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Jewell: We Deserved Victory - Ipswich Town News

Town boss Paul Jewell thought his side just about deserved their 3-2 home victory over Peterborough, despite the visitors having had the better of the first half.

Jewell said: "It was an entertaining game with both sides knowing what their strengths are, which is going forward and trying to score more than the opposition.

"I watched the tape of their Blackpool game yesterday and it could have been three-all after 10 minutes there was so much really good attacking play, it was so open.

"Yes, [it was like a basketball match early on] - we attacked, they attacked. I thought in the first half they were the better team, they shaded it.

"Even though we had some really good chances, so did they. But in the second half I thought we were the better team.

"We were hanging on in the final moments there and showed great character to come back from them equalising. We would definitely have lost that not so long ago.”

The Blues boss admits he’s rather too used to high scoring games involving his team: "There aren’t many games where we play out a comfortable 1-0 out here. We know that we need to tighten up defensively all over as a team, we’ve known that all season.

"But what we have got at the moment is goals, we’re creating chances. JET didn’t have a great game today, it wasn’t his day today, and he’s been a major part of our attacking force, but we still got three goals.”

Jewell says he switched his system around to counteract Peterborough’s midfield: "We changed our shape to match them up because they were causing us a few problems.

"JET wasn’t having the best game and so we matched them up in the middle of the park. You can say it worked, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. I think it’s important that we scored two goals from set plays because they are vitally important.”

Michael Chopra had a few opportunities but failed to get on the scoresheet but his manager wasn’t too disappointed with his display: "I’d rather he missed them than not have the chance. He’s hit the bar, he’s hit one over the bar, he probably hit that too well.

"He could have scored two headers in the first half, although I know Tommy Rowe could have as well.

"I was just looking at the stats. They had 20 shots and we’ve had 14 or 15, so it must have been good for you guys.

"I think we deserved to win. Darren will have his thoughts on that, but I think what we did show was character.

"We were 1-0 up, they equalised, their first goal was a bit fortunate, then 2-1, then they scored again and then we’ve come back again.

"We had a little bit of fortune with the goal, there’s no doubt about that, but when we played down their place in the 7-1 game at least two of their goals were offside and I didn’t come in moaning and groaning about that.”

Jewell, who joked that Aaron Cresswell’s winner should go down as an own goal, says the left-back is suffering with a slight groin problem and Tommy Smith took a bit of a knock towards the end.

Peterborough boss Darren Ferguson thought his team deserved something from the match: "We were certainly unlucky. We just didn’t score when we had control of the game. Before they scored their first we could have had two or three. I’d have to watch it again but I don’t think it was a game we deserved to lose.”

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