Town boss Mick McCarthy felt the 1-1 scoreline was the right result from the Blues’ visit to Bolton, a match he felt was the worst he’s seen all season, believing his side didn’t really get going until they’d gone a goal down.
"I think 1-1 is a fair reflection,” he said. "I think it was possibly the worst game I’ve seen all season.
"They’re no mugs and they didn’t make it easy for us. They’re a big, strong powerful team and neither of us [played particularly well], although actually we played great football from 1-0 down.
"When we went 1-0 down a football team turned up and we passed it around and I thought we played well then.
"Up until that point, as I said, it was the worst game, first half, I’ve seen all season and probably for a long time.”
The Blues' best moment of the match was their well-worked goal with debutant sub Stephen Gleeson, Bersant Celina, David McGoldrick and Martyn Waghorn involved as Joe Garner bundled home his ninth of the season.
In the closing minutes Waghorn almost won it with a shot which struck the post.
"I guess when games start getting stretched and people start getting tired, we’ve got quality on the pitch, we showed it and Waggy hit the inside of the post and it flew out,” McCarthy reflected. "We had to scrap it out, it was a tough old game.”
Why was that? There was no lack of attacking ability in the team he fielded: "No, there wasn’t. But both teams worked extremely hard to stop each other playing but it was only with half an hour to go and the goal had gone in that we actually played well.”
The Town boss admitted he was happy with the point: "I’d always take it. We come up here and, I don’t know what it is, do we think we’re Ipswich Town with Sir Bobby Robson still involved here with all the players and we’re a top, top team and we should come here and beat them?
"I don’t think that’s the case. I think Bolton are full of Championship experience. They’ve been having a bit of a resurgence, they are tough to play here. I’ve never come here and had an easy game. And at the end of it I’ll take the point and go down home with it in my pocket.”
McCarthy was pleased with his debutants, midfielder Gleeson, who came on at half-time, and centre-half Cameron Carter-Vickers, who started.
"Yes, it’s not easy,” he added. "I was really pleased with [Carter-Vickers], it’s not an easy one playing against Gary Madine, he’s on fire, he scored his goal, he’s such a big unit, but I thought Cameron and Chambo played well.
"And I thought Stephen Gleeson was the outstanding player when he came on, I thought he was a mile above everybody else in terms of getting it and passing it and a bit of quality when he turned them around and put it up the sides of them. And he was involved in the goal, he played really well.”
Given that the 29-year-old Irishman had been out-of-favour at Birmingham and had played only seven games this season prior to today, his display was particularly impressive.
"Well, I know him,” McCarthy continued. "I saw a comment about me signing somebody [else] and fans were underwhelmed. I bet they were underwhelmed when I signed Glees as well, but that’s why they’re fans and that's why I’m the manager.”
He says the Carter-Vickers loan deal came about via academy head of player development Bryan Klug, who worked with the defender during his time coaching at Spurs.
"We were spinning plates for the last two, nearly three weeks and Bryan Klug actually came in and said to me on Thursday morning, ‘Would I be interested in Cameron Carter-Vickers?’,” McCarthy revealed.
"I said, ‘Has he left Sheffield United?’ and he said, ‘He has, he’s gone back to Spurs’ and I said, ‘Yes, I would’.
"I saw him play here, he scored here, the winner when I came to watch the game before we played Bolton.
"And I’ve been impressed with him. He’s not the biggest, he’s not 6ft 4, but he jumps and he heads it, he’s tough, he’s powerful and he’ll play a lot better than he did today because the game did nobody any favours for 60 minutes.”
McCarthy says Gleeson has a chance to win himself a longer stay at Portman Road: "For sure, we’ve taken his contract, he’s our player to the end of the season and I think he showed his quality.
"I’ve known from the start of the window I’ve been trying to find Glees, but we’ve had Luke Hyam coming back, however, he’s played one game in 18 months.
"We’ve had Tristan coming back, but he’s 18. Flynn’s not yet back. Tom Adeyemi’s not yet back.
"Skusey’s got an ankle injury and he’s come off again today. But apparently it was us that was making all the bad tackles, I thought every tackle of ours was a foul, apparently.
"Skusey’s got a knock on his ankle again and signing Glees was as much to cover that because he sits in that position, he gets the ball, he does a really good defensive job. Callum and Skusey have been great and if I lose one of them it makes our team weaker.”
McCarthy says that’s all the January business he’ll do unless someone were to move on: "I think so. I don’t think we’ll be taking anybody in. I think we’ve got a front four that’s doing well. Freddie comes on and he’s always a threat.
"Aaron Drinan, I’m pleased with him, I’d have no problem playing him. No, I think that’s us, I’m hoping Adam Webster will be back and we get Jordan Spence back next week after his suspension.”
McCarthy confirmed that Carter-Vickers’s recruitment means Tommy Smith’s move to the Colorado Rapids will now be completed.
"Tommy will be moving on,” he added. "It’s a good opportunity for him, he wants to play first-team football and we can use that salary to get somebody else in now, I hope.”
McCarthy also poured cold water on claims that Bersant Celina’s loan could be cut short and the Manchester City man could be sold during the window with Werder Bremen, Espanyol and Torino all said to be interested in signing the Kosovo international.
"Go back to what I told you right at the very start of this arrangement,” he said. "He’s our player. Bersant’s our player to the end of the season.”
Werder Bremen’s sporting director Frank Baumann has also distanced his club from the link.
Bolton boss Phil Parkinson admitted it felt like two points dropped: "When you're ahead in a game and as comfortable as we were [it does]."
"However, Ipswich have got some very talented front players - Martyn Waghorn, Joe Garner and David McGoldrick - and the one moment where they unlocked us, a real bit of quality in and around the box, has produced their equaliser.
"Our performance level was good considering we've had to play Dervite, who hasn't played for a long time. Mark Beevers went down ill but I thought Dorian Dervite was man of the match.
"Karl Henry has come into the team after only two days of training, so maybe we did fatigue a bit towards the end of the game.
"That was probably a factor which cost us, but it's another important point and keeps us out of the bottom three.
"We can now work over the next two weeks on reshaping the squad for the big push towards the end of the season."
Meanwhile, Parkinson felt Town midfielder Callum Connolly should have been red-carded for an alleged elbow which left Sammy Ameobi requiring treatment in the erly stages.
"You may have seen my reaction, I was thinking ‘Was I the only one in this stadium who saw him catch him?’” he said.
"To be fair to the lad Connolly, he was aggressive in midfield and played well, caught a few players, but I was right in front of it.
"I didn’t expect the ref to see it because he was right on the other side but the fourth official and linesman had a clear view of him swinging and cutting Sammy just above his eye. On another day that could easily have been a red card.
"Gary Madine got booked first half for a late tackle, and that was fair enough, but how could someone who has flinged their elbow and cut someone’s eye open not at least get booked?
"He needed to rely on his linesman and fourth official — but they say they didn’t see it.”