Town boss Mick McCarthy admitted that the Blues were beaten by a better side after losing 1-0 to Hull City at Portman Road.
"I thought the first half was pretty even,” he said. "The second half, although it wasn’t long into it, I thought we started well and put a decent cross into the box but unfortunately for us the keeper caught it and they showed their quality because the left-back Andrew Robertson is off and running and [they scored].
"It’s always disappointing however you concede but had we scored that we’d be waxing lyrical about it because it was a fantastic goal, everything about it, the pass, the finish. They showed their quality then for 10 minutes, it could have got worse.
"What I would say is that I always credit our lads for sticking with it and as bonkers as this league is we could have nicked something in the last minutes.”
Town claimed penalties in the first half when Brett Pitman appeared to be pushed by Robertson and in the second when Jonathan Douglas went to ground as he broke into the area.
"I’d like to see the penalties again,” McCarthy added. "I thought they were good shouts for penalties.
"I think they had a couple as well that they were shouting for, but I don’t think he was ever going to give one tonight whatever happened.
"In the first half we could have nicked the lead, I thought, for our performance before half-time.
"But that’s the fine margins of the Championship, of any league really, but of the Championship certainly, but we blinked first.
"I think they’ve only conceded 19 goals so they’re not an easy team to break down. And I might add that they’re a bloody good team full of bloody good players and, to be honest, they were the better team on the night.”
McCarthy was disappointed to concede so soon after the break: "The talk in the dressing room was about making a good start, don’t concede because it’ll be hard if you do because they don’t give goals away. But we did.
"I can’t say, having looked at it, that we did a lot wrong. It was a fantastic goal really. I hate saying that but that’s just the way it is because it was a bit of quality.”
The Blues boss admits that his side’s play-off push is starting to slip: "If you lose five out of six in all competitions, that is just the case. We’ve lost three on the bounce now but we’ve got to try and remain positive and get back at it.
"We have lost players, we’ve lost really important players. That wasn’t such a bad performance against the league leaders, who are really good team.
"But we’ll need to play better than that and have a bit more quality, I think, which is really important.”
McCarthy felt Hull did to the Blues what his Championship-winning sides did to other clubs by keeping Town to few chances, particularly in the second half.
"I remember being at Wolves and winning the competition and being at Sunderland and we had games where nobody had shots against us because we were a really good team and we won it by eight points on two occasions.
"They are a good side. Perhaps we should give them a bit of credit for being a good side. We didn’t have that many shots but we had our chances in the first half and if you score those it’s a different game.”
Reflecting on the difference between the two squads, Hull having benefited from parachute payments after being relegated from the Premier League last season, he said: "I look at the two players up front who cost collectively £15 million, Abel Hernández and Mohamed Diamé. Not bad, is it?
"In terms of that we’re comparing apples and pears, it’s two different things. What we’ve done is compete against a really good side and actually could have nicked something.
"They were the better side, they are the better side, they’re top of the league, they’re a better side than us, I’ll just hold my hand up. But that doesn’t mean we can’t beat them just because they’re a better side and for a period in the game I thought we might.”
McCarthy said he was pleased with Ben Pringle’s home debut: "I thought his contribution was good in a tough game and certainly his freekicks and corners have good quality.”
He confirmed that Luke Hyam suffered an injury when he went off in the second half: "Hyamsy had a fitness test before the game today. He came in this morning with a tight hamstring, he had treatment, went home and had a kip and it felt all right.
"He was fine in his pre-match test and he worked his nuts off and just had it tighten up, so hopefully he’ll be OK.”
The Town boss said Ainsley Maitland-Niles was fit despite being omitted from the 18: "No, he was just left out.”
Hull manager Steve Bruce felt his team’s superiority showed after the break: "It was difficult for us in the first half, I have to say, against a really committed Ipswich team who mirror their manager in terms of their effort and endeavour. They made it difficult in the first half.
"But in the second half we showed that bit of extra class and really we could have put it to bed. We had two or three opportunities after we scored and didn’t take the second one.
"But overall, again we’ve come away from home and showed that resilience that hopefully will stand us in good stead.”