Town boss Mick McCarthy was delighted with what he felt was a “workmanlike display” and a “great point” as the Blues drew 0-0 away against automatic promotion contenders Middlesbrough, who remain second on goal difference from Burnley with Brighton behind them, also only on goals.

“I’m delighted with how we went about it,” the Blues boss said. “I guess we got good fortune, but they’ve got to put the ball in the net.

“We defended well, the goalkeeper played well and all-round it was a workmanlike display. A great point.”

He added: “Away games we’re all right, check the stats, it’s home games where we’ve been pretty ordinary unfortunately, which is unlike recent seasons when Portman Road’s been a bit of a fortress. Away from home we’ve done well.”

McCarthy was also pleased with Paul Digby’s performance with the on-loan Barnsley man, who is set to join the Blues on a free transfer in the summer, making his first league start for Town.

“I’m delighted with him,” the Town manager continued. “I didn’t have any doubts in terms of how he’d go about his attitude towards his business.

“But he’s been very much a midfield player [with Barnsley] and had only done bits and pieces at centre-half. I just saw things in him [which showed potential as a centre-half], and there are still things I’d have to show him, he got bumped a few times and missed headers.

“But for a kid stepping in, and he wasn’t stepping in against any mugs, it was a proper team, I was delighted with him. I thought it was a good full debut for him.

“[He did the scruffy things well but] he’s got more than that, but it was a day to do that well. It wasn’t a day to be fanning out at the back and him to be trying to play out from the back.

“He did what he needed to do. He had a great block in the first half and I’m really pleased with him.”

McCarthy says the 21-year-old will have learnt a lot from marking the likes of Jordan Rhodes and latterly sub David Nugent.

“I would think so, his neck is probably sore because they’re on the move all the time,” he added. “I thought he handled it well. I thought Tommy Smith was a good positive influence alongside him.”

Christophe Berra missed out with a knee injury but the Town boss says it’s nothing too serious.

“I said in the press conference on Thursday that I’d probably play somebody [young] and I knew Christophe had a bit of a sore knee,” the Blues manager continued.

“If there was any doubt about Christophe I would have played Diggers. But he’s fine, he’ll be all right.”

McCarthy was also pleased to see David McGoldrick play the full 90 minutes: “I thought Didzy was excellent. He stayed the whole game, which I didn’t think he would.

“I’m delighted with him. That’s great for him because I think the Republic of Ireland like him and if they see that kind of performance, he’ll be fit to travel [to the Euros] and play if needed.

“Didzy’s had two seasons which have been disturbed and he’s missed games. We’ve missed him, we’ve missed his quality and he makes us a better team.

“I just hope he gets into that squad for the European Championships because he’s missed such a lot of football, it would be a great fillip for him this season.”

McCarthy also had praise for keeper Bartosz Bialkowski: “He was great, wasn’t he? We’ve got two really good goalkeepers and they keep each other on their toes. Whichever one comes in has always played, but Bart has been outstanding.”

The Town boss says he has no idea which of the three top sides will go up with leaders Burnley, Boro and Brighton all level on 87 points with little in it terms of goal difference.

“I haven’t got a clue. I tipped Derby when they beat us, I tipped Middlesbrough when they beat us, Hull when they beat us. They all played well against us at home, they all slapped us. Hull are nowhere near it now. I haven’t got a clue. I don’t gamble, I’m not allowed to, but I don’t anyway.”

He added: “If I’ve done one person a favour I hope it’s Chris Hughton because he’s my mate and he’s such a wonderful, wonderful guy.

“So Chris, that’s a point for you, lad. I hope we help him get promoted. Me money’s on nobody, but you know who my favourite is!”

McCarthy believes the Championship will only get tougher: “I think it gets increasingly strong. If you calculate the number of teams that have been in the Premier League, it’s about 18 of them, might be more.

“If, and it doesn’t matter who it is, if it’s Sunderland, Newcastle, Villa as it is, or Norwich, that come down it’s going to be tougher next year, that’s for sure.”

McCarthy believes Boro did little wrong, despite dropping two points: “This is a good team with good players and they’ve done everything today, bar put the ball in the net, to be fair, a lot of that’s down to us.

“You can’t say they’ve played badly, you can’t say it was a bad performance. You can’t say there’s anything wrong with the crowd or the atmosphere, everything’s right. They’ve just come up against a belligerent bunch.”

Middlesbrough head coach Aitor Karanka was staying upbeat despite the result, believing his side should have won: "We have to be positive. I don't know how many chances we need to score a goal, the first-half score should have been 4-0, but we couldn't score.

"When it's not your day, the ball hits the post and doesn't go in. I'm really proud of all the players.

"We have to know we've played seven games in 23 days. To win five games and draw two when we're tired and are in the position we are, that is good for me.

"The team has played really well, so for that reason I have to be positive. It's frustrating but I prefer to not win games like today when we've created a lot of chances.

“Sometimes we lose or draw without creating chances and that's frustrating, but today I can understand.

"It's the seventh game of this month and the legs and the heads are tired - it's difficult. But we have time to recover."

Photo: Action Images

Blue041273 added 21:01 - Apr 23 Ok Gcon, Just go to the MK Dons game. Look around you and see how manny people are real dissenters. Even after an admittedly poor season the wider audience cannot understand how people like you can claim the higher moral ground with your criticisms but then you and your like are never going to win the argument. Even if attendances dip to 10,000 that will be 10,000 true supporters, not flybynight casual fans that expect a quick fix to any problem. The real supporters actually support the team through good times and bad. And please don't spin the line that dissent on this site can actually take us forward; we know that won't work.

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Blue041273 added 21:39 - Apr 23 Mick M, take your point but have to say that why would we set up to play an expansive game and lose!. We need to keep the league honest. Nobody could reasonably expect us to win the game but we had to try our damndest not to lose. This we did and accordingly deserve respect for doing so. Playing attractive football won't necessarily get us relegated but won't necessarily get us promoted either. Criticism for not winning at Middlesbro' is, in my view, entirely out of order. As in the Premiership only the top teams really understand the need to entertain. Most just look for results and not losing can be construed as a result. When we are miles ahead of the opposition we can look at our playing style but not quite yet! We could be Norwich fans. As if.

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Kikapu added 22:10 - Apr 23 Blue041273 Well, thank goodness there are a few intelligent supporters that appreciate the more important and strategic aspects of the game. The result against a very good Middlesbrough side should be applauded - not dissed. It's a mans game. Time for the rest of you to go and support Hockey - or Lacrosse.
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Blue041273 added 22:39 - Apr 23 Thank you Kikapu. There are some on here that provide comments that do not always represent the views of my understanding of the real supporters. I do not necessarily agree with their views but in a free society they have the right to express them. But ours too still have a right to be heard.
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TimmyH added 22:56 - Apr 23 Absolutely nothing has really surprised me today maybe only that we've come away with the point. No intent in to win check, only 1 shot on target check, 2 defensive midfielders (again) check, less possession than opposition check, Bart was our man of the match check, Boro supporters probably frustrated with our lack of ambition to get out of our own half check, and no goals scored check. Really poor since the New Year check. Goodnight.

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Elto added 23:02 - Apr 23 I was there today and, despite what the majority of comments are suggesting, I think MM's assessment is fair. We could easily have been overwhelmed today. We stood up to the barrage well. We played some decent football. We had a new boy in the centre of defence, he did OK. Today was not the day to experiment. I would think 99% of the 329 of us there were pleased with the performance and would prefer to dwell on the positives rather than repeatedly bang on about the negatives.

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MicksZzzTactics added 23:03 - Apr 23 Yep a point against soon-to-be-promoted Boro is -- on paper at least -- quite a flattering result... especially since so many fans (not me though!) and 'experts' alike thought we would get serious clobbered today. And yep since the later half of March Boro have been pretty effective pointwise going 6-1-0 .... HOWEVER Ladies & Gents earlier in March they somehow managed -- despite being ever soooo greaaat!!! (yawn yawn) -- losing to super "Juggernauts":-) Charlton (2-0), Rotherham (1-0) and Blackburn (2-1)!!! Just awesome accomplishment I dare say, especially being held to just 1 goal combined against those 3 teams and their defenses!!! Ohhh, and in February they were held to just draws (like our seemingly ASTRONOMICAL feat today! :-) again against a couple of real "Juggernauts" in MK Dons (1-1) and Blackburn (1-1), beside also a (0-0) draw against very mediocre Leeds! Ohhhh and in January they lost (0-1), at home!!! to very uber scary Nottingham and again were held scoreless against a then longtime bottom-crawler in a (1-0) loss to Bristol City! SO WILL YOU PLEASE ALL STOP JUMPING ON THE DINOSAUR'S PATHETIC LITTLE BANDWAGON -- (WHICH HE OBVIOSLY USES TODAY AS A YET ANOTHER HANDY "SHIELD" AGAINST ALL THE WELL-FOUNDED CRITICISM AGAINST HIM, ESPECIALLY SINCE IT'S CRYSTAL CLEAR HE ONCE AGAIN SETUP + ORDERED HIS TROOPS TO BE ULTRA ULTRA DEFENSE-ORIENTATED AND MOST IMPORTANTLY TO TAKE THE FIELD NOT REMOTELY "TRYING TO WIN", NOT TO SPEAK OF ACTUALLY ATTACKING THE OPPOSTION AT ALL!) -- BY SAYING UNINFORMED AND/OR LAME SOUNDING THINGS AS: "THIS IS SUCH A GREAAAAT RESULT, COYB!" .... OR "WE CAN TAKE A GIGA-LOT OF PRIDE IN DRAWING AGAINST AWESOME AWESOME BORO"??? Yep Boro has been hot of late and is undebatably a "good" side (substantially better than dysfunctional us!), well organized & coached and hard to break down as well as generally hard scoring on, more than maybe once. However they have in fact have struggled in LARGE chunks of 2016 (10-11 games at least) to get the offense going .... and/or finding the net. In fact ironically they were much more dangerous and ultimately effective BEFORE they bought the pricy Mr. Rhodes imo, when then used a good mix of a healthy Stuani, Fabbrini, Enrinque "Kike" Martinez, Nsue, Adomah and of course Nugent (can't believe he get so few minutes nowadays. The man is a proven goalscorer at this here level!), but as I said and as the above mentioned poor results CLEARLY confirm they have not being all the "AWESOME" for lager periods of 2016, and more importantly often struggles to convincingly deal with & break teams who take the field preoccupied with "Parking The Bus"... even though they obviously have scraped together more points than anybody but Burnley. In short: We came today -- as so many times before -- grindingly determined and all-out focused on preventing and sabotaging the opposition from generally "playing football" and more specifically THEIR football .... and we succeeded surprisingly WELL with that today and this against a much better championship team. Amen!!!! :-) However do none of you, Mick included, forget that once again, and for the umpteenth time with The Dinosaur in charge, accompanying such a "heroic" hedgehog display is THE GRIM REALITY that we had very close to ZERO shots on goal ourselves (yawn yawn)!!!!!!!!! And now let the downvoting commence.... :-) lol

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wayway added 23:29 - Apr 23 So you get relegated playing attractive football. Bournemouth?
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 05:40 - Apr 24 MicksZzzz: you got a freebie from me there. I rarely vote anyone up or down, and I didn't mean to vote on your post. Now that I have, I will say that your info about Boro's performances against some of the lesser teams was quite interesting. On the other hand, they must have been doing something right.
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geminimustang added 06:37 - Apr 24 Superblue70 " tried nothing new"? Digby full debut! Positive step in preperation for next season.Last week,Dozzell.Constructive criticism i welcome but please base it on facts.
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sidtheswan added 07:59 - Apr 24 In the circumstances a good point. It would be nice though next season if we could play a bit of football and try and win instead of boring the the football fans of the nation as well as us !
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Mick_Mills_Tache added 08:12 - Apr 24 Blue041273 - I would rather see us lose playing decent football and actually going out to attack and try and win games than to see us set up for the 0-0 draw and defend our 18 yard box for 90 mins (which, ultimately, usually ends up with us conceding anyhow). Who's fault is it that we didn't push on for the playoffs? We had a half decent chance having to play 6 of the bottom 8 (5 of those at home) and 2 of the teams above us. Did we go out to win those games? No, we didn't. We set out to draw them, and, the majority we drew.

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HackneyBlue added 08:40 - Apr 24 Another great point like the great point against PNE,Fulham,Forest ,Bolton ETC ,My god this has been the most depressing,boring season i have seen since 1974-Time for a break
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grumpyoldman added 08:42 - Apr 24 Blue041273 so the people who are fed up with the dross being served up are fly by night casual fans. It's nice to know I am a fly by night casual fan, how long do I have to follow the blues before I am a real fan in your eyes, after over fifty years of supporting them through promotions and relegations, numerous near misses and being let down on a regular basis I thought I was a proper town fan. Thank you for putting me right. Just turning up at Portman Road out of habit whatever is on display does not make you any better or worse than anybody else, following your team is a hard habit to break, I miss going but I am not prepared to spend any more on watching crap with little chance of being entertained. As I have stated before people like you make me angry with your holier than thou attitude if you are prepared to waste time and money on the dross served up good for you, but don't make sweeping statements about others.

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blueherts added 08:53 - Apr 24 Blue04 when it has really mattered ie Jan to Apr when we had a real chance to push on we have failed Please tell me how this is acceptable -
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midastouch added 09:04 - Apr 24 Somebody call Tracy Champman because we URGENTLY need a fast car to drive Mick some place else!
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blueherts added 09:14 - Apr 24 I still have wry smile that ME makea a fair chunk of his money in the sports entertainment business IRONY
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JimmyP45 added 09:17 - Apr 24 I wonder if Mick drops or fines his players when they shoot or score. Pringle scored 2 games running, dropped, Bru scores a couple of great goals, dropped. Mick wants us to play for camped-in-own-half 0-0 bore draws every game.
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GAZ1234 added 09:21 - Apr 24 I agree with the grumpy old man. ...... I too I have been going to Portman road for 50 years...... I have cancelled my season ticket The club is loosing its core supporters and doing very little to attract new ones.... not a good recipe!
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Taricco_Fan added 09:24 - Apr 24 Quite right grumpyoldman. There's a difference between a "real supporter" and just a plain mug. I would suggest the real supporter is the one prepared to voice his/her opinion by turning away, after all, voting with your feet (or should that be seat) is the only way to make your voice heard. More should do it if they want change at the club.
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superblue70 added 09:39 - Apr 24 Geminimustang one forced change at the back does not equal change, we all want a change in style and that's what I was getting at, but no again 2 defensive midfield men plodding round the pitch, maybe we should have tried attacking would have surprised the hell out of borro and all us town fans, anyway go back and bury your head in the sand, oh and while it's under there say hi to blue041.....and mm and evens you'll find them all there.

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Cheshire_Blue added 10:08 - Apr 24 Well done MM and the team. As expected, the usual 20-30 will never be satisfied. I wonder who would be the next in line to be berated when MM goes? Remember all the stick Grant Leadbitter took and what a success he is with Boro.
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superblue70 added 10:26 - Apr 24 Cheshire blue 20-30 really, I think maybe you are in the minority here, attendance levels are dropping fast and will continue to do so with this style of hoofball, people like you seem to forget it's part of the entertainment industry and if we are not entertained we won't be spending our hard earned cash. Grumpyoldman you must be a carpenter because you've hit the nail on the head there.

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Cotton_eyed_joe added 10:37 - Apr 24 Why do some people think they are a better fan than everyone else just because they have money to spare and can attend every game. I like a lot have not got money to waste, I like a lot have been a loyal fan for many years. I wish I could attend every game but its dire boring football being served up. If i went to restaurant and ordered a steak and a big Mac turned up I'd soon complain just like most people but it appears there are some who would just eat up and keep their mouths shut. If you pay money to see a football game you expect to be entertained by both teams not just the opposition. If people are not turnng up to the game it doesnt make them any less of a fan than someone who turns up. I listen to every game on the radio and attend when I can, I buy town shirts, had the badge tattooed on my arm, I eat sleep and breathe town but with DinoMick and Tight Wad Evans at he helm we are going nowhere fast. If you dont like someones opinion so be it but we are all town fans and all want what we think is best for the club and at the minute I cant see how anyone can be happy with the football being played.

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ChestnutSe added 11:01 - Apr 24 Yes, a good away point that would have been welcome if we were still in the hunt for the playoffs. Credit to the team for showing enough pride to dig out a result in a game that was pretty meaningless for us. Sounds like Digby had a decent debut as well so perhaps MM knows a bit about spotting footy talent after all. Good to see Bish getting a few more minutes as well. I wonder if McDonnel will get his run out against MK?

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