Boss Paul Jewell was pleased with his side’s performance in their final pre-season friendly at home to Wolves, despite falling to a 2-1 defeat. The Town manager hopes Lee Bowyer’s goal will be the first of many for his new club.
Jewell said: "They were quality opposition. We both made a few changes, which probably disrupted the rhythm of the game in the second half a little bit, but there was a lot of good stuff, a lot of pleasing stuff came out of it.
"We know we need to improve in certain areas but it was a good workout but the real thing starts next week.”
The Liverpudlian was delighted with Bowyer’s strike just before the break: "It was a terrific goal and we got a few of those situations in the first half but didn’t quite get the final shot or final cross off. It was a really good quality goal and he was unlucky not to score the second.
"[Breaking into the area and scoring goals] is Lee’s game, he’s been doing it for a long time at the top level and hopefully he’ll get a few goals for us.”
Jewell felt his team did well against opposition from a higher division with substantial strength in depth: "They’ve got quality players. They’ve paid £5 million for a centre-half [Roger Johnson], £3.5 million for the sub [Jamie O’Hara] that came on — that’s the difference between the Premier League and the Championship.
"At the same time, I thought we acquitted ourselves well and when both sides made changes the game became a little bit bitty, a bit scrappy. Their first goal was an own goal or a deflection or whatever it was.
"But it wasn’t about the result today, it was about us and our development and training towards Saturday and a long, arduous 46-game campaign.”
Jewell dismissed reports that he had targeted Wolves defender Richard Stearman: "I haven’t made an enquiry for Richard Stearman.”
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy felt the game was similarly useful: "It was a very good workout, I thought Ipswich played well. They certainly had a very good spell in the second half.
"I’m pleased with it. I changed the team from Wednesday night and the substitutions made the difference in the second half.”