First-team coach Gary Roberts was pleased that the Blues were able to send co-owner Brett Johnson back home to the US with a smile on his face after Bersant Celina netted in the 93rd minute to see Town to a 2-1 victory over Fleetwood at Portman Road.
Celina slammed home from close range to seal the win from Janoi Donacien’s volleyed layback from the right after Callum Morton had levelled for the Cod Army in the 82nd minute, Conor Chaplin having put Town in front four minutes after half-time.
The Kosovan international’s goal meant Johnson’s first game at Portman Road ended in a dramatic victory.
"I’ve love to say that it was scripted like that but it wasn’t,” Roberts laughed afterwards. "It wasn’t good for all our hearts but I think we deserved to win the game.
"We started really slowly in the first half, it wasn’t us at all, we normally come out of the blocks really quickly.
"Third game in a week, possibly, but it was the same for Fleetwood, so no excuses. We just started the game quite slowly for our liking.
"The manager got into them at half-time a little bit about where we need to be better, where we need to do better and areas we needed to go into and I thought we dominated the second half and I think we deserved just to edge and win the game.”
Town’s quality from the bench showed with Celina scoring and Wes Burns also making an impression.
"That’s why we’ve got a big squad,” Roberts said. "Even now, but come Christmas time, January, February, you need all your squad and all our lads who were sat behind us today, even the ones not in the squad, we’ve got quality throughout, we made sure of that in the summer.
"It’s going to be a tough, long season, 46 games in this league and there are probably 4-0 grinds where it’s going to be tough and we’ve got the players for that.”
He added: "To be fair, the attitude of the players has been spot on, especially the lads out of the side.
"It’s always harder being out of the side, you’ve got to work a little bit harder because when you come in you’ve got to be ready and coming on today and affecting the game today, Wes and Santi [Celina] and Cam [Cameron Burgess] as well when he came on, he was brilliant as well, to be fair. He came on to do a job and he did that. Fair play, spot on.”
Did he fear the worst at 1-1? That Town would drop more points from a winning position? "When you concede that late [you always do], but because we were in so much control of the game, I knew we’d get a chance, the manager said we’d get a chance of two.
"We knew that with the players we’ve got. We had them penned in and once it drops to someone like Santi, there’s a good chance he’s going to score with the quality he has.”
Earlier, Chaplin had netted fifth goal in his last seven games to give the Blues the lead.
"Brilliant, a great player, a great lad, he’s infectious around the club,” Roberts said of his former Portsmouth team-mate. "You can see him getting a bit of a relationship with the fans.
"I’ve been lucky to play with him and he’s so infectious round the training ground and he brings that work-rate and he’s bringing goals to his game, which is fantastic for us because we know how good he is.
"Number 10, in our team, is the toughest position on the pitch. You’ve got to create, you’ve got to score and you’ve got to look after the deep-lying midfielder, so it’s a lot of work. Conor will sleep well tonight.”
Roberts is pleased that players are coming into the team and making themselves undroppable.
"If you play well, you keep your shirt, that’s not just us, that’s any club and I think a few have grabbed the shirts at the minute,” he continued.
"But we’ve got a big squad with lads who are pushing every single day, not just what you see out here, the training has gone up a level.
"It’s gone up again with people like Sone Aluko, who probably didn’t get a chance early in the season. He trained his way into the team and look at him now, he’s flying. If they keep working hard, they’ll get a chance.”
Is he starting to see things translate from Playford Road? "Yes, definitely, the patterns and habits, distances, patterns, habits, we work on them every day. You can see the shape, you can see the way we play. If you look at Paul Cook’s teams in the past, they score similar goals.
"We knew it was going to take a tiny little bit of time, but you feel we’re taking small steps.”
Town are starting to build up some momentum having won six of their last nine in all competitions.
"We just keep going,” Roberts continued. "Everyone expected us to win the league in the first month. We knew it was going to be a little bit longer, we thought it was going to be a little bit tricky with the number of players, the turnover.
"People see you signing Scott Fraser, Macauley Bonne, Conor Chaplin and Santi - ‘They’ve won the league’. But it doesn’t work like that, it’s football.
"We keep our heads down, we keep working as hard as we can and we’ll try and get there.”
The Blues are at leaders Plymouth next week with a trip to second-placed Wycombe following with games against Sunderland and Rotherham also drawing near.
"Big games,” Roberts reflected. "At the minute, they’re all playing a similar formation, so it’s similar messages. Everyone seems to be playing three at the back against us at the minute. The next two will as well.
"We’ll keep working, we’ll try and break them down and we’ll go to Plymouth to try and win the game.
"We’re Ipswich Town, we go there to win the game, we don’t sit behind the ball, you know that, you can see how many goals we’ve scored this season. We’ll go there and we’ll try our best to win the game.”
The former winger expects teams to try to frustrate Town this season: "Yes, especially at Portman Road. Even though Fleetwood today, they came and had a go.
"I thought they had a go, they had a threat, the two lads up front, the two strikers who were willing workers but Christian [Walton] never came under a real threat in the game, if you think back. The goal on our part we could probably do a bit better. But Plymouth will want to beat us, which is good.”
Explaining why manager Cook wasn’t taking the press conference, he added: "I was coming out of the dressing room and I was the lads and I just got assigned to it and he’s the boss, so I can’t say no!”
Roberts said he met Johnson, who is on a fleeting visit before returning to the States on Sunday, at Playford Road yesterday: "Yes, we spoke to him, he was at the training ground for a long time yesterday. Seemed really happy with the place.
"I watched his interview last night and he looks so happy and pleased to be here. I don’t know what day he’s going home but I think we can send him home with a smile and hopefully see him again very soon.”
He added: "I don’t think it’s going to be like that every week, hopefully it will be a bit more controlled in the result next time.
"Listen, our fans are desperate to jump on with the lads, you feel it. I’ve played here and I know the feeling. When the team’s going well, they’re dying to jump with the team and help them.
"Twenty thousand today against Fleetwood at home, that’s some going. The lads feel it, they know they want to get involved. You saw them at the end, the scenes were brilliant.
"We want to take this club forward, so do the players and the fans are desperate, and we’ll try and bring that success to them.
"You saw when we scored the goal, at any other ground you’d see seats emptying, but they stuck with them, they’re desperate for the lads to do well and you feel that. We feel that on the side and to get a winner for them at the end was pleasing.”
Fleetwood boss Simon Grayson admitted it as heartbreaking to lose having got on terms so late in the game.
"It was because I don’t think we deserved to lose that,” he told his club’s official website.
"I thought we played really well, the shape and organisation was really good, the players carried out the instructions we asked them to do, against a strong Ipswich team, who have got some fantastic players and they’re one of the favourites for the division.
"First half, I thought we were comfortable, we passed the ball well and asked questions of them.
"Obviously, we suffered the disappointment of conceding straight after half-time, but we responded in a positive manner by not buckling under the pressure of 20,000 people here and we kept believing we could get something.
"Ultimately, we got the equaliser but then we just switched off in the last minute or so, which is devastating for the players and the supporters that traveled all the way down here.”
He added: "We certainly didn’t buckle under the pressure of a big crowd, we moved the ball well and when Paddy [Lane] cut in, great ball in, he saw Callum Morton pulling off the shoulder and he finished it really well, and it’s probably what we deserved out of that game, the draw.
"We’ve talked a lot about fine margins already this season and fine margins have cost us points again today.
"It’s something we’ve got to eradicate because if you’re on the wrong side of fine margins you’re going to drop points and we have been a lot this season by someone not busting a gut to be with the runner or being alert to win the second ball so late in the game.
"You’ve got to make sure you can manage the game better because I feel a draw is exactly what we deserved.”