Jay Tabb scored the only goal as Town defeated Bolton Wanderers 1-0 at Portman Road. After an open first half in which the visitors had the better chances, the midfielder won it with 11 minutes left, volleying a half-cleared Daryl Murphy cross into the ground and past Trotters keeper Ben Amos.
Town boss Mick McCarthy named an unchanged team aside from Bartosz Bialkowski replacing Dean Gerken in goal. McCarthy had previously said that Gerken wouldn’t be risked having been knocked unconscious at Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Ipswich-born former Northgate pupil and one-time Blue Liam Trotter started in midfield for the visitors, who made a late change on their bench with Kaiyne Woolery replacing Adam Le Fondre.
Town began the game on top, Jonny Parr shooting over after a corner had been cleared to him just outside the area in the seventh minute.
Bolton threatened for the first time two minutes later when Craig Davies played in Eidur Gudjohnsen inside the area but the Icelander was out-muscled by Tyrone Mings. Moments later, Giles Coke struck a 20-yard effort which Bialkowski rather unnecessarily punched away.
The Blues ought to have gone in front in the 16th minute when Freddie Sears stole the ball from Tim Ream and went through one-on-one with keeper Amos, who stood up well and blocked.
On 22 Cole Skuse picked up the game’s first yellow card for a trip on the lively Rochinha as the on-loan Benfica midfielder broke into the Town half.
Bolton started to get on top, Trotter shooting well wide in the 25th minute before Davies cut a dangerous ball across from the left but too far in front of Josh Vela at the far post.
Just before the half hour, Mings made a strong run through the middle from inside his own half before feeding Sears to his left. The ex-Colchester man crossed and the left-back flicked across goal and wide.
Bolton immediately broke, Christophe Berra and Tommy Smith eventually dispossessing Gudjohnsen before Rochinha slipped and Skuse cleared the danger.
A previously subdued Portman Road was starting to wake up and on 31 the Blues went close again, Berra heading a freekick across goal from the far post and Smith diverting a looping ball back into the six-yard area but with no Blue shirt present.
With the action swinging from one end to the other in a very open half, Bolton twice went close within a minute.
First Bialkowski palmed Davies’s shot from the edge of the box out to Vela, who cut back to Gudjohnsen, but the veteran’s effort was deflected wide by Mings.
From the corner, the Trotters went even nearer, Dorian Dervite nodding down to Ream in the six-yard box. The American international worked himself space to shoot but saw Parr block his weak effort on the line, the ball inadvertently bouncing up off the Norwegian’s arm before he cleared.
Tabb broke through from midfield in the 38th minute but could only shoot straight at Amos, who claimed comfortably.
But it was the visitors who were continuing to look the more threatening side with debutant Rochinha’s running their main danger.
In the 41st minute the Portuguese brought the ball forward from deep at pace past a number of defenders, exchanged passes with Davies but shot just wide of Bialkowski’s left post when he seemed certain to score. It was a major let-off for the Blues. Neither side threatened again before referee Fred Graham brought the half to a close.
Bolton will feel they should have been ahead at the end of an open half having come closest to scoring through Ream and the impressive Rochinha. Town had had chances but more of the better opportunities had fallen to the visitors.
Town switch Parr for Luke Varney at the break as they moved to 4-3-3 with on-loan Blackburn man on the left, Daryl Murphy in the centre and Sears on the right.
Skipper Chambers scraped a 55th minute shot wide as the second half began scruffily. Two minutes later, Kevin Bru replaced the quiet Bishop.
Just before the hour, a Sears cross from the right was nodded out to Skuse on the edge of the box from where the midfielder - still without a goal since joining Town in the summer of 2013 - flicked the ball up and volleyed just over.
The former Bristol City man twice went close again within a minute, first beating Trotter to a clearance 25 yards out and hitting a shot which struck Amos’s right post. The 28-year-old was first to the loose ball on the edge of the box and side-footed towards goal but the keeper did well to recover and save.
Murphy shot wide on 73 but chances at either end were coming far less frequently than they had in the first half.
Rochinha, Bolton’s biggest threat before the break, was replaced by Rob Hall with 11 minutes remaining having been far less influential in the second.
Almost immediately, the Blues went in front. Murphy crossed from the left, the ball was half-cleared to Tabb just inside the area and the midfielder volleyed into the ground past the wrong-footed Amos and into the corner of the net. It was Tabb’s second goal of the season, making the first Town midfielder to score more than once this season.
Bolton looked to get straight back in it, sub Hall turned a Tom Walker cross to Bialkowski, then at the other end Mings smashed a powerful right-foot shot against a defender having cut in from the left.
As the game entered its final five scheduled minutes Bru fizzed a low shot across Amos and wide.
Bolton should have grabbed an equaliser in the last minute. Following a corner, Ream crossed from the right and Davies headed wide at the far post when he seemed certain to score.
As the match moved into injury time, Matt Clarke replaced Sears, Murphy shot well wide from distance, then Bru was booked for a foul but the Blues saw out the remaining minutes without too many dramas to end their run of four games without a win.
While Bolton should probably have been ahead at the break, until Davies's miss in the closing moments the Blues had the better second-half chances with Skuse unfortunate not to grab his first Town goal when he hit the post.
While Tabb’s goal was by no means a classic it was as important as any Town have scored this season, although with Brentford winning 3-2 at Blackburn the Blues remain seventh a point from the play-offs with eight left to play.
Elsewhere, Wolves remain two points behind the Blues in eighth having beaten Sheffield Wednesday 3-0.
Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Mings, Berra, Smith, Skuse, Bishop (Bru 57), Parr (Varney 46), Tabb, Murphy, Sears (Clarke 90). Unused: Kenny, Anderson, Chaplow, Wood.
Bolton: Amos, Vela, Mills, Dervite, Ream, Trotter, Coke, Walker, Rochinha (Hall 79), Gudjohnsen (Bannan 64), C Davies. Unused: Bogdan, Moxey, Woolery, Twardzik, Threlkeld. Referee: Fred Graham (Essex). Attendance: 16,923 (Bolton: 249).