Town boss Mick McCarthy hailed what he felt was a huge win after the Blues defeated QPR 3-0 at Portman Road.
"It was a huge win!” the Town boss responded when it was suggested that it could have been a huge win in terms of the number of goals.
"The irony is that poor old Alex Smithies cost them the second, which probably enabled us to win the game as comprehensively as we did, but then he’s kept it from being what could have been an embarrassing scoreline.
"It would have been nice revenge that on Ollie because he slapped me by 5-0 at Crystal Palace in my second game. I’ll take three though, not that I hold a grudge at all, or remember! He’s a really good pal of mine, Ollie.”
McCarthy had praise for second goalscorer Luke Varney, making the first start of his current spell with the Blues, for a display which he believed typified the performance, even if he guessed supporters might not all have been happy to see the 34-year-old in his starting line-up.
"He was fab today,” he said. "I bet people weren’t thinking that when they saw the teamsheet.
"I don’t think there was anything wrong with the performance [last week against Forest], we just gave two goals away. There’s a difference.
"Were we abject? Did we run hard against Forest? Yes. Did we have loads of crosses? Yes. Nothing dropped for us in that game, it was one of those games where we gave two poor, poor goals away and it cost us.
"I didn’t think the performance was that bad, but when you lose at home, that’s what everybody thinks.
"We’ve not been bristling with confidence here and I know exactly what I’m going to get out of Reg Varney, I know exactly what I’m going to get out of Chambo, I know exactly what I’m going to get out of Dougie.
"I thought if they played 3-5-2 I’d need a more substantial, tougher midfield with Dougie and I knew that’s just what I’d get and they’d handle the three in there. Bish wouldn’t with them, none of the others would, Kevin Bru, it just doesn’t happen.
"Dougie and Skusey are a real good force playing at that. Yes, we might lose a bit of that sexiness but who gives a f–, I want to win and I get sick of that.
"We played well today, we’ve had to play well and we’ve had to defend. I thought Reg epitomised everything I would want about a team of mine.”
McCarthy bristled when it was suggested there might have been an element of fortune about the Blues’ goals.
"It’s funny when we’ve scored three goals you say there’s an element of fortune,” he said. "You never mentioned it last week to me about their element of good fortune. It’s bullshit really, it’s complete double standards that.
"It’s a bit like when all of my players are injured and nobody mentions it, but if I’m going up to play Blackburn and they’ve got five strikers missing, you’d be saying, ‘They’ve got strikers missing, they’re not doing very well’.
"But, hey ho. If they were three lucky goals, I’m delighted. It’s about time we had a bit of luck because if we hadn’t have had bad luck this year we’d have had none so far - disallowed goal at Wolves, disallowed goal against Norwich, penalties at Reading, injuries to David McGoldrick, blahdy, blahdy, blah. I can mention them now we’ve won. It doesn’t seem like a moan, does it?”
McCarthy admitted the Blues needed a performance for fans, who had shown their frustrations after the previous two games.
"Of course we did,” he added. "The fans don’t come to see us play badly and lose. And I felt sorry for them. I hardly felt great myself going home after Rotherham and Nottingham Forest.
"If anybody thinks I enjoy that they’re much mistaken, I go home and have a rotten weekend.
"Well, I’m going home for a good weekend and I hope everybody who has seen us play thinks, ‘Fair dos’. Ipswich can be a happier place this week than it has been.”
McCarthy was pleased with Tom Lawrence, who scored his second goal for the Blues and whose set pieces were a threat.
"They are. He’s good, I’m delighted with him,” McCarthy continued. "He’s a good player. Tom.
"I remember him playing against us for Yeovil when we beat them 1-0 down there. I think we’d been to Middlesbrough on the Saturday or one of those bonkers trips that we had.
"I’d seen him before but he was outstanding that night against us, really played well. And I’ve tried to sign him on a number of occasions since and it’s not happened. I’m really pleased that he’s here because he’s a really good player.
The Blues boss was also happy with Cole Skuse's display with the midfielder's shot leading to Lawrence’s goal and who had what would have been a rare goal of his own ruled out.
"We got the second because he took his shot on,” McCarthy added. "He didn’t play it wide or chip it in the box, he took a shot and it’s hit somebody and it bounced in the box and Tom scored.
"Skusey’s been different class, I thought it was a really good performance by him today, at both ends of the pitch.”
QPR boss Ian Holloway defended his keeper Smithies, despite his error on the game's decisive goal.
"It was bizarre. It should have been a lot closer than that," he said.
"The second goal was an absolute calamity. The ball spins off the goalie’s head and there’s no one there to help him.
"After that, wow, awful. People who are uneducated are going to blame my goalie — but I don’t.
"I’ll blame everyone else bar him because by the end it could have been 5-0 but for him.”