Preston boss Ryan Lowe was disappointed with the goals his side conceded as they were beaten 4-2 by the Blues at Portman Road and sees no reason why Town can’t finish in the top two this season.
Lowe was frustrated by his side’s display before the break with his team going in 3-1 down.
"I was obviously disappointed with the first half,” Lowe said. "You can’t give a good team like Ipswich three goals in the first half and we have done.
"We knew what was coming with the first one - we showed it them yesterday and worked on it all week. We just watched it back with them and that’s the disappointing part, because [coach] Peter [Murphy] works hard on them and gives them all the information.
"It was probably a lack of communication with that goal, a player thinking someone was going to block the pass and they’ve got attracted to the man, not the ball. That has been a bit of a killer.
"The second one, the kid cannot just run 60 yards and put it into the bottom corner.
"The third one just epitomised our afternoon I think. A corner, second phase, third phase, it doesn’t come out and then it’s a tap in where we are nowhere near the numbers in the box.
"We made a few changes at half-time and came out a lot better. Then, when we’re really pushing second half, they do us on the counter if you like, and come out with the ball when we should win those duels. So, overall, a tough afternoon.
"We asked for a bit more desire and belief second half and the lads did that. At 3-2 you have always got a fighting chance of getting a draw, but we didn’t come out with the ball on the right and you cannot leave good players unmarked - because they punish you.
"That is certainly what happened today. The lads have just watched the goals back, because I won’t see them for a new days now and they cannot dwell on it, nor me. They are all in admittance that it wasn’t good enough - for any of the goals - which is pleasing for me as the manager.
"A lot of people probably thought we wouldn’t get anything out of the game, but I did and I wanted my players to.
"It has probably been one of the toughest weeks since I’ve been here, in terms of the goals we’ve conceded and how we’ve conceded them. I was pleased for large parts of Leicester and for large parts of today - second half especially - but if you want to do anything in the division you’ve got to be better all around.
"And, if we are going to have a soft underbelly like we did today, with the goals, it is not going to fit.
"So, that is up to me to make sure that doesn’t happen. The lads are aware of that and we’ll have to reset now.
"I’ve looked at the table and we are still third, which is a massive positive, but the week has been a bit gruelling. So, we will have to take our medicine and move on quickly, but we’ve got to be better.”
Lowe admitted he shouldn’t have picked skipper Alan Browne, who had been ill earlier in the week and missed the 3-0 loss at Leicester on Wednesday.
"That is my bad, really. I probably shouldn’t have played him, but the captain wanted to play,” he conceded.
"He wasn’t feeling well before the game. We asked him but he is never going to say; I needed to take that out of his hands. You could see first half he wasn’t quite at it. He did alright, but when you’ve got someone of Alan Browne’s quality, you want him in and around your team.
"We thought he’d be okay, but he wasn’t, hence why he went off at half-time. And we needed to freshen it up, so we did what we needed to do.”
Lowe says he’s happy to be third at this stage, albeit eight points behind the Blues, who are two points off the top-of-the-table Foxes.
"We’re not setting precedence or making statements, we just want to get as many points as we can and the two teams that we’ve played on Wednesday and Saturday respectively are flying high, but we had a spell of flying high and we’re just sitting behind them,” he reflected.
"We’ve just got to take it on the chin, we’ve got to learn from it and we’ve got to be better next time we play.”
While everyone is tipping Leicester to win the title, does he believe Town can join them in the top two come May?
"If I told you they’re going to go up second or win the league, [Town CEO] Mark Ashton would probably pick up the phone and tell me, ‘Don’t go saying stuff like that!’” he said.
"They’ve got a fantastic manager, they’re well equipped, they’re well backed, they’ve got fantastic people in like Mark Ashton, who are leading from the top.
"And in that they’ve got some fantastic players, so why not? We wish them all the best and I think Kieran’s done a fantastic job since he’s been at the football club and we wish him all the best to try and continue that in the Championship, until next time we play them.”