x

Keane: Comfortable Victory - Ipswich Town News

Boss Roy Keane felt his side were comfortable during their 3-1 Carling Cup victory over Northampton Town, but thought that nerves could have been steadied if they had scored their third goal earlier on.

Keane said: "I thought we were comfortable in the second half but when you don’t get that goal you never know what might happen and they had one or two half-chances.

"We’ve seen enough times since I’ve been at the club us paying the price for having only a one-goal lead, so it would have been ideal to get the third goal a touch earlier.

"Credit to the players, they stuck at it and we definitely deserved to win the game of football tonight.”

The Blues manager was pleased with his strikers, particularly Tamás Priskin: "I thought Tamás and Jason put in good shifts for us. The onus was on the two strikers to give us a platform, particularly with their workrate, not to give Northampton too much time at the back because some of their players hadn’t had too many minutes under their belts.”

Keane says he’s not overly concerned about who his side might draw in the quarter-finals: "We’re hopeful of a home tie, but our priority is of course the league game on Saturday.

"The big boys will start flexing their muscles, as you’d expect a lot of them to get through over the next 24 hours, but the finals, semi-finals and the quarter-final are a long way off yet. Our mindset has to be on Saturday.”

Keane says Connor Wickham is likely to be out for around two weeks after twisting his ankle in training on Sunday, while Grant Leadbitter is a doubt for Saturday's home match against Millwall with a knee injury. David Norris has a dead leg after colliding with the Northampton keeper in the first half just before Damien Delaney’s goal.

Northampton manager Ian Sampson thought that his side scored too soon: "I think it was a well-worked goal, a good shot, we got a bit lucky with the deflection, but you do start dreaming a little bit.

"Perhaps it was a little bit early for the goal to go in and I think Ipswich’s quality showed through in the end.”

What to read next:

[Podcast] The Naked Football Show - Listen Again
This week's Naked Football Show is now available online.
Swansea Sack Sheehan
Swansea City have sacked head coach Alan Sheehan following their 4-1 defeat to the Blues at the Swansea.com Stadium on Saturday.
Williamson and Carr Added to Scotland U21s Squad
Blues keeper Woody Williamson and midfielder Ryan Carr have been added to the Scotland U21s squad for their European Championship qualifiers against Gibraltar and Bulgaria.
[Podcast] Blue Monday - New Podcast Now Online
A new podcast from the Blue Monday team is now available.
Clarke in Team of the Week
Town forward Jack Clarke has been named in the Sky Bet Championship Team of the Week following his display in the 4-1 victory at Swansea City on Saturday.
Hallgrimsson: Town Maybe Overloading Szmodics at Times
Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has suggested Town may have been “overloading” currently injured forward Sammie Szmodics, while revealing he has never spoken to Blues boss Kieran McKenna during his time in charge of the Boys in Green.
Author to Speak About Ramsey Book at The Hold
Author Grant Bage will be speaking about his recently published book The Unseen Sir Alf: A Different Kind of Hero at The Hold in Fore Street on Thursday 27th November (11am-1pm).
U21s Pair Nominated For PL2 Player of the Month
U21s duo Luca Fletcher and Woody Williamson have been nominated for the PL2 Player of the Month award for October.
Adetiba and UAE Exit U17 World Cup
Academy winger Jayden Adetiba played the first 65 minutes as the UAE bowed out of the U17 World Cup in Qatar after losing 5-0 to Senegal in their final group match.
Azon: I'm Really Happy!
Blues striker Ivan Azon was delighted to score his first goal for the club in Town’s 4-1 win at Swansea City yesterday.