Coventry City head coach Frank Lampard was adamant Town striker George Hirst should have been sent off for a second bookable offence in the first half of the Blues’ 3-0 home victory over the Sky Blues at Portman Road.
Hirst was already on a yellow card - a soft one for standing on the back of Bobby Thomas’s heels in the 16th minute, his fifth of the season which rules him out of Wednesday’s home game against Stoke City - when he was flagged offside after being played through by Marcelino Nunez in the 33rd minute and hit a shot wide with the whistle having blown.
The Coventry players surrounded referee Paul Tierney calling for a second booking, Sky Blues attacker Josh Eccles having been cautioned for kicking the ball away ahead of a Blues free-kick earlier in the game.
Hirst then went on to score Town’s second goal on the hour mark, his sixth of the season.
Asked whether the Scotland international should have been on the pitch at that stage, Lampard was in no doubt: "He shouldn’t. I don’t love yellows for kicking the ball away or whatever you want to say, having a shot.
"But clearly, if Josh Eccles deserves one, then Hirst unfortunately deserves one. This is nothing personal on Hirst but it’s the rules and it was clearly – if anyone’s going to speak to the referee about the timing of it – it was whistle, stop a little bit, look, shoot, shoot wide, just like just Josh did. Unfortunately for us that went against us today.”
The former England international added: "It’s difficult in my position because it can make you sound whiney, especially when you lose 3-0, so I try and toe that line and I’m respectful of referees.
"But the clear thing today was how it happened with Josh. If it hadn’t happened with Josh, I think we’ve all seen games where it’s happened and people let them off with one, but when you don’t let off our player and then let off theirs, then it’s a clear question to ask.
"And, of course, last week against Charlton there was a clear one, it should have been a penalty and a red card. They’ve gone against us. I hope some go for us.”
Reflecting on the game, Lampard, whose side’s lead at the top of the division has been cut from 10 to seven points this weekend, wasn’t too dispirited by his team’s display, Blues keeper Christian Walton having made two big saves in the first half and another in the second.
"I think in big games like this against good opposition are generally going to be decided by moments like that,” he said.
"But more than that, I think our play in the first half, we were the strong team in the game and you could feel the stadium feeling it.
"We were very clean on winning second [balls] and playing with good confidence, our press was spot-on, I think they struggled to play through us and I think that brought some angst to the stadium.
"I was very, very happy with everything there in terms of [facing] the quality level of opposition that Ipswich are in this league.
"And obviously when a goal comes and it’s scrappy - crosses, crosses, it drops to them and they score - it gives you that different feeling going in at half-time.
"But the players had to understand how they had approached that first half, in my opinion.
"And then, in the game in the second half, probably a similar effect. They score with a bit of a transition moment when Hirst runs through and scores that goal, and then it’s obviously difficult.
"My base point is that there’s no real unhappiness with the way the players approached it from my point of view.
"I think you could feel that we were a competitive team today, to say the least. It just wasn’t our day for different reasons.”