The boot was on the other foot for boss Mick McCarthy as the Blues were beaten by Matt Phillips’s last-gasp goal at QPR, Town having won three of their last four home league games - including the Boxing Day win against Rangers - in the final minutes. There was more bad news for the Blues in added-on time when Ryan Fraser limped off with what looked a bad hamstring injury.

“They were miles better than us in the first half,” he admitted. “And we had a goalkeeper that was in world-class form, who has made save after save.

“But that’s not had any bearing on the game because it was 0-0 at half-time. In the second half we were far better and I thought we were the ones likely to win it in the last few minutes.

“So, I know how they feel, it’s always disappointing to lose but even more so with three minutes to go, eight minutes with the additional time.

“We should never have allowed [Sebastian Polter] to get out of the middle of the pitch, he did handle it, he did control it with his hand.

“That irks me a bit but I’m not bothered about that because I said to my players that they might not get a freekick from me in training for it and they’ve got to keep going. We didn’t deal with that in the middle of the pitch.

“In the second half we were much better and how we didn’t score in the second half, in the last knockings goodness only knows. So, whatever happened in the first half has got no bearing on it.”

McCarthy said the wind had a significant impact on the match: “I would say so. It wasn’t a great game, was it? It ended up being an exciting game because they’ve scored and we ended up with loads of chances at the end. It was a horrible affair because it was blowing and conditions were awful.”

Late on the Blues lost Ryan Fraser to a hamstring injury, the on-loan Bournemouth man having been a doubt with a tight hamstring prior to the game.

“It looks like a nasty hamstring, the way he’s pulled up,” the Blues boss said. “That’s not good. He’s been different class, the kid. That would be a real devastating blow to us.

McCarthy says he could look to the loan market with Town having picked up one or two injuries in recent days.

“Yes it might be something I look at, but I’m not so sure I’m going to get another Ryan Fraser," he said.

“We’ll assess the damage and see what it is first. Let’s put the horse before the cart, shall we?

“Skusey’s injured, I don’t know how badly that is, he’s hurt his ankle. Luke Hyam pulled up in training yesterday, he had a sore calf from Tuesday night.

“He trained yesterday morning for about 40 minutes, the warm-up and game, and he just pulled up.”

The Town manager says the injury Daryl Murphy suffered in the Reading game wasn’t why the Irish international was left on the bench.

“That was nothing to do with it,” he said. “He had a kick on his ankle, but I’ve said with Murph all along, if he plays all the games we’ll end up with him injured.

“My reason to play Luke Varney and Brett Pitman was that they came on and were brilliant coming on.

“And if there’s a time to give somebody a start when they’re in the ascendancy and in good form and feeling good about themselves - one comes on and sets us up, the other scores the winner - that’s the time to do it. And they’ve deserved it, so that’s why I played them.”

Town dropped down to seventh after today's results but McCarthy says that’s not particularly important at this stage of the season with 16 games left to play.

“If you look our history from last year, we lost 3-2 at Blackburn and we ended up in the top six after the last game of the season, so it’s not really that significant.

“It probably is in terms of when you look at the league as you want to be in the top six, but it’s where you end up in May that counts. The key is to try and end up in the top six, however it ends up.”

Really disappointed about the result today..😔 chance to bounce back next Saturday thou👊 massive credit to our away fans👏👏👏

— Bartosz Bialkowski (@1BartMan1) February 6, 2016

Keeper Bartosz Bialkowski, the Blues' man of the match for his first-half display in particular, said the late defeat was difficult to take.

“We’ve still got a decent team and we still believe we can make the play-offs,” he told Ipswich Player HD.

“Losing the game right at the end is really painful. It’s a hard one to take but that’s football.

"The next game comes around really quickly so we just need to learn our lessons and defend better, especially in the final stages of the game.

“In the first half they had a few chances, but in the second half we had a few chances so we’re really disappointed and it’s frustrating to lose the game in that way.

“Our away support was absolutely amazing today and I think there were around 3,000 fans so fair play to them.”

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was very satisfied with the win, his first at home as QPR manager.

“When you see the first half and you go in 0-0 you have done yourself an injustice,” he said.

“But I think we kept on being positive and kept on plugging away and kept on going and having the trust that we would be able to get that goal or get that chance. And we deserved that.

“I think if you look at the game overall, we already deserved to be 2-0 or 3-0 up. But you know how it is, it’s nothing about deserving. You have to put the ball in the net, that’s what counts, that’s what’s important.

“We kept on believing and we kept on plugging away and kept on going and it’s very satisfying that it came in the last five minutes because that tells me that the character is good and the organisation is good and they’re not getting in trouble as much.

“It was a difficult afternoon for both sides with the wind and the conditions. At stages you have to put the ball in the stands because you don’t want to give yourself too much trouble and I think we did that very well.”

Photo: Action Images

essextractorboy93 added 00:33 - Feb 7 bluefeast - agree with some of your points but disagree about the so called declining home attendances. Ok the Reading game was 16k but if you factor in the away fans this would have ordinarily been 17k which is about right for a Tuesday game. If you look through this season there has not been much variation in home attendances and recently the games against Preston and Leeds were good attendances considering it was January. I do agree with you that we are lacking something at the moment though . Think the frustrations of some fans was not bringing in one or two players in January that would challenge for the first team like Sears did last year. Just freshening it up a bit. Having said that we are still in the mix and fingers crossed a couple of loan signings will give us a lift! Everyone seems to be dropping points around us at the moment! Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday the teams in good form!

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Spirit_of_78 added 00:36 - Feb 7 I am so sure a lot of you come from Norfolk take off the glasses see life for real we are what we are, 7th in the league, and Norwich......? Bottom 3 prem league, take it how it is, we are championship and comfortable what do you people want?
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Len_Brennan added 07:17 - Feb 7 So Bart making world class save after world class save had no impact on the game, but the wind did have a big impact on the game, because it was ... blowing & stuff. Mick, you wouldn't be looking to undervalue the contribution of Bart here by any chance would you? Maybe because you can be a bit stubborn at times, especially when a large section of the fans were calling for Bart to be our first choice keeper & you were picking Gerks and now you don't want to show any weakness about dropping Bart after his father's funeral. Maybe?

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battyblue added 07:50 - Feb 7 Its a wonder Mick dont make them play in boots with a strap over the toe to fall in line with his style and tactics .
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EuanTown added 07:53 - Feb 7 Now I understand Fraser is going to be out injured. Well we all know what happened to Town when Fraser was not playing earlier in the season, a slump in form followed. lets hope that does not happen again.
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sidtheswan added 08:00 - Feb 7 I think now is the time our lack of strength in depth becomes significant. MM has his favourite 11 and apart from the odd one or two that's it . The lack of investment in the playing squad will now see us struggle with any injuries and MM will have to go to the loan market . It's not ideal and not necessarily MM's fault but if he hasn't been given the money to spend it would be good to know why . We get good crowds at home we have fantastic away support and yet teams around us spend millions . It looks like ME is using the FFP as an excuse not to spend unlike other chairmen/owners. Realistically you need a squad of 22 players 2 for each position and all of a certain standard. We are lacking that and will continue to struggle to get promoted . Also how long will our better players,Berra Sears, want to stay around if they don't get promoted with Ipswich. We needed to spend money in the summer and in January and have failed to do so again . MM needs to be given funds in the summer as he gets a lot of abuse on this site, especially from me, but is doing his job with one hand tied behind his back and better managers would struggle in the same situation.

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blueherts added 08:09 - Feb 7 Like many we all have respected and backed MM over the last few years , we got into the play offs for the first time in years , So like many we look to build on that and with signings of Fraser AMN we added to squad BUT we lost DIds and Bishop who have not been replaced, Coke Douglas Digby Toure ? None of us expect throwing millions in Jan ( we benefited from Derby last season ) BUT for MM to insist there are no players out there that will improve his squad With Fraser now out he has to go into loan market Oh as I keep saying MM has his new deal sewn up -ME , What about bit of money for reinforcements? £100m not a big enough incentive for you ?

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yorksblue added 08:14 - Feb 7 So the weather contributed. Change your tactics then , you clown. Much easier to plY on the deck,instead of lumping it in those conditions. See Spurs were playing just down the road, without whinging about the wind. MM do one please.Disgrace!
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yorksblue added 08:27 - Feb 7 So the weather contributed. Change your tactics then , you clown. Much easier to play on the deck,instead of lumping it in those conditions. See Spurs were playing just down the road, without whinging about the wind. MM do one please.Disgrace!
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grumpyoldman added 08:56 - Feb 7 A lot is said about MMs lack of funds provided, how he has done a great job considering the limitations placed on him. Why if you are not given the tools to do the job properly do you stay going through the motions, do you lack any ambition, are you just happy to pick up your wages until you retire, because you cannot be held responsible for the results given the poor resources at your disposal. You are in a comfortable place so why rock the boat!

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warkthelint added 09:04 - Feb 7 Agree with yorksblue..the man is a tactical dinosaur without any strategic acumen..we play one type of football-hoofing- and that is it.With a forecasted wind,hoofball becomes even more perilous but hey-ho our tactical magician still won't change.Doesn't he study weather conditions and above all the opposition .. We are painful to watch and how he expects to win matches without attempting to shoot on goal beggars belief.The worst Ipwich style,since the mid 1960s..makes the Ipswich of John Duncan and Paul. Jewell look like world beaters...simply painful to watch..

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yorksblue added 09:11 - Feb 7 Another fossil, at WBA, has been found out. Bet he doesn't last the season. Any chance we could do the same?
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atty added 09:18 - Feb 7 I have no idea what Evans wants for the Club. Competing against teams that have considerable financing and or parachute payments, and spending next to nothing on the squad cannot be a recipe for success surely? Just a little bit of investment in a couple of quality players could make all the difference, and think of the return if it works. Spend 3/4 million and get millions back. Even if we were then relegated you get millions in parachute payments. If it doesn't work you haven't lost 3/4 million as you could sell players and start again. All this is even more confusing when we did so well last season and have been in and around the top all this season so far. If Evans has in effect given up on promotion and is just keeping the club ticking along in the Championship then perhaps he would be kind enough to tell us. At least then we know not to have any excessive expectations.

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GFH added 09:26 - Feb 7 Said it before and I'll say it again, we are going nowhere fast. The lack of money available is showing more and more I know mm and TC are doing the best they can with what they have but we really are going nowhere fast.
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battyblue added 10:33 - Feb 7 The players are obviously being instructed to play this Hoofball tactic many of the squad are/were good skilful footballers but with this numbskull In charge they are harnest from expressing themselves unless we are loosing with ten minutes left its like being strangled and released just before death to be honest ,all MM policy's he stated when he came here Ie didn't want loans ,play players in their correct positions went out the window long ago now it's time for him to follow

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yorksblue added 10:38 - Feb 7 Agree Batty. Sears must be tearing his hair out.
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bohslegend added 11:00 - Feb 7 Jas and Len, you both just love a conspiracy theory don't you?
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paulcooperisgod added 11:13 - Feb 7 Said it all along ME doesn't want premiership football as he will have to spend money and MM doesn't want premiership football as he knows his hoof ball football will be a laughing stock and he'll get sacked. It's just perfect for them to stay where we are. NO AMBITION
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essexboy added 12:00 - Feb 7 Mick,in one breath you say the squad is strong enough and doe's not need to be improved,then as soon as we get one player injured you talk about getting loan players in.(I just don't get it).If you only wanted loan players in the first place why did you not get them in last year,then they would be available for the play-off's should we be lucky enough to get that far.There seems to be a very bad lack of commitment from certain area's of the club,or a very bad lack of understanding as to how many players you have who are capable of taking us further.Our bench at QPR was very poor and the back up players we do have are just not capable,you only have to look at the Portsmouth game.I rest my case.COYB.

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Bluetone added 13:00 - Feb 7 Quoting McCarthy “They were miles better than us in the first half,” he admitted. “And we had a goalkeeper that was in world-class form, who has made save after save." Almost begrudging praise for Bart if it had been his beloved "Gerks" the prise would have been all over him like a rash.
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VulpineBlue added 13:06 - Feb 7 Agree with Atty & GFH. With the current squad this as good as we can expect them to be- that's no criticism of them as individuals, we can just see that as a team they have hit a glass ceiling. We are very aware that there are some individuals in the current squad capable of much more than they produce at present were they to be supported by stronger players or played in their strongest roles. The powers that be have to decide what they want to do. On another note, the really sad thing for me this year has been the loss of the seemingly happy free wheeling spirit of the squad that got many of us behind them last season whether we enjoyed the style of football or not.

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phillo added 14:24 - Feb 7 Ian_Marshall I totally agree that when Mick came in he probably saved us from Div1 & then progressed us on to where we made the playoffs last year (athough by common consent we possibly over achieved) ..... but have we now progressed further ? How long do we have to say "yes the footballs crap, yes Mick does seems to talk bo**ocks, yes he sometimes seems to have no respect for the fans, yes he doesn't seem to want to buy players, yes he has his favourites and yes he insists on playing people out of position ..... but its all ok & we should be grateful coz 3 years ago we might have gone down" ...... isn't it time to move on now & judge McCarthy on the now?

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bluefeast added 16:14 - Feb 7 Phillo ,your post is perfect ,and sums up so many i would think. I fail to see what MM adds and if we are destined for championship football for another X number of years , then can we play some entertaining football ,with runners off the ball. The way Leicester play is not rocket science ,its just the players are given licence to express themselves. Ours have to play with a fridge on their backs and concrete in their boots ,all because MM loves a grind. Madness.

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Len_Brennan added 16:17 - Feb 7 Bohs: If you disagree can you address the point I made, as to MM suggesting that Bart's world class save had no impact on the game while he says that that wind was a factor, rather than just posting some nonsense half remark. What do you think of him dismissing the importance of Bart's contribution, particularly I the first half, in keeping us in a game which we could have been losing 3-0? Some comment of substance out of you would be nice.

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blueboy1981 added 16:48 - Feb 7 Take a bow all you travelling fans (you're the best in the land) - you certainly deserve respect / acknowledgement from the Manager, and Club, that is sadly lacking from certain people. I know, I, and many more, have tremendous respect for your continuous following in less that great circumstances.
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