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McCarthy: Much Better After Break - Ipswich Town News

Town boss Mick McCarthy was as pleased with the Blues’ second half display as he was disappointed with their performance in the first. Christophe Berra headed in his third goal of the season seven minutes after the break to claim the point.

"I’m not saying we were awesome in the second half but compared to the first we were,” he said. "How we got from awful to awesome I don’t know.

"In terms of the difference about how we played it was a really top class second half performance.”

Why did he feel that was the case? "We started passing the ball to people in blue shirts and calmed down a little bit.

"I’m not trying to be funny, we actually passed the ball and didn’t rush it. They were panicking us, chasing the keeper, we were kicking it to them, it was coming back at us, and they’re a good side. If you keep giving them the ball back then they’ll keep doing and attacking you.

"We kept the ball better in the second half. It sounds basic and simple, doesn’t it? We’re OK with tough, we’re courageous, but we needed to be a bit more courageous with the ball, and I thought we were in the second half.

"I thought we had the better chances in the second half, apart from maybe the header from the corner at the end. We got into some really good positions.”

He added: "I’d lying if I said that when it got to one-all I wouldn’t have taken a point having played the way we did.

"But I’d also be lying if I said I didn’t think we could win it because I thought we could. Even Luke Hyam getting in at the end, it just didn’t drop for him.

"We’ve had good chances but at one-all, in terms of the way we were both playing, it was balanced.

"They’ve got good players and they could have done us on the break, there’s always the chance of a runner and they’ve got goalscorers, so you're always worried about them nicking one, no matter how well we’re playing.”

He says skipper Luke Chambers was replaced at half-time having taken a bang on the head: "He’d lost sight in one eye, he was concussed.

"Skusey was poorly, he was sick all last night. He didn’t eat, he was still sick, we sent him home this morning. Elliott Hewitt’s got a dead leg.”

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