Boss Roy Keane said he was delighted for his players, his staff and Town’s beleaguered supporters after the Blues defeated West Brom 1-0 at Portman Road to set up a Carling Cup semi-final with Arsenal. Grant Leadbitter’s 69th minute penalty was enough to see Town through to the last four of the competition for the first time in 10 years.
Keane said: "I’m delighted for the players, delighted for the staff, pleased for the supporters. It was important that we put on a performance tonight. You can put on a performance but that doesn’t guarantee a result, especially with the chances we were missing.
"I was pleased with the workrate, the character, the composure, the way some of the younger boys played and the lads who came back into the team. To get out of the hole we’re in at the moment is about characters and digging deep
"I’m pleased for everyone, particularly the supporters. I’ve said before, it’s been a frustrating time for them but it’s something to smile about. Now we need to focus for our league game on Saturday.”
The Blues boss was pleased with his side’s tempo from the off: "We started the game well, we didn’t want to get sucked into a game where we dropped back too much, we know the qualities West Brom have got, we saw them on Saturday [when they beat Everton 4-1]. We wanted to be high tempo, our widemen putting pressure on their full-backs.
"Tamás and Jason started well, Reggie did well, Andros. I thought all the players did well. Troy, Jaime Peters.
"There was a clean sheet, we kept 11 players on the pitch and we didn’t really make any basic errors tonight. Darren, Jaime, Troy and Tommy, when they had to clear it, they cleared it. We did the basics well and that gives you a chance.”
In his programme notes Keane echoed this week’s earlier comments regarding managers reaching a position where it is best for their club if they move on, but he says he’s not yet there with the Blues: "My point in the programme, don’t overanalyse it, is that sometimes it does come to a point where as a manager you say ‘it’s not quite happening’, but we’re not there yet.”
Keane learnt of Town’s next opponents during his post-match press conference, a note having been passed to him: "Good news, it’s Arsenal! There’s always a downside, isn’t there? We’ve got Chelsea around that time as well.”
Referring back to his comments about managers coming to the end of their time at clubs, he added: ”Hopefully, I’ll be here in January. I might be gone at the end of January though!
"You have to look forward to it but in terms of the draw it’s the hardest game we could have got. But it will be great for the players, great for the young players.”
Albion assistant head coach Eddie Newton pulled no punches with his post-match comments: "It was a poor performance without a shadow of a doubt. You don’t have to be an expert in football to know that it was a poor performance.
"Individually and collectively we were poor, we didn’t turn up, didn’t show enough desire and therefore paid the big price.”
The ex-Chelsea man said he and boss Roberto Di Matteo had no regrets at making nine changes from Saturday’s game: "We’ve been doing that from the beginning of the competition and we stuck by it and we showed faith in our players. They’d been doing very well until tonight.”
Newton felt the penalty which won the game might have come as a result of Town’s earlier strong claims: "Graham Dorrans hasn’t touched him, I think Edwards was on his way down outside the box, so the action started outside the box. For me it was a soft penalty.
"But the fact remains that we didn’t deserve anything out of the game anyway. Simple as that.”