George Burley heaped his side with praise after the stunning 1-0 win over Inter. He singled out scorer Alun Armstrong after the Geordie returned from his sickbed to score the winner.
Burley said: "I am very pleased to beat a world-class team, but we know it will be tough over there. All credit to the way we battled to beat one of the best teams in Europe. Inter Milan are much stronger than either Torpedo Moscow or Helsingborgs IF who we played in the last two rounds, so it was great to get a 1-0 result although the tie is still evenly balanced."
Burley said of scorer Armstrong: "He has hardly trained but we threw him on knowing he could score a goal and he came up trumps. It would have been a gamble for him to start the game, but not to play 15 minutes."
The Town boss felt he played his right side on the night: "Football is a game where you all have to be right and tonight all the team did well. We need to be committed like tonight in the return leg. We will have to work hard and hope to go through, but know it will not be easy. We performed very well against Inter here but away it will be a completely different match, maybe a different team, and I'm sure they will put us under a lot more pressure, but it sets up an exciting second leg."
Scorer Armstrong said of his illness: "I've struggled for about three weeks. I have been training for 20-25 minutes before being sick and haven't been able to do an awful lot. I don't feel too bad now. I have trained for the last four days, doing a bit more every day. It could turn out to be the most important goal I have scored if we get the right result out there. I wasn't desperate to play in this game as I knew I would be fit for the away game, but had to play really because of all the injuries we have had. It was a great ball in from Jamie Clapham. When I went on I was told by the manager to get to the far stick and I knew the ball was in as soon as it left my head."
Inter manager Hector Cuper said Town were more willing to put in the effort in the second half and was impressed with Pablo Couñago: "In the first half it was an even game, but in the second Ipswich were more willing to run and that caused us a problem. They are a very good team, I was very impressed with them. They are a very willing team in the way they play and I particularly liked Pablo Counago up front."
However, he is still confident his side can beat Town in the second leg.