Boss Jim Magilton felt his side's 1-0 victory over Leeds gave the town a boost after a terrible week. Special praise was reserved for goalscorer Gavin Williams, who limped off in the second half with a recurrence of his groin problems.

Magilton said: "The town of Ipswich needed a bit of a boost after all the terrible things that have been going on. It's nice if we can give people a bit of joy, but of course it's only a football match. I thought the prayers before the game were very poignant.

"It was not a good performance but we stood up to Leeds and kept a clean sheet. We had to be competitive."

Magilton is anxious about scorer Williams who was forced off on the hour mark: "He has had a problem with his groin all week since the Cardiff match. It's the same thing he had in pre-season and has caused him to miss 103 days' training.

"He had a fitness test before the game but the injury became worse so I had to take him off. I am very concerned about it because he is playing well.

"He is a very important player for us. He will come in on Monday when the situation will be assessed."

Magilton felt that referee Keith Stroud had no choice but to red card Leeds skipper Kevin Nicholls for his elbow on Danny Haynes, however, he thought Owen Garvan was lucky to avoid censure in the melee triggered by the incident: "I'm told Nicholls raised his elbow and if he's done that, he's got to go.

"By the same token Owen was very lucky not to get a red card and I've had a word with him. If he raises his hands, by the letter of the law he should be sent off."

Leeds boss Dennis Wise announced his intention to contest Nicholls's sending off after the game: “I am appealing against Kevin Nicholls's red card. I tried to show the referee a video of the incident but he would not look at it, saying that this was a ruling brought in at the start of the season."

Wise even showed the video of the incident to reporters after the game and claimed that Alan Lee's yellow card for a collision with Hayden Foxe was more worthy of a sending off.

The former Chelsea man added: "It's driving me bonkers and I had to show the fellow. Things like this can change a season at a club while referees get away with it. We don't get away with it.

"We created the better chances and maybe we should have won."

Photo: Action Images

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