Blues boss Paul Jewell confirmed that adding to his centre-half options will be a priority during the January transfer window with more calamitous defending helping goal-shy Nottingham Forest to a 3-1 victory at Portman Road yesterday. The Town manager was critical of Damien Delaney and Ãvar Ingimarsson after the defeat.
Jewell, who thought the suspended Ibrahima Sonko was a big miss, is on the search for new additions but says recruiting quality central defenders isn’t an easy business, having spent the summer trying to add to that area of his squad: "It’s very difficult trying to get good players. You look around and there are a lack of good players. But it’s obvious we need strengthening.
"We’ve had Danny Collins here, he’s gone back and the centre-half area is one where we desperately need some help.
"Getting a new centre-half has been a priority for a while, but there’s a lack of quality centre-halves about.
"We’ve got the worst defensive record in the league and we concede soft goals. I know it’s not just the two central defenders but I think those two have to take some responsibility for the Forest game.”
He says that this tendency to concede soft goals means his team can’t get into a decent run of form at Portman Road: "We just don’t seem to be able to get any momentum at home. When we keep on giving goals away like the ones we give away, it’s always going to be the case.
"I don’t think anyone who was at the game will think that Notts Forest have been all over us, but every time the ball went anywhere near our box they looked dangerous, which is down to basic defending and basic errors have cost us.
"The two centre-halves have to be culpable today, there’s no getting away from it. I don’t really like to single individuals out because we are a team, but some of the defending which went on was ridiculous.”
Jewell felt Forest’s third goal, scored by Marcus Tudgay, summed things up: "When we got back to 2-1, I was thinking we’ve got a chance but again there was a goal out of nothing. It was a ball into the box from Reid and it somehow found itself in the back of the net and the game was over.
"I thought we kept going, we had a few opportunities second half, we huffed and puffed. But once we’d clawed ourselves back into it, we just shot ourselves in the foot.”
The Blues manager had praise for Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, who provided Town’s main threat in the last two games and won Monday's second half penalty: "He’s done OK. He likes to drift out wide and he’s got ability on the ball, he can do things that other people can’t. He’s frustrating at times but he is someone who can open the door.”
Jewell says midfielder Lee Bowyer is likely to be out for around a fortnight having been subbed just before half-time: "I think he felt his abductor go when he made a pass. Lee’s been one of our better players of late but I think he’ll be out for a couple of weeks.”
Jimmy Bullard could be back in contention for next week’s FA Cup tie at his old club Hull having called in sick with flu ahead of yesterday’s game, while Andy Drury is unable to face the Tigers having played in the competition for loan side Crawley already this season.