Town boss Mick McCarthy felt his team passed the ball much better during their “tough, hard-fought” 0-0 home draw with Brighton but admitted they’re finding it hard to convert chances at present.
"It was a really tough, hard-fought game,” he said. "Not a lot of chances in it either way. They’re a good side, I think they’ll be a top-six team, I’ve no doubt about that at all, having missed out on goal difference first of all and then the play-offs last season.
"He’s retained his players, they’ve just won three on the bounce they came here full of confidence.
"While we’ve not had loads of chances, we’ve been hard to break down and if you’ve got that you’ve got a foundation from which to build.”
Regarding the Blues’ lack of goals, Town have scored only eight times this season, just four in the last 10 games in all competitions, while tonight's match was Town’s third without a goal on the trot and their second successive home goalless draw, he added: "We’re just finding them hard to convert at the minute but we’ll keep practicing at that, we’ll keep working at it.
"We are missing a few fairly inventive, talented players as well. We took Jonny Williams and he’s not right yet, Bish has had a broken nose.
"We’ve lost Pits, we’ve lost Varney, we’ve lost Didz, we’re a few strikers down and a few creative players down.
"One real bright spark I thought was Tom Lawrence, he looks like he’s got a goal in him and he’s a threat.
"And the one I’m really delighted with was Josh Emmanuel, I thought he was excellent. He didn’t look overawed, he was very good playing against Jiri Skalak, who has been playing well and creating chances, I don’t think Josh gave him anything at all, to be fair, I thought he was good.”
Emmanuel had a tough time in last season’s corresponding fixture but he didn’t allow that to affect him.
"I think Josh is pretty strong-minded, I never mentioned it to him,” McCarthy continued. "Kazenga LuaLua just did him in the first minute and he had a tough time.
"But Josh has played well since in any game he has played, Doncaster, Manchester United, the MK Dons here. Whenever he’s played he’s played well and he’s played well again tonight.”
Could the 19-year-old do enough to keep his place in the side even after the current injury crisis clears up? "If he plays like that, of course.”
ðŸ"¹ REACTION | Defender @JEmman97 gave Ipswich Player HD his thoughts after helping #itfc to a point and a clean sheet against Brighton. pic.twitter.com/jSw7KcJMgb– Ipswich Town FC (@Official_ITFC) September 27, 2016
The Town boss was also pleased with his left-back Jonas Knudsen, who kept Anthony Knockaert quiet throughout.
"He had to because he’s been ripping it up and I don’t think he caused him too many problems at all,” he added.
"I thought Jonas was excellent and he’s had a couple of tough games playing against Hadi Sacko at the weekend and then Knockaert today. I’m pleased with him.”
Does McCarthy, who was again pleased with Leon Best with the striker still short on match fitness, believe Town will be able to score the goals to get themselves in contention for the top six? "We’ll have to create more chances and we’ll have to create more. Let’s get [the injured players] back and we’ll see what we do when we get them back.”
He added: "If you’re not getting beaten, you’ve got something to build on. If you’re creating nothing but you’re getting slapped then you’re in real trouble.
"That’s not been the case, we’ve been pretty solid all the time. And that’s not just trying to be solid, we’re trying to open teams up and play. It’s just not happening at the minute.”
He thought his side were more comfortable on the ball than they were at Leeds at the weekend: "I thought we passed it much better, to be honest, out of the back and tried to be progressive from there.
"And I thought it worked, it gives us a breather, we’re not chasing the ball. I thought we were better, there were a couple of times we gave it away, but overall I thought it was a much better performance.”
The Blues manager was also pleased with his skipper Luke Chambers, who returned to the centre of the defence.
"Chambo’s great, you know my feelings on Chambo,” McCarthy enthused. "He is a centre-half, he has been shoe-horned into being a right-back and he’s gone there and done that pretty selflessly and made a really good fist of it most of the time.
"But I know how difficult it would have been for me to go and play at right-back because I was a centre-back and he’s terrific wherever he plays and he’s such a good influence on the team. I never had any worries about him.”
McCarthy explained his decision to leave Freddie Sears on the bench: "He’s been carrying a bit of a groin strain and he’s been in the treatment room and you never see Freddie in the treatment room, he’s always out doing his work and his finishing, so there was a bit of that. And I know I’ve got Tom Lawrence to play on the left.
"I’ve got two strikers at the moment, so if I just keep whipping Freddie and asking him to go every week and he’s played every minute of every game just about, Fred, he’s going to get injured and I can’t afford that.
"I know he’s better up top and maybe in games we might be able to get him up top with Varney or Pits or Besty. But he needed a break, he’s done a lot of work, Freddie.”
Brighton manager Chris Hughton thought a draw was a fair result: "I thought it was a fair result. I can’t say that any team deserved to win it. I don’t think there was a really clear chance in 90 minutes.
"It was a tough game. I suppose as the away team and having gone down to 10 men for that last period, I think for us it’s a good result. It certainly needed that one little bit of quality that was going to break the deadlock.”
Regarding Dale Stephens's red card for two bookable offences, the first for dissent after he felt he was fouled, Hughton added: "I think it’s something that every club has got to learn this season, and certainly us.
"Gaetan [Bong, who missed tonight's game as he was suspended] got a red card because of a booking for dissent and the same with Dale.
"I know Dale’s frustration because it was a definite foul on Dale. The referee was there and saw it but what Dale’s got to do is not vent his anger at the referee because the referees are going to book you these days. So I think he’s got to learn that one, but I can see the frustration.
"No problem with the second one, I think he’s attempted to go for the ball and it’s a yellow card.”