Boss Roy Keane felt his side didn’t deserve to lose their fourth round FA Cup tie at Southampton, but thought they weren’t good enough to win it. In addition to the defeat, skipper Jon Walters could miss the next few games with a hamstring injury.

Keane said: "The players know they have wasted a good opportunity to go further in the competition.

"I did not think we deserved to lose the game but we certainly did not do enough to win it.

"We played well in the last 15 minutes but the game starts at three o'clock and not 20 to five.

"The starting 11 was very good so nobody can accuse us of taking Southampton lightly but our performance was not up to the standard I expect."

"Credit to their player for the first goal, it was a wonder strike but the second goal was very disappointing.

"Pablo gave us a chance with a goal late on and we had a couple of opportunities after that but it was too little, too late.

"We started playing a bit after we were two goals down but it's easy to do that, I want my players to be brave on the ball when it's goalless."

The Blues boss revealed that Jon Walters could be out of action for a few weeks after picking up an injury which forced him off at half-time: “Jon Walters felt his hamstring in the first half and he could miss a few games."

Keane had no criticism for referee Andy Hall ruling out Town’s ‘goal’ from Carlos Edwards’s throw-in, which Pablo Couñago claimed to have touched: "I have not spoken to the referee about it and I don't know if anyone touched it but the referee made his decision and I have no problem with that.”

Southampton boss Alan Pardew thought it was a good cup tie: "It was a hotly contested tie between two evenly matched teams and we had to dig deep.

"Ipswich have got some good young players, who get around the pitch very well and we struggled to cope with that in the first half.

"Wayne's goal was a bit of a surprise to me but he played well today and deserved his moment of glory.

"You won't see many better strikes than that in the whole competition and the second goal came at a very good time for us."

Photo: Action Images

Mark added 23:22 - Jan 23 Oh no, terrible news about Walters! I hope are able to cope without him and can keep clear of the relegation zone. Out of the cup and 19th in the league in mid-February is rather a sad situation, and I just hope we can play some good football the rest of the season to persuade our fans that we can mount a promotion challenge next year. Bringing in a good striker may be the key to it, and I hope Keane has more luck in the summer than last year as Martin, Priskin and, sad to say it, Edwards all seem to be flopping badly. At least Delaney and Leadbitter have come good. We have looked defensively solid over recent weeks with D.Wright-Delaney-McAuley-Rosenior in defence, so it seems rather harsh that D.Wright has fallen out of favour again. Let's hope with Norris returning and Counago picking up form that we can put West Brom to the sword on Tuesday!

0

swifty added 23:22 - Jan 23 As much as I want keano to succeed, he got the team selection wrong. Pablo should have started along with norris. Send stern john back to crystal palace, he is a waste. Pablo and stead should start tuesday night. Our season is all but over now. Let's hope keano makes better signings in the summer. Well done to the 3,341 town fans who supported the team today and were badly let down.

0

StowTractorBoy added 04:56 - Jan 24 Agree with your comments Swifty should have played Norris. In my opinion Stern John is a waste of time and no better than what we already have. Not sure the season is over though as at the moment am struggling to see where 25 more points are going to come from. Much as I like Keane he has thrown away over four million quid on Martin, Edwards and Priskin money that could have been spent far more wisely.

0

Johnny_Boy added 08:56 - Jan 24 We were dire in the second.... the best team won.... you can hardly argue with that.
0

Back_The_Boss added 08:58 - Jan 24 First half we did play well at times, but second half was woeful, in fairness we deserved to get beat.
0

stiffshorts added 09:22 - Jan 24 Keane: We Didn't Deserve to Lose; sorry Roy, you're wrong. We did deserve to lose, we were awful in spells during the second half. Now concentrate on getting us to stay up.
0

Bergholtblue added 09:31 - Jan 24 Norris is not yet up to playing 3 matches in a week. I hate to say it but Tuesday night is far more important that the cup. Keano was right to leave Norris out. Counago should have started. John once again did nothing to inspire me into thinking he is the man for the job. It will be a big blow for us to lose Walters, because once again Priskin, Edwards and Martin showed us that they are unable to step up to the mark when asked to. I too feel sorry for David wright but Peters did OK at left back. However, Tuesday will be a different test and Wright should come back as he is the more accomplished defender. We have got to start with Stead and Counago. I just hope the four week lay off hasn't made Stead a bit rusty. Its going to be tough Tuesday, I would be happy with a draw.

0

cbower added 09:34 - Jan 24 It would seem to me that once again, especially first half, we controlled much of the play but it gets monotonous to hear the "lacking a cutting edge" label. Edwards has not delivered on the right with any degree of consistency - wish Keane would play Walters (hope the injury clears quickly) at right midfield and maybe give Stead / Counago or Stead / Priskin or Stead / Wickham or even Stead / John an extended run up front if he is not going to bring another striker to the club in the transfer window. For all his effort, commitment and leadership (he would be in my team too) Walters has been part of that lack of a cutting edge all season. Play him where he is best please. Disappointed to be out of the Cup as the way it was shaping up we did have a chance of a very decent run this season. Last week everyone (almost) was positive, looking up. I know Sheff Wednesday won (again!) yesterday but other than that, our league position has not altered. The season is most definitely not over - it can go either way. Results over the next month will be critical so let's get behind Keane and the team, move up the table and give us something positive to play for in the spring. I do not want to spend the next few months haunted by a potetnial Trading Places scenario with Norwich in the summer!!!

0

tom_the_blue added 10:39 - Jan 24 I think Priskin had his best game for us so far, which is promising
0

jas0999 added 10:43 - Jan 24 Agree we didn't deserve to lose, but if you don't take your chances . . . Interesting people are moaning at Roy's team selection - agree John is not good enough, but Roy did talk about Norris this week. Put simply, Norris is returning from a long injury lay off and as Roy pointed out on Thursday, CAN NOT play three games in 8 days - to quote Roy 'no way'. It's no surprise that Roy sees Tuesday game against WBA as a more important game - and despite putting put a very strong side, had to decide whether to play Norris in the cup OR in a crucial league match. Good decision Roy.

0

raycrawfordswig added 11:36 - Jan 24 Chasing the game who you gonna call Priskin net buster.
0

Facefacts added 11:41 - Jan 24 I am one of the FA Cup's greatest supporters, these days from an armchair, and will be interested to see who Southampton get in the next round, they should be ball number 1 as our tie was first out of the hat last time. Never thought I would see myself wanting Leeds to do well, as they did yesterday, Beckford is some player. There have been no home FA Cup games for us this season, so no money has been made. Having said that, Championship survival is top priority. If it's Saints v Chelsea (or another top side) then will we have missed out on seeing how far Roy Keane has brought us since Newcastle (home) or would it just have been a morale-sapping defeat like Preston were handed yesterday?

0

moomoosereni added 12:02 - Jan 24 Well we have made some money from the tie, what with winning the third round match. But not a lot at just under 70 grand. I do agree with past comments however that resting Norris was the right thing to do, we need to make sure he is fresh for the "bigger" matches we have coming up. At least it wasn't a game where we missed out on 3 pts. COYB.
0

Keaneish added 12:31 - Jan 24 Completely agree with you BergholtBlue, Tuesday is far more important. The only surprise for me is that Wickham wasn't on the bench, have a i missed something, did he pick up a knock in mid-week? Thought lower league opposition would have been a good run out for him. We were poor yesterday, but even still, aside from Southampton's 20 minute spell in the second half we weren't that troubled despite the result. Not that bothered in all honesty as long as it doesn't have a knock on effect to Tuesday. We need a big man up front but John isn't the answer. Stead and Counago may well get a start up front Tuesday, but we do need a bit more presence. Play offs are 10 points off so season definitely isn't over.

0

PunchNoHopers added 12:47 - Jan 24 Reality check, we played and lost against an understrength Southampton team who play in division one and had several players out, due to suspensions, injury and being cup-tied. Any talk of us making the play-offs is just utter rubbish, we are still at the wrong end of the table, and are this season only playing for mid-table at best! Indeed we can still quite easily be back in the relegation fodder, as teams below us are winning and we have some tough games coming up, so our main priority for this season is still playing to ensure we avoid joining the likes of Southampton next season!

0

StowTractorBoy added 13:07 - Jan 24 We will see how far we have come on Tuesday night as West Brom are in a rich vein of form. Well said PunchNoHopers - play offs a pipe dream and we need to make sure we get the 53 points required.
0

SitfcB added 13:29 - Jan 24 I had high hopes for the cup this year....... I think we deserved a draw, it was'nt our best performance......But it was'nt our worst.... I think Stead and Pablo should start on Tuesday. And with Walters out.....Keep the same midfield as yesterday but take Edwards out for Norris.
0

Keaneish added 13:38 - Jan 24 Not a surprise to see the doom and gloom merchants on here again. *Yawn*
0

poringlandblue added 17:14 - Jan 24 on that performance we have a better chance of being relegated than making the playoffs, john was a waste of space, edwards not good enough, peters a better fullback than d wright i dont think so, i dont remember any high balls won but still persist in the long ball out of defence, hopefully can only get better on tuesday. on a plus note thanks to the lads on the 17.30 train back to waterloo for the banter with saints fans, made the journey home v enjoyable unlike the game

0

Mark added 18:37 - Jan 24 The West Brom game might be more important from the point of view of staying up, but the FA Cup gave us the chance to play for something positive. We could have been playing crisis-hit Portsmouth at home for the chance of a quarter-final place, but instead all we have to look forward to is a dog fight which will hopefully see us move clear of the relegation zone towards mid-table.

0

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls