Boss Paul Jewell was pleased to see the back of the Blues’ disappointing 2010/11 home campaign after the 2-1 victory over Preston. The win was Town’s 10th league victory at Portman Road this season, but they also fell to 10 defeats, a record at this level.
Jewell said: "It’s an end to a disappointing season, certainly at home, and we’re just glad that this season’s out of the way and we can start the job of putting a team together that’s serious about challenging.
"There are no guarantees, but the last few weeks have shown that we’re quite a way away from where we want to be.”
The Blues boss says this season’s side are incapable of seeing out a game: "We were sat there at 2-0 and when you’ve got a team which is used to winning and that mentality you know you’re not going to lose the game and you’re actually going to go on [and win more comfortably].
"Give Preston credit, they played well in the second half, they pushed us back, but from our point of view we have to do better.”
Jewell, who admitted to feeling a little flat, was pleased to end with the win but would have liked to have put on a better show for the 18,000-strong crowd: "It’s nice to get the victory and everything else, we were depleted, we didn’t have Connor, we didn’t have Gareth McAuley and we were playing with a few square pegs in round holes.
"Winning the game was the most important thing, but it would have been really good for the fans, who have been great all season, to put on a decent performance and at half-time we were 2-0 up and cruising. But you never get the feeling with this team that we’re going to win comfortably.
"The fans have been fantastic and hopefully we can get them back in bigger numbers next season, but that’s up to us to do. It’s about winning football matches, signing the right players who are going to get the fans excited for next season. That’s my job to do between now and next season."
Preston manager Phil Brown says his team need to break out of the routine of losing: "We lost the game and that’s a habit we need to get out of our system as quickly as possible.
"I’ve said I don’t want to finish bottom of this league and we can still catch Scunthorpe, if we beat Watford next Saturday.
"There were one or two things out there that weren’t acceptable but, in the main, I’d say that 95% of what the kids did, and some of the seniors, was acceptable, in terms of performance and behaviour. In the main, as manager, I was quite pleased with individuals’ performances.
"It was a big day for the kids making their debuts and it was a big day for me too, because at 2-0 down you’re facing an uphill task.
"But fortunately we caused a lot of problems for them in the second half and I thought one or two of my players were sensational.”