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Varney: More Like That to Come - Ipswich Town News

Striker Luke Varney hopes Saturday’s 3-0 home victory over QPR will "set the tone" for the rest of the season and Blues supporters will enjoy plenty of similar afternoons at Portman Road.

"There is more like that to come,” said Varney, who scored the Blues’ second goal in his first start of his third spell at the club.

"Hopefully this will set the tone and we will get more results like that.

"Off the back of a disappointing defeat at home it was nice to come off the pitch to a positive vibe because it has been a difficult week.

"We have stuck together and we knew if we could put in good individual performances and a good team performance the result would look after itself, and that is what happened.

"It was good to come off to a positive vibe. I know it is a football cliché but it does hurt us all, we live in the town we know what it is like. We are strong and solid away, so we need to make it hard here.”

Varney profited from Rangers keeper Alex Smithies’ misjudgement for his goal, but the Blues striker heaped praise on the former England U21 international for his performance in the latter stages which kept the scoreline down to 3-0.

"We could have had six or seven different scorers if it wasn’t for their keeper,” the 34-year-old added.

"I have missed easier chances, so I was delighted. Sometimes you make your own luck and if I had not have chased it down it may not have fallen for me.

"After that mistake the keeper was incredible. When I came off I sat and watched in awe at his performance because he made five or six great saves.

"I have worked hard in training to get back in the team so I was glad to get my chance and get a goal.

"The manager has been saying to me I have been training well and that gave me confidence and I have to admit I have seen what it had to take for me to get back in the team and it has not been easy.

"I was delighted to get the chance so hopefully it will stay that way for a long time now.”

Varney was pleased to catch up with his former Blackpool boss Ian Holloway even if he helped ruin the Bristolian’s day.

"It was special to see him, I had a great time playing for him,” the striker continued. "I will take any goal, no matter who it is against.

"We have to expect performances like that at home. We have to do it more often and make it difficult for every team that comes here.

"I know as a visiting player how difficult a place this can be to come to and we have to make it again.”

He added: "We know the gaffer works under constraints and we don’t have the biggest squad but whoever comes in finds everyone roots for each other. There is no malice everyone works for each other 100 per cent.

"Looking at other results it is a good job we won. All we have to do is concentrate on what we are doing.”

Rangers defender Jake Bidwell was disappointed with the goals his side conceded.

"They were scrappy goals, it wasn’t as if we were opened up,” he said. "They sat in and we couldn’t break them down. We will look at the game and get back to things on Thursday.

"This has been the first setback [since Holloway took over as manager] so we will look at the video and see how we can improve.

"The gaffer can be all jovial but he can be tough when he wants to be and if you don’t perform you can expect that.

"It won’t be a laugh and joke all the time. I’m sure we will see that different side to him.”

Regarding Smithies, he added: "There is no blame attached to him, we win, lose and draw as a team and we have not got the result we wanted.”

Meanwhile, the Blues’ U23s are in action this afternoon when they travel to face Bristol City at Stoke Gifford Stadium (KO 1pm).

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