Don’t forget, they were in the play-offs last season, that was the standard and we came here and got beaten 3-1.”

Photo: Action Images

MicksZzzTactics added 07:30 - Nov 1 ROFL! Vintage (flip-flopping) post-game Dinosaur Mick.... "Obviously I would love to have won but ehhhh including the unfathomable impressive clean sheet (unfathomable considering the outright NEGATIVE way you are almost per definition preaching ITFC play!) ehhhh I'm basically EVER SO pleased with a point .... cause ehhhh Cardiff is, as you all know, an über scary and stronger than 'Everclear' (190 proof 95% ABV) sort of team championship team these days.... yada yada yada"???!!! Yet another awesome OBJECTIVE game analysis, Dinosaur Mick :-).... but once again your actual words -- whatever they were this time -- eventually all sound kind of hollow Mick, especially since only days ago you were quoted saying this: "“We NEED a win. I don't come here and start preening myself and saying how well we've done, ‘It's been great…'. We need to win NOW, it's today, it's not last year or the year before. We need to START winning.” Sadly that "NEED" to win didn't remotely reflect in and throughout your selected team Mick, they way the few hmmm 'offensive-minded' players performed (the Defensive back-4 and Gerken gets a general Thumbs up however)... nor your very own long-ago-found-out Hedgehog slash Hoof tactics, Mick!!! We still have an on-paper easy schedule ahead of us.... but whether we indeed manage to pick up the vast majority of points during this forthcoming 'easy' stretch, it doesn't IMHO alter one bit the very stark reality that Dinosaur Mick and his faithful sidekick TC are visibly ever soooo done here at PR!!! Not simply because the continuing easily deplorable lack of funds , but basically much more because their OWN ultra stubbornness, "doing the direct opposite of what the (steadily diminishing!) paying fans want", unwavering had-working but immaculate UNcreative/Unskillful 'darlings' always in the starting XI if fit... and last but not least their own undebatable Modern-Day tactical ineptitude!!! Period.

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sidtheswan added 07:37 - Nov 1 Change the record Mick . Two things though the crowd was fantastic it is in the way down costing the club money and why is MM so myopic about Gerken ? Yes he was good yesterday but not all season and certainly not in this division . It would be nice for MM to give an honest review for a change so we don't have to read the same old rubbish after every game .
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Dissboyitfc added 08:32 - Nov 1 Thats the problem, he sets his teams out to nick games off average sides, ok away from home but at home its the wrong approach and costing us points.
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Samassi100Abou added 09:12 - Nov 1 For Christ sake this bloke an Gerkan.. I watch Colchester games when town are away and I've seen him sit on the bench for them many a time... I was very concerned when we signed him and after the Norwich game last season Middlesbrough when he got knocked out for flapping and forest away my fears were correct... Granted he played well but he is a professional goalkeeper I would be slightly worried if he didn't have the odd game where he was good! But going forward he isn't the keeper to get us up always got a mistake in him That's my.gripe out the way .. Glad to see us keep a clean sheet looked more steady like we did last season as silly as this may sound I feel we have to offload pitman or Murphy, I rate both highly but it seems he's trying to fit all 4 strikes in and changing formations etc and ultimately I think it's been our downfall.. Murph thrived last season as he knew he was number 9 week in week out

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essex57 added 09:29 - Nov 1 Cheshire blue well said Imo 99% of the 0.1% who do post on here don't even go to the games.
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essex57 added 09:32 - Nov 1 I thought that was the reason for the agree disagree arrows it's just that people who disagree with the fantasy managers on here get slatted.
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Dissboyitfc added 09:52 - Nov 1 People who support itfc but dont go to games are entitled to post on this website. There maybe a host of reasons why genuine supporters cannot get to games, these include living abroad, finances, health, family commitments etc etc and so on, but in no way are they any lesser a supporter than someone who goes to games. People are entitled to their opinions, its what this wonderful site is intended for!

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essex57 added 10:23 - Nov 1 Support=attend Stay at home for whatever reason = follow
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Cheshire_Blue added 10:32 - Nov 1 Spot on essex57. If you haven't seen the game you cannot have an informed opinion which is reflected in many of the comments on here. Keep up the good work Mick, the real supporters are all with you.
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Dissboyitfc added 10:56 - Nov 1 Supporting doesnt mean being happy with poor second rate football and our second rate standing in football. Accepting any old rubbish does not make anyone a superior supporter. Sadly too many people on here are accepting where we are. Last year we had murphy's goals, this year we have no murphy goals in fact hardly any goals. No one needs to go to games to see that once again we havent scored more goals than the opposition and at home= relegation battle soon to commence if this continues. We havent improved since last year, and i along with many others are not happy with this situation. Football is a strange old business, if someones loves a certain restaurant and that restaurant changes chef and some of its ingredients and the quality goes down hill, do you say something or carry on going anyway regardless? The truth is things are not good at portman road and the ingredients need to be changed. We have been an average football team for too long!

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SouperJim added 11:05 - Nov 1 What's boring is reading the same old negative comments on here. Makes me wonder why you lot still "support" ITFC. Really encouraging performance yesterday and a cracking atmosphere generated by the real fans.
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SickParrot added 11:22 - Nov 1 A little better than the last home game but no where near good enough. I think recent performances are what we should expect for the rest of the season. Our game plan will be to focus on trying to keep a clean sheet and hope to nick a goal from a set piece. This policy raises 2 questions: 1.Can we nick enough points to stay up? and 2. How many fans will die of boredam first?

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Dwillams57 added 11:22 - Nov 1 I was one of the real fans who were there yesterday. I agree the support was fantastic. Its a pity it didn't rub off on the players because they gave us nothing. They tried their best but clearly things are not right there. I am afraid we won't see any attractive football under Mick that's not his style. Incidentally don't know where they got the 17,000 from there is no way there was that number there - plenty of empty seats in co-op stand and I suspect a few more on Tuesday.

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essex57 added 12:24 - Nov 1 Dissboyitfc stupid question easy answer if you don't like the restaurant don't go easy init
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ChestnutSe added 13:54 - Nov 1 I thought it was a hard working performance yesterday but we lacked much that going forward. It's great to have Bru back as he made a difference. Can't wait to see Teddy and Ryan back then we can start playing some better football. Thought the whole defence were great today. I personally prefer Bart in goal but have to admit Gerks made some great saves today. Murphy had one good effort with the header but should have got his shot off on a couple of occasions when he had a sight of goal. Trying too hard perhaps. I though David McGoldrick had a very quiet game today, was surprised not to see him subbed. Still, we did'nt lose and it's a long season still and we have some good players to come back into the team. Nit all is lost. COYB

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Bluetone added 14:06 - Nov 1 @Essex57 quote "Dissboyitfc stupid question easy answer if you don't like the restaurant don't go easy init" Answer If enough people don't like the stodgy fare then it's time to change the chef.
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essex57 added 14:44 - Nov 1 Not guaranteed to change the fare though!!!!!!
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essex57 added 14:46 - Nov 1 There's plenty of dodgy chefs out there
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battyblue added 16:14 - Nov 1 MM you have killed ipswich town of being an attacking team we will always struggle to find the net with your style of play no striker can score if they are not given the ball and made to feed of scraps.
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LordMamu added 16:29 - Nov 1 Cheshire Blue and Essex57 What makes you think your views are more representative of those of us who attend games? From where I sit near the dugout, the comments I hear are mainly negative. Judging from that and the comments on here, I would submit that your views aren't actually representative at all. The restaurant analogy is plainly silly and doesn't take account of the lifelong allegiance and loyalty towards a football club. However, you will see attendances drop, not because of the results necessarily but because of the dire quality of the football. Put simply, who would spend the time and money to watch the kind of football I witnessed in the first half of the Huddersfield game? Please also don't patronise those who can't afford to go to games or live too far away. They want the best for this club as do all of us. However, I am beginning to think we have been held back for so long because supporters like you happily accept mediocrity and consequently the club find it easy to manage your expectations ergo pitiful transfer fees paid and reliance on loan players. Wake up! It's time to demand more than this soporific fodder.

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Seasider added 16:47 - Nov 1 Essex 57 Cheshire Blue and Super Jim,dont usually comment on negative jibes against other posters. The four of us who go from Clacton have over 150 YEARS of supporting ITFC so object strongly to the inference that most that post on here don't go to games. We knew McCarthy would say he was delighted with a clean sheet,but felt stretching it a bit to say it was a good performance and they played well Mind you his idea of a good performance is to keep scrapping away as he also said in his interview;so we wont be seeing much entertainment whilst Mick remains in charge. When he was appointed we all knew what was coming and boy he hasn't disappointed us .

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Cheshire_Blue added 17:23 - Nov 1 Seasider : As you rightly say, the inference is MOST not ALL! Four people from Clacton with over 150 years support of ITFC are the exception rather than the rule in my view. I am one person from Cheshire who was born and brought up in Ipswich with over 60 years support of ITFC behind me and I am currently a season ticket holder who undertakes a 500 mile round trip to SUPPORT not knock the efforts of the team and manager. We are not the wealthiest club in the Championship and MM deserves a medal for what he has achieved on a shoestring budget. The direction we were heading in before MM took over does not bear thinking about. The big mistake was the sacking of Jim Magilton in accordance with the views being expressed on this forum at the time. How ill informed those views turned out to be.

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bohslegend added 18:12 - Nov 1 I have to laugh at some of the hypocrisy shown my the "Realists" on here. I live in Dublin and obviously cannot afford to be at every game in Portman Road (if I ever win the lottery this will be the first thing I change I can assure you). But I've been called up for having an opinion on countless times most notably by Chief Executive Officer of the Realists, Mr Blueboy himself. He has regularly claimed to have more right to an opinion than me because he "supports" the team every home game. Here's Dissboys post, and guess what? Blueboy up-arrows him in support! People who support itfc but dont go to games are entitled to post on this website. There maybe a host of reasons why genuine supporters cannot get to games, these include living abroad, finances, health, family commitments etc etc and so on, but in no way are they any lesser a supporter than someone who goes to games. People are entitled to their opinions, its what this wonderful site is intended for En savoir plus sur http://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-news/28385/mccarthy-wed-probably-have-nicked-

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essex57 added 21:44 - Nov 1 Shouldnt realy get caught up in these silly tit for tat posts my final say is my philosophy in life is dont expect to much and you wont be disappointed then when success comes you can realy enjoy it afterall its only a game of football au revoir.
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blue86 added 22:47 - Nov 1 I now think mick has taken us as far as he can, he did a very good job of stabilising us and saving us from relegation. However I now think we need a manager with more modern ideas, the way he sets teams up to play is out of date and awful to watch. Also the the way he sticks with the same players (especially the back four) is frustrating, if it doesn't work why not give someone else a go instead? I read some comments from wolves fans from his time in charge there, and they were saying how out of date and dull the football was under him, yes he got them promoted but really can't see him doing it with us? Unless we bore teams to death that is. Mick you did a great job saving us from relegation, but really think we need a change to move forward now, only thing is who out there is available? And also would Marcus Evans actually appoint anyone better than mick? Boring times as a itfc supporter Imo, COYB

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