Town boss Paul Cook admitted his side was beaten by a far better team all over the pitch as they were defeated 2-0 by new League One leaders Rotherham United at Portman Road.
Ben Wiles and Shane Ferguson scored a goal in each half for the Millers, who never looked in any danger of not claiming all three points.
"I’ve got no problems with the result, no problem with anything, crowd reactions or anything else,” Cook said. "The brutal truth tonight was we were beaten by a far better team all over the pitch.
"That’s just a benchmark to this division, to where we want to be and where we want to go as a club. And tonight we were well off it.
"Credit to Rotherham, I knew it was going to be a difficult game, I’ve known [Rotherham manager] Paul [Warne] for a long time, I know what his team brings and tonight they brought everything to the table that makes them such a formidable team in this division.”
He added: "There’s no excuses from me tonight, there’s absolutely none. Saturday, I was really disappointed because we played well at Sunderland and we deserved to win.
"Tonight we deserved what we got, which was nothing out of the game and sometimes you’ve got to make sure that that’s the motivation to drive you on to get better because everything that was good about Rotherham tonight was lacking in us, and that was really disappointing.”
Regarding Rotherham, he added: "They’re a well-oiled machine, what you see is what you get. Solid, great work ethic, great desire from all the players, clear team play, strategy how they play, and they’re very good at it.
"For us tonight, it just proved a little bit difficult. Listen, you can debate the game. You guys watch Ipswich, you have done for a period of time, tonight’s really disappointing because we have made some good strides, there has been positivity about, but we’ve probably dampened that a lot tonight.”
Things for the players to learn from the match? "We’ll see won’t we? Runs are what they are? For us 19 games into a new campaign where there’s been so much optimism around the club, the ticket sales going into Christmas, the fans turning up as they have done again tonight.
"We appreciate it, it’s no use me saying ‘Well done and thanks’ to them because I understand it. I feel exactly what they feel tonight, which is that I’ve watched an Ipswich Town team be second best all over the pitch.”
Quizzed on whether he believes Rotherham are likely to be the best team in the division this season, Cook said: "Good luck to Paul, he’s put together a very strong team, he’s a good guy. He’s got good staff, good players and they’re a very strong team.
"It’s something we aspire to being, so tonight we hold our hands up, we didn’t at Sunderland on Saturday where we felt we deserved to win the game. Certainly tonight we got what we deserved.”
Town are now 13th, eight points off the play-offs and 13 from the Millers and Wycombe in the automatic spots.
Asked whether every missed opportunity puts pressure on future games, Cook said: "Everyone wants to fast-forward, to be promoted. The reality is when we’re doing what we’re trying to do, there are going to be hiccups, there is no doubt about that.
"We’ve recruited a lot of players, we’ve walked into a team tonight that’s good and we’ve felt the full force of them. We acknowledge that, there’s no problem from me with that.”
Given the 13-point gap between the Blues and the Millers and Chairboys, isn’t the top two now going to be a big ask this season?
"Everything’s a reaction to a result in football,” Cook responded. "If we’re going to hopefully build a solid team that will take us forward, the bigger picture is something you must look at and we can’t have the short-term outlook that after a win that we might think we’re getting there and the defeats make you feel like the world’s about to end.
"The reality is we watch our team perform and that will be the biggest indicator of where we’re at. Where we feel we’re at tonight at 10 o’clock after that game, is not a great place, so we have to manage that.”
Town have now failed to score in their last three league games. Is that a concern? "Three games ago we were the highest scorers in the division. We haven’t said to them to stop shooting, we haven’t said stop crossing it, we haven’t said creating chances.
"It is what it is and on nights like tonight, I like to think I’m experienced now and I think sometimes we just say well done to Rotherham, wish them a safe trip him, they’ve travelled down well today, they’ve played really, really well and they’ve gone home with the thoroughly deserved points.
Cook brought on Joe Pigott to join Macauley Bonne in the second half and Cook was asked whether he might consider starting the pairing.
"I’m not going to debate the team selections and formations,” he said. "It’s just a difficult night tonight, we lost Sone Aluko, whose father passed away, which is a really disappointing one because Wes Burns on that right-hand side is out with his hamstring.
"You can debate your team and what’s gone on, there’s no point now. Let’s just have some manners.”
How long might Burns be out for? "I don’t want to debate the players and where we’re at. It’s a disappointing night tonight and we’ve got to bounce back from it.”
Bailey Clements was subbed in the second half and Cook was asked whether he felt it was a tough night for the youngster, who was making his third league appearance.
"Bailey’s been excellent in his three or four games and you’re always going to get tested,” he said.
"Defensively you’re always going to get challenged and Bailey’s come into the team and done really, really excellent. He can certainly hold his head up high.”
Rotherham boss Warne was delighted with his side's evening's work after a setback prior to kick-off.
"It didn't start great when [keeper] Josh Vickers went down with a sore groin about 10 minutes from the end of the warm-up, but in the end it was a really good performance,” he told the Millers official website.
"I'm really proud of my group. I say how much I love my players all the time, but they're great. They take on information and they work so hard out of possession of the ball.
"We sort of suffocated Ipswich really because of our work ethic and we got two good goals, and on another night we could have had another couple.
"As away performances go, I'm really pleased. They're a really good team and Cooky is a brilliant manager who will have success here no doubt, but tonight he was against a really good Rotherham side who managed the game really well.
"They all mean a bit but I think you always feel more engaged with the fans when you know how much effort has gone into coming to the game.
"The 250 or so that have come down in midweek is some effort and you do want to enjoy those moments. I didn't want to go full Jurgen Klopp but I sort of did!
"It is a big win and Oxford is going to be another good test on Saturday and then we have two cup games.”