Town boss Paul Hurst is considering an appeal against Toto Nsiala’s red card and believes the controversial dismissal had a significant bearing on the Blues’ 2-1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.
"I don’t feel I need to say anything. Everyone’s seen it. I’ve been told that their guys have said it’s a totally wrong decision,” Hurst said when quizzed on the 75th minute red-carding.
"I’ll try and be careful with my words because it seems as though we can’t criticise when people get things wrong, which isn’t right to me.
"I criticise my players, I’m sure people criticise me if they feel you’re getting things wrong. It’s his job, he’s got to do better than that.”
Did it change the match significantly? "I think a helluva lot, it has to. Naturally it gives them that lift. It’s not long after when they score. We’re a man light for those situations and arguably our best header, certainly one of our best headers, is off the pitch.
"Does he head it? No one knows for certain. I dare say he certainly helps out. It was in an area where he would have been and he’s already won a couple of a good headers in the second half in that position. So, of course it played its part.
"Even with 10 I thought Wednesday were not hanging on as such but I think they were still relieved to hear the final whistle, they weren’t comfortable.
"We had a couple of situations, one with Ellis in particular, and a couple of balls into the box when they were clearing their lines and we didn’t have too many scares, in truth.
"Massively disappointing and yet another game where it’s difficult to give a true reflection on everything that’s been and gone.”
Asked whether he will be appealing the card, he said: "Everyone’s telling me I should. But genuinely I’ve seen decisions before in the past and people appeal them and they still don’t overturn them when I think we could have a roomful and only one person thinks the opposite, so there are no guarantees.
"I don’t understand what the lad’s supposed to do after winning the ball. His leg drop off? He can’t do anything more.
"Forestieri runs into him and actually kicks Toto. We had one with Jon Nolan. Bannan’s gone sliding in, Nolan gets out of the way, he gives a freekick.
"Am I supposed to tell my player, ‘It’s not nice but stay on your feet, make sure he makes contact and then he gets sent off’. I don’t want to do that.
"It’s been brought on by the opposition player that even he’s come into contact. I’ve watched it back, he should have just left it alone.”
With Luke Woolfenden injured, Town are already short of central defenders and the prospect of losing Nsiala for three matches - the suspension for serious foul play - increases the need for an additional centre-half.
"These are the scenarios which will occur over the course of the season whether you like them or not,” Hurst reflected.
"I’ve said all along, we need more cover than we’ve got. And specialists, not someone filling in there.
"Yes, every now and again a team has to do that but you want to start with people that can play those positions.”
Long-time target Curtis Tilt, who was linked with the Blues again last weekend, was left out by Blackpool today, but asked whether that was likely to be related to Town’s interest, Hurst said: "I don’t know. I think I had a similar question at the start of the season. I don’t know.
"I’m surprised he hasn’t played that’s all I would say having played the last couple of games and kept clean sheets. Unless there’s an injury I’m not aware of it seems an odd decision.”
He confirmed the 27-year-old is a player he remains interested in: "Yes, I’m not going to change my mind and think he’s suddenly a bad player or anything but he’s one of the players [I’m interested in], no secret.
"I don’t particularly like speaking about other players but it’s out there but it’s been discussed numerous times already.”
Another of the central defenders he was interested in bringing in, former loanee Cameron Carter-Vickers, has completed a loan switch to Swansea.
Hurst reiterated that in addition to a centre-half and a striker, a wideman is also on his wish-list.
"For me, it’s an area where we do need to bring someone in,” he said. "I thought Ellis did quite well today at times and gave us a different option out there, a different threat.
"The thought was also that if we did want to change we could change without making the substitution if we wanted to go to two up top.
"I thought he’s had a good effort well saved by the keeper and caused a different sort of problem out there for us.
"But an actual winger as such, I think that’s an area where I would prefer another option certainly.”
Despite the loss there were positives in the performance, but Hurst says that’s not too much consolation immediately after the match.
"The points total and the record books they don’t say anything about that,” he said. "I’d take a really scruffy victory at the minute, I think we all would.
"It’s difficult to think about too many positives when you’ve lost the game. The manner that we did is difficult to take. So, it’s another frustrating afternoon.”
Both Wednesday goals came from set pieces, Town’s defensive achilles heel in the opening weeks of the season, seven opposition goals out of nine having come via that route.
Questioned on whether defending corners and freekicks will be something the squad will be working on in the days to come, Hurst said: "It’s difficult. You can keep doing them and doing them but I think ultimately people have to do their jobs.
"The second one, like I say, we are a man light. We’ve still got people around it and the lad wins the header still.
"The first one, there’s no point in hiding it, it’s Trevoh’s man, he knows that, you could see it in his face at half-time, he knows, having defended the previous one very well in a very similar scenario. But it’s far too easy for Joao to head it in.
"I think things can often go in cycles and at the minute that’s clearly something that’s causing us an issue, albeit some of the goals have been a little bit different. But the second one, to lose with 10 men to that sort of goal, is extremely disappointing.
Hurst agreed that the Blues haven’t have too much good fortune in the first few weeks of his tenure.
"People might say we had a bit of luck with our goal,” he said. "Ellis is an offside position but doesn’t go for the ball. Again, maybe you’ll have to get the referee in and get him to explain whether that should have been or not.
"My understanding is that it should be because he’s made no attempt to play the ball. I get why people get annoyed with things though, because I guess he is in a position not too far from the goal-line. But overall I don’t think we’ve been the luckiest of teams so far, shall we say.”
The defeat, Town’s second this week, sees the Blues drop to the bottom of the Championship, a position Hurst admits he hadn’t envisaged his side being in at the start of the campaign.
"Of course not, and no one wants to be in that position,” he said. "A few things have gone against us but we’ve got to try and overcome that.
"And certainly at Rotherham, for example, we should have won the game and that was down to ourselves and nothing else and ended up losing that one.
"There are some other bits along the way that it does feel we’re being harshly treated for one reason or another.
"But there’s only us that can try and change that and there’s no better time to attempt trying to do that than next Sunday against Norwich.”
Prior to the game boyhood Wednesday fan Hurst was looking forward to returning to Hillsborough but says the result put a cloud on his homecoming.
"I said I came to the game in midweek and it’s a stadium which brings back good memories, whether it’s playing, whether it’s watching the team, whatever it is,” he said.
"But it doesn’t make it feel any better sitting here right now. But when the teams come out and they start the song before kick-off I think everyone appreciates that whether they’re a Wednesday fan or a visiting supporter or player, it gets the game off in a great atmosphere.
"And then in large parts I thought it was quite quiet, partly down to ourselves perhaps causing them a few scary moments.”
After a frantic spell of fixtures coming thick and fast Hurst says he’s looking forward to a full week on the training ground ahead of Sunday’s East Anglian derby against Norwich.
"Yes, it’s been a busy start, as it has for everybody and with the midweek games it’s difficult in terms of preparation, the travelling that we have to do from where we are, that cuts things back a little as well,” he said.
"But there should be no need to get anyone up for that game next week. Clearly we want to keep working hard and we want to look at one or two things ahead of that game and see if we can give everyone a lift but also particularly a result that the Ipswich fans have been waiting for for some time, I believe. That’s what we’ll be trying to do.”
Owls manager Jos Luhukay felt Town made the game very difficult for his team, especially before the break.
"I think today was a totally different game to Wednesday [when they beat Millwall 2-1]," he said. "It was so tough in the first half.
"We had no rhythm. Ipswich closed the lines and we lost a lot of balls.
"We had no combinations, no chances and the set pieces were dangerous just twice, one we scored from.
"In the second half it was better in the beginning, we had some chances to score the second goal but the game went right until the end. We had to give a lot of energy and work hard for the three points."
Regarding Nsiala's dismissal, he added: "The referee is very close at the moment the defender goes in on Fernando. It was hard I think, the red card, but there's a decision [to make]. The referee stays very near, so this was his decision.
"But it wasn't easier in the last 15 minutes, it was too hectic, we didn't control the game with one player more and Ipswich played very fast with long balls and there were moments in or around the 18-yard box."