Town boss Mick McCarthy was delighted with double goalscorer David McGoldrick but also with the rest of his team after the Blues’ 2-0 home victory over Brighton.
McCarthy said his team had to work hard to get the better of what he believes was a decent Seagulls team: "We had to beat them today, you don’t get anything easy from them, they’re a good outfit, they’ve got some good players.
"They had a good start, they started better than us, missed a sitter. That’s this league. How many times do I say that? Last week they made saves or we missed chances.
"You’ve got to take chances when they come along and we did with a really good performance from Dids.
"He was excellent today. But I think you could go through the team and we’ve had a good, solid team performance and you have to do to win games.”
The Blues boss says consistent performances throughout the side are important: "TC marks them down and we check the marks every week and if you’ve got a team that’s got seven out of 10 all across the board, you’ve generally got a chance of winning.
"If you’ve got a few fours and fives, that’s when you get beaten. It’s all about marks afterwards, TC’s marks and I have a look at them.
"When you’re saying they played well, I think if you went through the team today you’d be saying the same about everybody.”
McCarthy said Town didn’t have it all their own way and admitted his team might have had a touch of good fortune in the second half: "You’ve got to play well to beat a good team and they are a good side with some good footballers and I thought they posed us a few problems, I thought, early on and they kept going.
"I know they’re screaming about a penalty. I haven’t seen it but personally I think it’s a great decision by the ref.
"I don’t know, I’m taking the Mick, of course, I’ve no idea until I see it. But, by the way, if it is a dubious one, it’s about time we got one anyway. How many deflections have flown in our bleeding net?
"At the time, I said we’d get a slice of luck because it would come around and if that’s our slice of luck, then great. But I won’t know until I’ve seen it.”
Overall, McCarthy was pleased with the performance: "I thought some of our football was nice today. If you can win and entertain fans as well [that’s good], but I’d settle for winning at any club wherever I am.
"There’s this fallacy about having to play sexy football. Bollocks, you’ve got to win. Because playing sexy football and getting beaten sees me driving out the gate with all my stuff, boxes piled up in my car, going back to Bromley with the sack. Win, and then if you can put some little bells and whistles on it, fantastic!”
Brighton boss Oscar Garcia thought his team improved as the game progressed: "McGoldrick was the difference between the two sides. We didn't start too well and that made it hard for us.
"We knew McGoldrick could be a threat and today he showed that he is player who can play at a higher level. We were not good in the first 25 minutes, but after that we improved.”
The Seagulls manager believed his team ought to have been awarded a spotkick: "I'm not sure why the referee did not award a penalty in the second half. It was a clear handball.”