x

McCarthy: Excellent Second Half Despite Defeat - Ipswich Town News

Town boss Mick McCarthy felt his side were excellent during the second half despite conceding the goal which saw Barnet to a 1-0 pre-season friendly victory at The Hive. John Akinde netted from the penalty spot in the 68th minute.

"It was a good workout for us,” McCarthy said. "I knew it would be a competitive game against Martin Allen’s team. I guess when a League Two team plays a Championship team it’s always going to be competitive.

"I didn’t think there was much in the first half and I thought we were considerably the better team in the second half and we’ve conceded the goal.

"We’ve tried to get the ball down and pass it, and I thought we did. In the second half I thought we were excellent apart from the backpass, which ends up as a penalty. Other than that, without creating chances, I thought we passed the ball around well.”

Andre Dozzell was amongst those impressing their boss after the break: "Doz is a good player and I thought James Blanchfield was very good in the second half as well.

"I thought the second half was a better performance. I thought Cameron Stewart played well, his delivery from freekicks and corners was excellent. I thought it was a much better performance. We’ve lost through a penalty and yet I thought we played well.”

The Town boss says results aren’t the most important aspect of pre-season, but admits he’d much prefer to be on the winning side.

"I’d sooner win it, don’t get me wrong,” he added. "I really hate it, I wanted to get something out of it, we were desperately trying to get a draw or something out of it because I don’t like losing.

"Of course, people see that we’ve lost, they’re not at the game and it just reflects badly on us that we’ve lost to a League Two team.

"But, I keep saying, whatever happens in pre-season, our start will be defined by what we do against Barnsley and what we do after that.”

The Town boss refused to be drawn on links with Blackburn’s Elliott Bennett: "I’ve openly said I need some wide players so everybody’s going to put two and two together and get five. I had Elliott at Wolves and I like him.”

He added: "It’s unfair to speak about any players that are under contract. But anybody knows I had him at Wolverhampton, so I’ve known him of old.”

Blackburn are believed to be willing to sell the 27-year-old winger for the reported £250,000 they paid Norwich for him in January.

McCarthy says there has been no further progress on bringing in loan players: "The loanees, all the Premier League clubs will take their players away with them on pre-season tours and we’ll get to know whether we can do any deals with them when they come back.”

What to read next:

[Podcast] Blue Monday - New Podcast Now Online
A new podcast from the Blue Monday team is now available.
Town 'Willing to Pay Hackney £35,000-a-Week'
Town are reportedly willing to pay Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney £35,000-a-week, TWTD having revealed that the Blues had made an approach for the 23-year-old almost a fortnight ago.
U21s Defeated By Luton
A strong Blues U21s side was beaten 2-1 by Luton Town at Bent Lane in a pre-season friendly on Saturday afternoon with Tommy Taylor's first-half strike cancelled out after the break by a much-improved Hatters side.
U19s Draw and Lose Final Games at Czech Tournament
Town’s U19s finished lost one and drew one of today’s place play-off matches at the Zlaty Kahan tournament in Czechia.
Hirst: Early Confrontation Sign of Morsy's High Standards
George Hirst has revealed he almost came to blows with departed captain Sam Morsy early in his Town career, but believes the incident was illustrative of the high standards maintained by the former Blues skipper.
Former Town Defender Ndaba Set For Serie A
Former Town defender Corrie Ndaba is set to join Serie A Lecce from Scottish Premiership Kilmarnock, according to reports in Italy.
McKenna: New Coach Stanislas Comes Highly Recommended
Town manager Kieran McKenna has spoken about the additions of new first-team coach Junior Stanislas and set-piece analyst Michele Aragona.
McKenna: Young Will Bring Experience, Competitiveness and Edge
Blues boss Kieran McKenna says new signing Ashley Young can give the club different things in different areas, among them his experience, competitiveness and his edge.
Hirst: I Thought We Played Really Well, But Aberdeen Gave Us a Massive Challenge
Town striker George Hirst was pleased to add to his pre-season goals tally during the Blues’ 3-1 victory over Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
McKenna: Philogene Very Good Tonight, His Off the Ball Work Was Outstanding
Town manager Kieran McKenna was delighted with Jaden Philogene’s performance in the Blues’ 3-1 victory over Aberdeen at Pittodrie.