Town boss Mick McCarthy was pleased with the Blues' defensive performance as they were beaten 1-0 at Wolves but felt his team once again “let [their] guard down” and was less impressed with his side going forward.
"Certainly in terms of a defensive performance I think it was good, I think we limited them to very few opportunities,” McCarthy said.
"I know near the end they’ve had a freekick and a header but that was me winging it then with five or six minutes to go and they’d put fresh legs on.
"To try and get an equaliser I’m prepared to concede another one, which I think is fair enough in any team.
"I think defensively we did really well, offensively not good enough. We had limited opportunities and needed to make the most of them and our freekicks and corners today weren’t of the usual high standard. That’s something that needs to be addressed.”
Any criticism of the way his team defended Ivan Cavaleiro’s 40th minute goal? "My criticism is that Jota didn’t end up on his arse, my player [Myles Kenlock] did.
"I know people are screaming for a foul. I think if it had happened in the other direction they’d have been screaming for a foul.
"But you’ve just got to do better. We blinked on 40 minutes again, it could be Middlesbrough, it could be Cardiff when we’ve done well against teams and it’s us that lets our guard down. Good finish, mind. Good finish when he gets his chance.”
Town were never under siege despite the leaders having been on top for the most part with Blues keeper Bartosz Bialkowski rarely forced into making a save.
"I can’t remember him making one, to be quite honest,” McCarthy added. "Defensively it was a good performance but we just let our guard down five minutes before half-time. But overall we can take a lot out of that performance.”
He added: "The lads are great. They’re a very good side, what impresses me about them most is that they do get 1-0 wins, it doesn’t have to be fours and fives with the good players that they’ve got. They scrap it out as well. I’m happy enough with the performance, I’m just disappointed with the result.”
McCarthy was frustrated that as in so many games this season they narrowly lost out against one of the division’s higher flyers.
"If you let your guard down and the opposition have got quality players you’ll get punished, and that was just what happened,” he reflected ruefully.
"Fulham turned us over by they’re the only ones that have. Even Bristol City at home scored with a couple of deflections. Then you look at Leeds way, Cardiff away, Villa away. We’ve just got to stop letting our guard down.
"It’s a good goal in the end, it’s a really good finish by them, but us giving them the opportunity was not what I’d expect from my team.”
Regarding his old club Wolves’ prospects for a return to the Premier League, he said: "I think they’ll go up because they’ll probably spend some money in the window as well. It’s a bonkers squad compared to some of them.
"I’ve turned up here and I’ve got Patrick Webber on the bench, I’ve got James Blanchfield here and Ben Morris, and I’ve had to call Adam McDonnell back from Aldershot to play in the squad. Considering that, we’ve played well today and competed well.”
McCarthy was pleased with Kevin Bru and Myles Kenlock, who both came into the team: "Kev always comes in and does a really solid job. He ran out of gas, though, and whether I can get two games, Saturday-Tuesday, out of him is another thing.
"And I thought Myles was excellent up until him being put on his backside. He’s gone to try and get the ball and Jota’s cute and eased him off it. I’d like to have thought he’d have eased him off it with something similar.”
Cole Skuse missed out with an ankle problem and Jonas Knudsen, due to a sickness bug.
"He’s poorly,” McCarthy explained. "I exchanged text messages with Jonas this morning, the first thing he’s had to eat was today. He’s a tough old so and so is Jonas, as is Skusey, they’re both very durable.
"But I’m not sure [whether they'll be back for Boxing Day], Skusey’s got a sore ankle. It depends how Jonas reacts to eating.”
The match saw the season reach its midway point and McCarthy is pleased with his team’s position 10th, two points off the play-offs.
"I’ve never had anything but heart from the start of the season,” he said. "The only time I had any doubt was when got beaten 6-1 at Charlton before we started and I had to change the way we played. And then we beat Birmingham and won five on the bounce.
"But overall we’ve been in pretty much every game, bar a couple and that’s been the same today.”
He added: "We’re doing all right. We always hope to better but realistically we’re probably doing as well as we could have hoped for to be in that position at this moment.
"And it’s probably, considering what we’ve done and the players that we’ve signed and I look at the budgets here, it’s certainly achieving and maybe overachieving when you look at some of them, Sunderland and Hull, teams that were [in the division above].
"I think my lads have been brilliant and they continue to be and I think they’ve done well again today.”
Town are next in action at home to QPR on Boxing Day - "It’s our home game, it’s one we want to win” - and McCarthy is hopeful the Blues can maintain their form during the second half of the campaign if they can get some of their injured players fit.
"I sincerely hope we can,” he said. "We’ve lost a lot of players and I need some players back from injury.
"It was nice to get minutes into Freddie, Didz and Bish but if I end up travelling with 15 first-team players up and down the country and playing at home then probably not. But if I can get some players back, then probably yes.”
Any chance of bringing anybody in during January? "We’ll not be going out and buying anybody, I don’t think. Loans, but I’d like to get my injuries back because I think I’ve got a decent squad if they’re all fit.
"I have seven midfielders out at the moment. Will any of them back on Boxing Day? I don’t know."
Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo said: "Ipswich are a team who press hard and press men to men.
"It’s hard to play against them. But I think our defence was very compact. They didn’t have any chances.
"The result is important for the win, important for our fans and everyone who came to watch us today.”
Regarding the goal, he added: "It was one of the moments that this player can produce. It was fantastic."