Goalscorer Grant Ward admitted it was difficult to play in the fractious Portman Road atmosphere during Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Birmingham but says he and his team-mates have to block it out as they look for the points to secure the Blues’ Championship status.

The visitors' 48th-minute opener scored by Jonathan Grounds triggered boos and chants aimed at manager Mick McCarthy, owner Marcus Evans and MD Ian Milne from an angry and frustrated home support.

“It is difficult to play in an atmosphere like that,” Ward admitted. “But we have to block it out and play your own game. When we are away we get abuse so you just have to deal with it.

“You don’t expect it at home but we all know Ipswich Town is a big club and the fans want the best for the club.

“They may not always express it in the best way but the players just have to take it on the chin and accept it.”

Regarding his 72nd minute goal, his sixth of the season, Ward confirmed that there had been more than a touch of good fortune about it.

“I didn’t mean it,“ the 22-year-old said. “I was just being positive and trying to make something happen. I have been told to try and whip the ball in with some pace and luckily it went in.”

He added: “It has been a while since I scored. I have been getting in the right places and getting close so it was a case of sticking at it.

“I might try a few more like that and try and get another five or six by the end of the season.”

Town, who have now gone eight games without a win but have lost just once in 10, remain 17th, now six points from the bottom three on 46 with seven games left to play. Second-bottom Wigan visit Portman Road tomorrow night.

“We have to stay focused and pick up enough points to be safe,” he continued. “This might already be enough but we can’t wait until the end of the season. We have to keep picking up points now.

“That’s another season why the Wigan game on Tuesday is so huge. It is a six-pointer for them and we know it is going to be a scrap.”

Birmingham defender Krystian Bielik felt his side ought to have picked up all three points: “We deserved to win because we defended properly. We were solid and scored a really nice goal on the counter-attack.

“We had everything in hand and were much better than Ipswich but they scored a lucky goal.

“We lost to an unbelievable goal because everyone knows he didn’t mean to shoot, he was trying to cross.”

Meanwhile, Town’s U23s are in action against Sheffield Wednesday’s youngsters - who are coached by former Blue Neil Thompson - at Playford Road this afternoon (KO 1pm).

Photo: TWTD

brittaniaman added 09:09 - Apr 3 I am sorry Grant, but until DINO leaves this once great club, the Atmosphere will be TOXIC !!! But the Yorkshire Git will still hang on until there is nobody left in the Stadium !!!!
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Tony88 added 09:12 - Apr 3 Please take note the players are not to blame it is the manager who tells them how to play. We are not safe yet. If you are going on Tuesday please support the team. You can slag off who you want after that but staying up is the most important thing.
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1RWR added 09:33 - Apr 3 Algarve fan..........MM knew exactly the reaction the fans would have starting Douglas, one little bit of me thinks he's done this on purpose, one finger salute to the fans. Had MM sent out an attacking side the fans would have accepted he (MM) was at least trying to gain 3 points & not just one! Th vile chants, & I was one of them, just shows the depth of frustration that the paying fans have to endure & have endured of late. I pay my hefty season ticket price like anyone else therefore I have a right to express my feelings whether they're right or wrong. In any other field of employment MM would have been sacked years ago, if any of my 100 employees acted like he has, they would have been gone long ago, period! I'll be there Tuesday & if the North Stand (or anyone else) starts again, I'll join in!

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Bluetone added 09:34 - Apr 3 Problem is in the Board room and with McCarthy who spells that as Bored room and matches his hoofball methods accordingly.
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BlueMachines added 09:53 - Apr 3 evansblue. Of course we were quiet in the North Stand up until the Birmingham goal. What did we have to cheer before that? We as fans need to be given some incentive to cheer or something to shout about. Once we scored and we had a couple of attacks the crowd was in full voice supporting the team, as always. However, the attacking play was all too brief and of course the crowd's enthusiasm followed. in our last 43 home league games we have scored 16 first half goals. 16. The negative intent is clear for all to see. The facts speak louder than any crowd.

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Kesgraveblue57 added 10:03 - Apr 3 Time and time again I've said this Evans is the main problem and people fail to realise he owns everything Portman Road, as fans there is absolutely nothing we can do we can protest but it will achieve nothing Evans holds all the cards
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Kesgraveblue57 added 10:14 - Apr 3 A final word on Mr Evans if he leave the club Ipswich town could then fail to exist as a football club, remember the Financial mess the club is in
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Bert added 10:14 - Apr 3 Whilst MM and Evans are the cause of the nasty atmosphere, if players openly admit that it does not help then surely those who persist in it are not bothered whether we get relegated. There is a time and place for everything. Even Birmingham supporters on the way out thought it was misplaced.
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Wickets added 10:29 - Apr 3 Well i think everybody knew what would happen when they saw the team sheet! why would the manager play him knowing most fans know he is just going through the motions until he leaves at the end of his contract, which happly is in a few more games time. Just watch him floppin to the canvas as he makes his usual half an attempt at a tackle before Birmingham scored!! Why would Mick play him instead of Dave? Just bound to annoy the fans.

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Lightningboy added 10:30 - Apr 3 McCarthy is like a rabid old dog guarding a bone which has no meat left on it. His total lack of humility and contempt for our fans is the last straw with me - keeps going on about what a fantastic job he's done? - No Mick - a fantastic job was Burley & Royle getting us into the play-offs year after year with practically zero budget and yet still managing to get the team to play brilliant,attacking football week in week out. Loitering in the bottom half of the table all season,getting crowds down to 25 year lows & 5 years of God awful football is not doing a fantastic job. Our next managerial appointment needs to be a good one - I hope and pray our owner gets advice from someone who understands what this club used to be all about.

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Westy added 11:01 - Apr 3 I was at the match and am surprised by his comments. The fans supported the team. Do not mistake groans of disappointment when a move breaks down to having a go at the players. At such times McCarthy was angry and frustrated with the players as well. When Pitman was substituted he got a good round od applause for his efforts. Any angst was against the regime - not the players.

6

dynamicduo added 11:29 - Apr 3 Slagging off the fans at every opportunity is not the way to go here. It is not our fault that we have literally nothing to cheer, nothing to get us excited, nothing to support any more. No sense of togetherness at the club anymore and it is a real state. I work at Anfield in the hospitality, and even when they don't perform as well as they should, I have never heard Klopp or a player blaming the fans for a poor performance, and quite frankly, its embarrassing. These tough times are when the players should stand up and be counted and apart from Bart and Lawrence, no one else has done anything to make me feel proud to support this once great club. Whilst I'm sure the players won't be happy with the position we are in, that is reality for us now, we are in a relegation scrap, so it is up to them to show us something to get us excited. I honestly think that we would do as well as we are now if we had played our youth side week in week out, and can see no logical sense as to why Douglas was picked at the weekend whilst Dozzell wasn't. We've been crying out for a goalscoring midfielder for so long now, and Benyu has been scoring regularly for Aldershot so why not recall him and give him a game. Play the youngsters that have nothing to lose and everything to prove and you'd be surprised and how the fans would get behind them, as they would be giving it their all.

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KiwiTractor added 11:30 - Apr 3 Score another hattrick my good fellow, against Wigan, that should lighten the atmosphere....
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warktheline added 11:57 - Apr 3 What's the players excuse for underperforming for two years? Total complacency filtering from management to players, all fully aware of the hierarchy numpties sitting in the boardroom incapable of knowing one end of a corner flag to other! Here we go again,what would Town do without our saviour, Mr. Fools gold Evans! Let me tell you this, Evans owes the fans, not the other way around. Its not all about money, he took the club on fully aware of it's financial situation, do people really believe he did so because 'he's a jolly good fellow'? Get real, he's a business man through and through. To date he's achieved nowt but managed to alienate fans from the club they love. Evans if you are using our club for tax purposes then give over, put the club up for sale, pack your pot of gold and leave. Thereafter I'm 100% sure our club will survive. As for the toxic atmosphere in Portman Rd,long may it continue, until changes are made ! Relegation doesn't scare me, nor should it you, this club will rise again, that my friends, you can take to the bank!

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Michael11 added 12:02 - Apr 3 Pipe down please, Grant. You shanked a cross and it went in, so don't get high and mighty and tell us how we should react to your poor displays week in, week out. We've given the manager A LOT longer than most other clubs fans would before getting on his back. I think we're really lucky to be 6 points clear of the bottom 3 with the dire Football and tactics we play. We're just lucky there's a lot of poor teams in the league this year.

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jas0999 added 12:33 - Apr 3 Grant Ward started his career here with a bang, but like many others in our squad has been very average this season. This constant spin and blaming the fans is becoming mildly irritating. However, it's what we have come to expect of Evans, Milne and McCarthy. The club is in a sorry mess and won't improve with these three overseeing things.
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battyblue added 14:22 - Apr 3 Notice Billybaxter//// is at his down-marking best without bothering to add a comment of his own.
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Razor added 10:13 - Apr 4 Oy Ward----you are a PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALLER paid a lot of money so just get on with your job and stop being used as Evans mouthpiece. When things change the atmosphere will change, simple. Bishop and Williams in tonight------last throw of dice?
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