Town boss Mick McCarthy felt the performances of young full-backs Myles Kenlock and Josh Emmanuel were among the positives to be taken from the Blues’ 3-2 home victory over the MK Dons.

Reflecting on the game overall, he said: “Exciting? It was frustrating for me. We started really well, we could have had a second and then gave an absolutely bonkers goal away, we were all out of shape, lost it, they broke and we gave away the penalty.

“The second half wasn’t really happening. We got a second and gave another goal away, which we were really disappointed with.

“And then we won it and Myles Kenlock, who I thought was excellent, one real plus point out of the game, out of the season looking at him, crossed brilliantly and Reg Varney got on the end of it.

“So we get the winner, we all come off and it looks like an exciting game, and I guess it was because there were chances at either end. But 3-2, some good and some bad in that.”

Regarding Kenlock and Emmanuel’s performances, he added: “It’s convinced me that I’ve got two young full-backs that can actually play in the team, if I was thinking of looking elsewhere.

“They’re both young still, both only 18 or 19 the pair of them, and they’ve done really well. I’m delighted with them.

“[They’ve probably been a bit unfortunate not to play more of a part this season], but the senior lads have been great for three/four seasons since I’ve been here.

“It’s been Chambers, Berra, Smith, Cresswell, Mings or Knudsen and they’ve served me and this club so well, so it has been hard for them to get in.

“If I want to be brutally honest, I think Myles has got done for the second goal, he’s got nudged by Revell, but then he’s made up for that. His whole performance has been outstanding.

“But those are the things you can’t allow to happen. And others made mistakes for the first goal. I’m being ultra-critical of him because he was outstanding, his cross for the winner was brilliant.

“And Josh, he’s been doing great but he’s still young and that back four has been the bedrock of the team.”

McCarthy was pleased to see the returning David McGoldrick put in another promising performance and score his first goal since August 29th.

“I’m sincerely hoping that he is fully fit for Ireland [at the Euros] and that he goes and that he plays and that he has a great tournament.

“He deserves that after the couple of seasons he’s had, it’s been a bit stop-start with injuries.

“Didzy’s just such a good player and I still don’t think he’s 100 per cent. I think there were times he lost the ball today and under different circumstances, had he played more often, you get battled hardened and I don’t think he’s that.

“He’s fit to play and I think he’s had a good game and got his goal. I think he conducted a lot of the play for us today, orchestrated a lot of the play, which was good, but he’s still getting there.

“If he’s lucky enough to be picked by Martin O’Neill, who picks the squad, I’ll be delighted. And I hope he plays, I hope he gets a chance to play because he’s got the ability to play at that level.”

Teddy Bishop made his first start of the season but McCarthy feels the 19-year-old midfielder is still some way off his best.

“I wanted to start him,” he said. “I said to him coming off, ‘Well done, but I think you were knackered’. He said, ‘No, I was all right’.

“Well if that’s him all right, if that’s his best he wouldn’t play every week, so I think there’s a bit more to come from him.

“That cameo when he ran through, that was him. But when he’s fully fit he does that on a regular basis and he doesn’t get caught in possession. He’s a really talented lad. Hopefully the end of the season will get him right for the start of next.”

The Town boss says he’ll be speaking to winning goalscorer Luke Varney, whose short-term deal is up at the end of the season, about his future soon.

“I’ll be talking to him this week,” he added. “It was always the case with Luke, nothing’s really changed with that. We’ve still got a game to play, the last one is coming up next week. We’ll talk to him this week.

“He’s been fantastic, he’s an outstanding pro, an outstanding character. He’s a shining example to anybody who snaps his achilles.

“I’m so glad that [owner] Marcus [Evans] supported him. We put him up, we gave him treatment and I think we’ve both been rewarded. That’s been a symbiotic deal. He’s been rewarded with our support and we’ve been rewarded with a goal and a performance like that.”

McCarthy says he enjoyed the lap of appreciation after the match: “I really wanted to show my appreciation to the fans because I’ve had nothing but support from them from walking in here in November 2012.

“It’s just been a little bit tough [recently]. I’ve had some tart comments at me and some caustic comments, but in the main I’ve really enjoyed the support.

“I went to the Supporters Club do [the Player Awards Evening] and it was quite humbling how much support we were all receiving.

“It was lovely today and I’ve enjoyed it. I was never, ever going to do anything other than walk around and say thank you to the fans.

“I think the ones who stay behind were always going to applaud us and they saw a nice victory in the end.

“And I do think in the end, if we all analyse it, we’ve probably had a good season anyway, we’ve just had a really difficult end to it.

“The support’s been there all the time and I think over the piece they’ve seen more good performances and good results than they have bad. I think they appreciate it, appreciate the effort the players give every single week.

“When I walked in in November 2012 that was one of the things, ‘They’ve given up, the club’s shambles, people don’t care about it’.

“That couldn’t be said now. It’s a well organised, well run club with a team that fights tooth and nail. There’s a lot to be said for that.”

He says the planning for next season is already under way: “That’s ongoing. There never really comes a time when you start thinking that.

“I think that’s an ongoing process where you’re constantly looking at players, what you can do to improve it and change it sometimes. We’re in that process and we’ll be doing that up until the end of August, I guess.”

MK Dons manager Karl Robinson felt the match reflected his already relegated side’s season.

“I think the game showed two sets of players who were willing to put the right sort of effort in at this time of the season with both their fates sealed,” he said. “I’d swap fates, obviously.

“It was two sets of players who put a good shift in and it was a very honest game of football refereed really well as well.

“It was disappointing for us to lose, it summed up our whole season - good, good, good and then poor in key areas.

“It’s the difference in the set-ups, look at the quality of the goalscorers that they possess, streets away from where we are right now. But it’s been a tremendous learning curve for everybody involved in the football club.

“We try and play the right way, even though our fate is sealed. We still hold our heads up high and play a style of football that I believe in immensely and now it’s a case of the club rebuilding itself and going again.”

Photo: Action Images

DebenBlue added 18:44 - Apr 30 MM - Don't blame young Kenlock for there 2nd goal, for once have the guts to criticise your senior players. Watch the goal again, Berra got underneath the ball and Gerken should of come out for it.
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blueherts added 18:45 - Apr 30 Our defence has not been quality this season You finally play 3 more offensive midfielders and guess what Frustrasting and shows what may have been yet we were playing a Div 1 side playing with a few kids Should have been out of sight Positives def myles and Joshe Not sure we will seensure gherkin or varney next season
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jjhbruno added 18:53 - Apr 30 First time posting on this and sorry Mr McCarthy I met you at my brothers restaurant about 5 years ago and you were a gent but your constant critisism of fringe players that deserve a chance in contrast to your praise to others that get more than their fair chance is something to be desired. Why do you always tarnish the players that don't start with sly little 'he should've done this' but the regulars never ever get this. You don't treat all the players fairly in my opinion and it is wrong and down to bloody mindedness

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Mr_Evans added 18:53 - Apr 30 “It's been Chambers, Berra, Smith, Cresswell, Mings or Knudsen and they've served me and this club so well, so it has been hard for them to get in. No Mick, they haven't. Chambers has been below average for 3 seasons now at RB, he is captain because ehe has 'great bands' and not because he is a leader. Berra has been all over the place this season, I wonder if he's looking to move on. Smith, as much as he seems up to cause, is an average Championship player at best. Jury is still out on Knudsen. We've conceded more goals than any other team in the top 10, and baring in mind our GK got player of the season shows how much worse it could easily have been - even with the protection of your insistence of two defensive midfielders. What we desperately need a CB's that can play the ball, problem is Smith and Berra are not comfortable in possession, so it's just lumped forward and comes straight back again. We may not be professionals within the football industry, but it doesn't take a genius to know our defence is our biggest liability. Telling us that our back four have been great is like spitting in the faces of the supporters.

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BlueMachines added 18:55 - Apr 30 The fact that a poor defence has been the 'bedrock' of our team says it all. Glad the season is over.
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Mr_Evans added 18:56 - Apr 30 Bants*
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Mr_Evans added 18:58 - Apr 30 Essex57 - You marked me down, please explain what I've said you don't agree with?
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blue75 added 19:09 - Apr 30 Yeah Mick the back 4 have been great all season all those clean sheets I can't see how you could possibly drop any of them!!!!!
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jas0999 added 19:12 - Apr 30 For me Kenlock looks the better player and with Knudsens improved performances, left back position looks in good hands. If Chambers moves to CB, I still think we need to sign a right back. Delighted for Varney, but with just one goal under his belt, I would have thought he and the likes of Tabb will move on in the summer. We need better. They should both leave with heads held high and with our best wishes.

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prebsa added 19:33 - Apr 30 Mr_Evans don't bother asking. You will only get moaned at by MrDiddle and bohslegend for asking. I agree with quite a lot of what you say though. Good post!
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Stato added 19:41 - Apr 30 No mention of Bart from Mick but he is supposedly our man management genius
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bluey123 added 19:45 - Apr 30 McCarthy is a disgrace Kenlock was not to blame for there second goal it was his love child Gerken what in earth is he doing playing in the first instance. Berra was poor all game why oh why not to play Digby and Smith who were amazing last week typical McCarthy he has to go we can't stand another season of him being in charge get out of our club . I suppose he has to turn on theses players as we have been saying we need a real RB and what happens when they play one we win. Knudson not good enough when we play a proper LB we win we play 1 defensive midfield player we win strange that

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Guthrum added 19:58 - Apr 30 Mr Evans - 'we've conceded more goals than any other team in the top ten' Apart from Brentford, that is. Cardiff have conceded just one fewer than us and Birmingham only three fewer. The only teams below the top six with significantly fewer goals against than us are Preston, Blackburn and Forest, who can defend a bit but can't score. The defence has been far less of a problem for Ipswich than the patchy ability of our strikers to score (and by that I mean converting chances into goals).

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VulpineBlue added 20:08 - Apr 30 I thought that the second goal came as the result of a totally needless & reckless tackle by Cole Skuse. We shouldn't have given MK Dons a sniff of a set piece today. Given the current quality of their strikers it was clearly going to be their best chance of scoring- and they took them. Best wishes to Karl Robinson & the Dons. A good honest manager & team.
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HarryS_H added 20:15 - Apr 30 I personally understand what Mick is saying here and I think it's an honest assessment. Not sure about their goal I thought it was Berra but I'm no expert and Mick probably won't have seen it back before the interview so I'm not sure about that. But overall I think he knows where the weaknesses are and what needs to be done going forward hopefully more like the play today with a bit more quality on top of the mentality which he has built in the team

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essex57 added 20:16 - Apr 30 Mr Evans you can't lay the whole blame on the defence what about the games where we have had so much possession and failed to score Smith has been solid at the back Chambers does a fair job out of position Knudsen most improved player. Don't be so sensitive to down arrows I've got over 700 of them.
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hairbear added 20:17 - Apr 30 Ssuuuuupper super mick Super super mick Super super mick Super mick macarthy
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essex57 added 20:26 - Apr 30 Please enlighten me presba
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carsey added 20:47 - Apr 30 Drab end to a drab season. So many problems with the manager the coaching the set up of the team and the clubs attitude to supporters I'm not sure much will change during the close season. Glad it's over and we can have a break and hope next year will be better all round whoever is in charge.
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BlueMachines added 21:25 - Apr 30 Guthrum. What chances? We create so few.
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Cloddyseedbed added 21:36 - Apr 30 Good to finally see a bit of goal action at Portman Road. Don't get carried away, we narrowly beat a team destined for div one and they were playing a few youngsters themselves. Not impressed with Gerken in goal, mistake by Berra and him for one of the goals. 2 fullbacks did themselves no harm at all and to my mind played the positions better than the 2 picked in front of them all season, credit to them both. I would like them both to start in the team next year unless we sign better players. I would like Digby in the middle to start next season to, beside Smith, unless better players are signed. I see no future for the likes of Gerken, Chambers, Knudsen, Berra, Hyam, Douglas, Pitman, Coke, Toure and Feeney if I'm honest. Getting these players off our payroll will not be easy but would free up funds to get players more gifted and with a view to pace throughout our team, build a team more like Leicester. Give our youngsters who played today a more important role in the team next season and don't continue to make them scapegoats if results don't go our way. They are the future and they should only get better! The 2 boys playing fullbacks today put in more telling crosses today and good strikers like Murphy and Varney that are good in the air will thrive on them next season.

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grubbyoik added 21:49 - Apr 30 MM style of football is NOT how I like to watch football.. NOT how I like football to be played... His teams might be reasonably successful playing the way they do.. But is that what it's all about., getting to the Premiership promise land come rain or shine.. It's all about the money money money... At the end of the day... It's a day in my life watching this tripe.. I demand more .. Want better.. PLEASE CAN SOME CLUB OFFER MCCARTHY A JOB.. A SAVE US FROM THIS MORTAL COIL.

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delias_cheesy_flaps added 22:07 - Apr 30 Yes MM the supporters club might have been humbling but that's more then likely to be staunch supporters come what may, not your average joe fan who's not blinkered.
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KiwiTractor added 22:50 - Apr 30 McCarthy doesn't criticise some of the rubbish performances his 'favorites' put in week in, fair enough - but is critical of Kenlock and Bishop after good games? And dropping Bart....... I like the man less and less the more I have to listen to him.
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TR11BLU added 22:55 - Apr 30 McCarthy out ... now
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