Boss Mick McCarthy says Town wouldn’t have conceded the late penalty which led to Leyton Orient’s last-gasp equaliser during Saturday’s 1-1 friendly draw had Jay Tabb still been on the field.
The 30-year-old, who was largely on the fringes last season, had been subbed eight minutes from the end with his replacement, youngster Alex Henshall, conceding the spotkick when he fouled ex-Blue Kevin Lisbie.
"If Tabby had’ve been on the pitch, they wouldn’t have got the penalty because they wouldn’t have got out of that corner,” McCarthy insisted.
"He’s a safer pair of hands. He’s not a flying left winger. Alex Henshall’s learning his trade, he’s going to have to learn a lot about me that you don’t dangle a leg, he wins the ball or gives a foul.
"I’d take a foul out there and we’ll defend the freekick. But he doesn’t get in our box and it end up being a penalty. That wouldn’t have happened with Tabby, or Hunty.
"But Alex is a kid, so I’ll forgive him that, he’ll learn. Doing that here, and Kevin Bru as well, they both dangled legs and got beaten, I can speak to them and show them, and hopefully for me, and for them, they won’t do it in a league game.”
Tabb himself is aiming to play a bigger part during the season ahead having had a disappointing 2013/14.
"It started really well for me when I scored against my old club Reading and I felt settled in,” the former Irish U21 international told the Sunday Mirror. "But I got a shoulder injury and didn’t play so regularly after that.
"But I have one year left on my contract at Ipswich and I want to prove I can play a bigger part in our efforts to win promotion.
"Mick is a great bloke to work for. He is extremely honest and tells you things straight. If you are not performing, you are out of the team and that is how it should be. We weren’t far off the play-offs last season and we can improve.”
McCarthy says he was impressed with Orient, who he expects to be among the League One challengers: "I thought they were excellent in the first half, really good. I thought they were the best team.
"I wasn’t happy with my team’s performance but then in the second half I thought we were the best team, I thought we shaded it.
"I think they’re a good side, Russell Slade has made some good signings, I think they play some nice football, they try to play and I think they’ll be a threat for the league.”