x

Joe Nearly Subbed Bent - Ipswich Town News

Town boss Joe Royle said he had considered substituting striker Darren Bent prior to the England U21 scoring the goal which took the Blues to the top of the league. Royle felt his side thoroughly deserved their victory over Paul Jewell's men.

The Town manager said that Bent wasn't on top form: "He wasn't having his best game and I did consider substituting him because it wasn't going his way. But I reminded myself he's our top scorer and he only needs one chance. It's nice when it works out."

Royle had praise for Leighton Baines' 40-yard goal but thought it came against the run of play: "The goal's unstoppable and at that stage I was thinking about the injustice of it, but we keep going and all credit to them.

"I've seen it on television and but for the net it would still be travelling - the keeper had no chance.

"I thought we deserved to win, we gradually got into the game and in the second half we were decisively better."

Royle felt that Richard Naylor is more clinical now that he has moved to the defence: "It was a superb freekick, I'm not sure if Naylor would have scored if he was a striker, he's a better finisher as a centre-back.

The Town boss felt that Wigan's twin threat of Nathan Ellington and Jason Roberts caused problems: "I thought they were dangerous on the break, their front two are dangerous in many ways, you have to be aware and they caught us on the hop a few times."

Paul Jewell admitted that Town deserved to win the game: "They had a little more desire than us, that's disappointing. Desire is normally a word associated with us.

"They came into the game, penned us back and won more battles than us, eventually that's cost us the game.

"It was a bit too open for my liking, it was a fast tempo game but I felt we didn't do enough win the game.

"They came at us, give them credit, but a lot of our problems were our own making. The goal we conceded at the end, we had good possession."

What to read next:

Town Women Aiming to Continue Positive Start at Sheffield United
Ipswich Town Women will be out to continue their excellent start to their WSL2 season when they face Sheffield United at Bramall Lane this afternoon (KO 2pm, live on YouTube).
Quartet Could Win Caps
Sasa Lukic, Dara O’Shea, Chieo Ogbene and Issa Diop could all add to their international caps later today.
Palacios On as Sub as Argentina Hit Seven
Exequiel Palacios came on as a 69th-minute substitute as Argentina thrashed Burkina Faso 7-0 in a friendly in Buenos Aires overnight.
Mehmeti On as Sub as Albania Defeated
Blues forward Anis Mehmeti won his eighth Albania cap as his side were beaten 2-1 in Finland in the UEFA Nations League having played most of the game with 10 men.
O'Shea Leaves Irish Squad But Could Rejoin Ahead of Israel Clash
Blues skipper Dara O’Shea hasn't travelled with the Republic of Ireland squad to Serbia for tomorrow’s Nations League tie against Israel as his wife is due to give birth, but could still feature in the game.
Mehmeti and Palacios Set For Caps
Anis Mehmeti and Exequiel Palacios are set to add to their international caps later today.
Second Friendly Victory For Enciso's Paraguay
Blues forward Julio Enciso played the first 85 minutes as Paraguay beat Colombia 1-0 in a friendly in New Jersey overnight.
Enciso Set For Cap
Town forward Julio Enciso looks set to win another international cap overnight when Paraguay face Colombia in a friendly in New Jersey (KO 1am).
Flemming Nets as Blues Beat Espanyol
Town beat Espanyol 1-0 in their behind-closed-doors training game at the La Liga club’s RCDE Stadium this morning, Zian Flemming scoring the goal in the first half.
Hornby and Ademiluyi Nominated For Goal of the Month
Town Women duo Megan Hornby and Princess Ademiluyi have been nominated for the WSL2 Goal of the Month award for September.