Town boss Mick McCarthy felt his team passed the ball much better during their “tough, hard-fought” 0-0 home draw with Brighton but admitted they’re finding it hard to convert chances at present.

“It was a really tough, hard-fought game,” he said. “Not a lot of chances in it either way. They’re a good side, I think they’ll be a top-six team, I’ve no doubt about that at all, having missed out on goal difference first of all and then the play-offs last season.

“He’s retained his players, they’ve just won three on the bounce they came here full of confidence.

“While we’ve not had loads of chances, we’ve been hard to break down and if you’ve got that you’ve got a foundation from which to build.”

Regarding the Blues’ lack of goals, Town have scored only eight times this season, just four in the last 10 games in all competitions, while tonight's match was Town’s third without a goal on the trot and their second successive home goalless draw, he added: “We’re just finding them hard to convert at the minute but we’ll keep practicing at that, we’ll keep working at it.

“We are missing a few fairly inventive, talented players as well. We took Jonny Williams and he’s not right yet, Bish has had a broken nose.

“We’ve lost Pits, we’ve lost Varney, we’ve lost Didz, we’re a few strikers down and a few creative players down.

“One real bright spark I thought was Tom Lawrence, he looks like he’s got a goal in him and he’s a threat.

“And the one I’m really delighted with was Josh Emmanuel, I thought he was excellent. He didn’t look overawed, he was very good playing against Jiri Skalak, who has been playing well and creating chances, I don’t think Josh gave him anything at all, to be fair, I thought he was good.”

Emmanuel had a tough time in last season’s corresponding fixture but he didn’t allow that to affect him.

“I think Josh is pretty strong-minded, I never mentioned it to him,” McCarthy continued. “Kazenga LuaLua just did him in the first minute and he had a tough time.

“But Josh has played well since in any game he has played, Doncaster, Manchester United, the MK Dons here. Whenever he’s played he’s played well and he’s played well again tonight.”

Could the 19-year-old do enough to keep his place in the side even after the current injury crisis clears up? “If he plays like that, of course.”

📹 REACTION | Defender @JEmman97 gave Ipswich Player HD his thoughts after helping #itfc to a point and a clean sheet against Brighton. pic.twitter.com/jSw7KcJMgb– Ipswich Town FC (@Official_ITFC) September 27, 2016

The Town boss was also pleased with his left-back Jonas Knudsen, who kept Anthony Knockaert quiet throughout.

“He had to because he’s been ripping it up and I don’t think he caused him too many problems at all,” he added.

“I thought Jonas was excellent and he’s had a couple of tough games playing against Hadi Sacko at the weekend and then Knockaert today. I’m pleased with him.”

Does McCarthy, who was again pleased with Leon Best with the striker still short on match fitness, believe Town will be able to score the goals to get themselves in contention for the top six? “We’ll have to create more chances and we’ll have to create more. Let’s get [the injured players] back and we’ll see what we do when we get them back.”

He added: “If you’re not getting beaten, you’ve got something to build on. If you’re creating nothing but you’re getting slapped then you’re in real trouble.

“That’s not been the case, we’ve been pretty solid all the time. And that’s not just trying to be solid, we’re trying to open teams up and play. It’s just not happening at the minute.”

He thought his side were more comfortable on the ball than they were at Leeds at the weekend: “I thought we passed it much better, to be honest, out of the back and tried to be progressive from there.

“And I thought it worked, it gives us a breather, we’re not chasing the ball. I thought we were better, there were a couple of times we gave it away, but overall I thought it was a much better performance.”

The Blues manager was also pleased with his skipper Luke Chambers, who returned to the centre of the defence.

“Chambo’s great, you know my feelings on Chambo,” McCarthy enthused. “He is a centre-half, he has been shoe-horned into being a right-back and he’s gone there and done that pretty selflessly and made a really good fist of it most of the time.

“But I know how difficult it would have been for me to go and play at right-back because I was a centre-back and he’s terrific wherever he plays and he’s such a good influence on the team. I never had any worries about him.”

McCarthy explained his decision to leave Freddie Sears on the bench: “He’s been carrying a bit of a groin strain and he’s been in the treatment room and you never see Freddie in the treatment room, he’s always out doing his work and his finishing, so there was a bit of that. And I know I’ve got Tom Lawrence to play on the left.

"I’ve got two strikers at the moment, so if I just keep whipping Freddie and asking him to go every week and he’s played every minute of every game just about, Fred, he’s going to get injured and I can’t afford that.

“I know he’s better up top and maybe in games we might be able to get him up top with Varney or Pits or Besty. But he needed a break, he’s done a lot of work, Freddie.”

Brighton manager Chris Hughton thought a draw was a fair result: “I thought it was a fair result. I can’t say that any team deserved to win it. I don’t think there was a really clear chance in 90 minutes.

“It was a tough game. I suppose as the away team and having gone down to 10 men for that last period, I think for us it’s a good result. It certainly needed that one little bit of quality that was going to break the deadlock.”

Regarding Dale Stephens's red card for two bookable offences, the first for dissent after he felt he was fouled, Hughton added: “I think it’s something that every club has got to learn this season, and certainly us.

"Gaetan [Bong, who missed tonight's game as he was suspended] got a red card because of a booking for dissent and the same with Dale.

“I know Dale’s frustration because it was a definite foul on Dale. The referee was there and saw it but what Dale’s got to do is not vent his anger at the referee because the referees are going to book you these days. So I think he’s got to learn that one, but I can see the frustration.

“No problem with the second one, I think he’s attempted to go for the ball and it’s a yellow card.”

Photo: TWTD

Umros added 23:03 - Sep 27 Well it will be hard to convert if there are no shots man!
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midastouch added 23:08 - Sep 27 McCarthy: "we've been hard to break down and if you've got that you've got a foundation from which to bore."
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Drew added 23:11 - Sep 27 Pleased for Emmanuel, thought he was really good tonight, as was Jonas, we have a good set of defenders, just missing our creative spark which will return next month with Joniesta and Didz coming back.
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Mark added 23:11 - Sep 27 Good defensive displays, but little threat going forward. 1 goal in 4 games is a worry, especially as attendances fall due to the lack of entertainment. We need to get some wins with the slightly easier (on paper) games coming up. COYB.
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cammeray added 23:19 - Sep 27 You've had a couple of seasons to build on this foundation McCarthy
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groovyASH added 23:22 - Sep 27 Finding it hard to ocnvert? No sh1t Sherlock!
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yerfdog87 added 23:52 - Sep 27 Admit you shudda got a replacement striker in u fool. I'd b happy if anyone has a goal on them. He talks alod of dribble
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SingBlue added 23:59 - Sep 27 That is horse s*** Mick - failing to convert at the moment?? no doubt because of all our injuries and sale of our star striker... But the fact is, prior to this evening, in our last 27 league games we have scored 24 goals. 11 times we've scored one goal and 11 times we've scored 0 goals that appears to be a pattern to me! the results of those 27 games = 9 wins, 9 draws and 9 defeats - Incredibly dull MM does not care about this club, he doesn't care about us fans and surprisingly he doesn't care about the development of his players. He just wants to secure his job by setting up for a draw and by the law of averages getting one win then one draw then a defeat - then put some spin on it and due to boredom everyone just goes along with it.....MM = No Hope.

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ArnieM added 23:59 - Sep 27 That was the best back four we've had on show for bloody ages. Solid. A unit. And dealt with high flying Brighton all night long without breaking into a sweat. Emmanual was my MOTM. He never gave the ball awa . Played some lovely little balls onto the box in the second half and dealt with their right winner like a true professional. WELL DONE LAD.Thats what we Town fans want to see. He's come on leaps and bounds since this time last season. I hope he keeps his place and Chambers keeps his at CB - where he looked far more comfortable.

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bobble added 00:14 - Sep 28 Selling our top goal scorer doesnt seem to clever now..
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yungblue added 00:46 - Sep 28 Pile of S*** to put it nicely, so boring it's unbearable!! Whos going to score for us, we look like a league 2 side going forward, can see of few more boos soon, few more restless fans, heading for a McCarthy Out banner, and who the hell can blame them.
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BlueMachines added 05:20 - Sep 28 Thing is Michael. You say Emmanuel has always played well. So why has he always been dropped?
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jas0999 added 06:14 - Sep 28 The form, results and style of play since late 2015 has been extremely poor on the whole. I wonder if Evans actually cares? Alarm bells should be ringing, particularly as it would seem even more folk have turned their backs on the club. Lack of entertainment a real factor and injuries are no excuse. Williams was injured when we signed him, whilst we knew about McGoldrick prior to selling and not replacing Murphy.

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battyblue added 06:23 - Sep 28 How can you keep playing Chambers at r/b having poor performances week in week out when we have a proper more talented capable r/b in Emmanuel speaks volumes about you as a manager,,how many more better options do we have than your favourites/mates i can think of a few for christ sake pick the best team available and that includes teenagers Dino, but we know that is to much to ask.,

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pennblue added 06:28 - Sep 28 referees booking for dissent is long overdue in my opinion. The other thing they should clamp down on is when a group of players surround the referee.
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Count_Arthur added 06:29 - Sep 28 Agree with above jas0999 - does Evans give a Monkeys'? That's the biggest worry here, ME & MM are just happy to plod along. It's as if has been told "just keep us in the Championship and deflect the criticism and you'll have a wage for the foreseeable future" Re. the football, getting down to the core of the problem, the only way we'll climb this league and keep fans happy is regularly win games, and the only way we can do that is score goals, and that, we can't do.

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battyblue added 06:34 - Sep 28 And we were not creative when we had these so called injured players available for selection,Bishop for instance why has he been played out of his natural position,since when does a broken nose stop you being creative,Williams has not been at the club for ages and came here already crocked,Macgoldrick has not played more than a handful of games in the last two and a half years,even then he was not fully fit,same old spin/sh1te McCarthy time you left to save someone else from relegation because thats all you are good for.

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Hegansheroes added 07:08 - Sep 28 Lame excuses. Your're not going to create anything by playing six devenders, Skuse & Dougas aren't anything else are they? Certainly not creative. Worrying that when Tommy Smith is OK he's unlikely to get a game as Chambers will never be dropped even though IMO he's playing at a level that is beyond him, Berra is part o MM's inner circle & can't be dropped as has been the history with certain players since this cxxx came in. Go now McCarthy you should be prosecuted vor crimes against the game.

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DurhamTownFan added 07:14 - Sep 28 I've said before I don't think ME will sack MM, and especially now he's just sold his best striker from underneath the manager and not given him a chance to replace. How bad would it have to get to sack him? 3, 4 defeats in a row without scoring? The way we play stops that from happening, ensuring that we 0-0 pretty much every other game. Likewise, MM will not walk. He'd not get another prem job any more (especially if anyone reads about his football at Ipswich!) so I think he's happy where he is.

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evansblue added 07:41 - Sep 28 Micks comments are pretty spot on. It was a tough game against a really good side who had plenty of men behind the ball. One goal conceded in four says it all about our defensive strengths. Emmanuel was very good as was Jk. Lawrence is getting better and better and I am sure the goals will come. We have been unlucky with injuries but last nights display was positive for me. As I have said plenty of times before, you cant beat Watching live football and supporting your team. If it's no longer enjoyable for some then get some friends, enjoy a pre match beer and have a chat. It really isn't that bad.

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sidtheswan added 07:49 - Sep 28 Getting sacked in the morning !
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thundercat600 added 07:54 - Sep 28 Trying to walk the ball into the net does not help, its not as if the goal is small and difficult to see
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martin587 added 07:56 - Sep 28 Well,it's taken you three seasons and we still play terrible kick and rush football.Just how long do you need to get it right MM.Crowds getting smaller at every match now.!!
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Surco72 added 08:24 - Sep 28 We don't create or add a goal threat from midfield ,so as long as teams stop Ward they have nullified us 4 goals scored with Skuse / Douglas pairing this season , same boring non entertaining players as last season , How are Bishop and Dozzell going to get match fit or experience if never selected in their correct positions ? I would also ask the question what players actually improve under MM ? a lot have come with good reputations and then disappeared or been blamed by fans for poor performances surely its due to the tactics being coached every day on the training ground or being played out of natural position ? Anderson , Henshall, Stewart , ANM , Wood , Sears , Chambo , Smith, Bishop to name a few . The best football MM has played and collected the most points was with the team he inherited from Jewell this squad he has assembled of unwanted journeymen and injury cases over 4 years is so far away from the football being played in the premier league it is un real

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NorthFar added 08:36 - Sep 28 Sometimes I wonder if I've been to the same game. What I saw last night was a team that are finally looking to play football the right way. I wouldn't say we are the finished article by any means but consider that it wasn't our regular back four, our keeper was never troubled, we looked positive (if a little slow to counter) in midfield and most balls that went to Best stuck to him. I think we're showing signs of trying to be the football team we want us to be. My glass is usually half full and I don't care how many people are in that ground. I watch my team and support them. I'm not myopic, McCarthy infuriates me with his persistently conservative approach. I think we should play two up top and go at teams (especially against Villa, who looked terrified every time someone ran at them). But if anyone think he's going to be sacked, especially after a performance like that, they are living in hope. And as every Town fan should know, it's the hope that kills you.

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