Boss Roy Keane was happy with a point after Town’s 1-1 draw with West Brom, despite conceding yet another injury time goal. The Blues manager thought the visitors deserved their equaliser, but was pleased with his side’s battling display.

Keane said: "As much as people might think I'm angry and disappointed to lose the goal at the end, I'm not.

"I don't begrudge West Brom their equaliser. They caused us lots of problems but my players were outstanding and it was a good response to the Southampton defeat. They showed a real desire and a great spirit and I thought it was a cracking game.

"We had chances to have finished them off but that will come. It's the sign of the progress we are making that we can hold a team as good as West Brom, but it's a sign of how far we have to go as well.

"When I was driving to the game I knew that we would have to defend well if we were going to have a chance and they did that.

"A blind man could see that West Brom have a very good chance of winning promotion.

"They play very good football and move the ball well and we knew that, but in terms of clear-cut chances we had the better ones.

"We are nearly a good team but we all know nearly never made it. Are we short in certain areas? You bet we are. But we are improving all the time and they gave it their all tonight."

Keane says his players told him that referee Stuart Attwell had warned Jonas Olsson about manhandling players in the penalty area prior to awarding the Blues their second half spotkick: "The lads were saying that he had been warned before. Olsson likes to make a challenge in the box and he only has himself to blame."

West Brom manager Roberto Di Matteo saw things differently: "We are very angry about it because that decision has cost is dearly. Unfortunately the referee's decision has gone against us.

"I don't think anyone else in the stadium thought it was a penalty. It looks like the ref was the only one who saw any contact for a penalty.

“I had a word with the fourth official and he was just shaking his head. There was a bit of contact but nothing else.

"That was a key moment in the game because out of nothing he thought he saw something. It doesn't make sense to speak to the referee. The game is over now and there nothing else we can do about it.

"We kept going until the end and that shows we've got good energy there to last the 90 minutes for our third game in eight days.

"It took a lot out of us - and credit to the players for keeping knocking on the door. At least we got an equaliser.

"The only negative point is that we had the chances but didn't manage to score the goals. We created a number of good chances and one was saved off the line as well.

"We needed to take one to put us ahead. We knew as the game went on we would have more chances too. But if you have to play against the referee as well that's very difficult."

Photo: Action Images

Blue4life added 10:00 - Jan 27 Jonnysuave - You have but barrett in your bottom 3rd ar you joking? He has been outstounding Out of 11 Matches Lee Barret Has kept 3 clean sheets and only let 1 goal in, during 5 Matches so only 3 matches where is has conceeded more than 1. I dont think that is bad at all!!! A Cardiff City FLC W 2-1 A Bristol City FLC D 0-0 H Peterborough FLC D 0-0 H Blackpool FLC W 3-1 A Crystal Palace FLC L 1-3 H QPR FLC W 3-0 A Blackpool FACP W 2-1 A Leicester City FLC D 1-1 H Coventry City FLC W 3-2 A Southampton FACP L 1-2 H WBA FLC D 1-1

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webside added 10:04 - Jan 27 I didn't know how to feel after the game. West Brom were definately the better team (and really looked good), but we seemed to have the best chances. Before the game i'd have taken a point, even a 0-1 loss (at least keeping the score low), but to drop 2 points in the last minute of injury time AGAIN just deflates you. I just think we need to get our midfield into the box more often. How many times are we seeing players down the wing with no-one in the box, yet the opposition completely crowd our like the Baggies did with their goal last night. Also, we've gotta help our players out - who helped out Priskin in the corner late in the game last night? We could have kept that ball and seen the game out. Could have really pushed us up the table, but a point is better than nothing. Glad to see we didn't roll over and let them walk all over us.

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brockleyblueboy added 10:16 - Jan 27 Well Paul Mariner, they won't be reading it on this site will they, unless they have braile on their screens!! jee Whizz lighten up.
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superblueflude added 10:41 - Jan 27 You have got to be happy with a point We know we are not up there with Brom or Newcastle, and last night showed us how we have improved in regards to team spirit, defensive solidarity, and we nearly won the match which for me would have been unjust for the Brom. Against Newcaslte we looked like a kids team last night we looked like a mans team and there are improvements all over the pitch, for me Priskin did look better when he came on, and I believe Keane will start him on Saturday and he will begin to score goals and become a town favourite. For me the biggest problem is the curren prices, the grading system, why not stick to £20-25 per match attendances would then reach the 20,000 mark. So come on fans be happy with what we achieved last night, another point, another showing that we are a strong team and teams are struggling to beat us. 1 loss in 15 is not to be sniffed at.

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PaulMariner added 10:41 - Jan 27 Got ears though
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RRanger added 11:13 - Jan 27 A great battling point by a team (us) who have played much much better this season. That alone is very encouraging. I totally agree with Webside's comments above.One of the most noticeable things about West Brom's performance was how they trusted their defence to sort out problems enabling their midfield to control the game and fully support their attack. Our defence (particularly our 2 CBs) is outstanding at the moment but our midfield is playing too deep and thus not putting enough pressure on the opposition or supporting our attackers so that when an attack breaks down there is often no one to pick up the pieces. Too often in the last 20 minutes in particular there was nobody in our midfield prepared to put their foot on the ball and work the ball out of defence. West Brom were a much better team than us as befits their position in the league. But we are a much better side (even not playing particularly well yesterday) than we were 2-3 months ago. We are a work in progress and I am positive we will finish very close to the playoffs which would be a major achievement considering our awful start.And then watch out next season.....

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Surco72 added 11:14 - Jan 27 1 loss in 15 certainly is not to be sniffed at but 5 wins in 30 is ? Last night good dig in performance that it was we still moved closer to the relegation zone and further away from playoffs . And flude would you seriously start Priskin above the other strikers we have on Saturday against the physical Preston ? We have some very difficult games coming up and drawing them could land us in big trouble

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bennyblue added 11:26 - Jan 27 i thought it was only 5 wins in 26 still a woeful record .shows how far keanes taken us backwards ! we would have expected to have beaten or at least have matched a team like wba in previous seasons now the so called supporters will settle for a1-1 or 0-1 result something is seriously wrong with the club this season i am just trying to work out whats changed this season .oh i remember

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superblueflude added 11:27 - Jan 27 Surco why did you have to go and say the 5 wins in 30 - you really need to let that go say we win 5 in a row it will be 10 in 35 that still doesnt sound good!. And yes id start Priskin on Saturday with John - Stead was very rusty yestuday so i'd bring him on second half and give him 20 minutes.
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old_and_blue added 11:37 - Jan 27 We can defend at last!! The defence is better than it has been for many many years.. OK, there were too many long balls out of defence. WBA were better overall and it was a soft penalty, but the team got the draw by fighting for it,, some thing that Jims teams didn't do (sadly).. Priskin did everything right but score when he should have.. Yes, the traditional last minute goal was dissappionting but we are getting better and the game was good to watch (and at £33.50 it B well should be!!) onwards

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superblueflude added 11:38 - Jan 27 Benny - your right when we had Holland, Reuser, Johnson, Stewart, Mowbray we could expect to beat teams like Brom - times have moved on, we went into admin, sold our best players started fresh - the league has changed the teams have changed, who would have thought Swansea would be in top 10? blackpool?. Christs sake grow up!
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Surco72 added 11:45 - Jan 27 Super as i said yesterday when you stop saying how well we are doing 1 loss in 15 and what if we win 5 in a row !! i will stop stating our real position which should have read 6 wins in 30 . If you think we will win 5 in a row against Preston ,Boro,QPR ,Cardiff and Peterboro with Priskin and John upfront then you are more optimistic than i thought so all credit to you ,i really hope you are correct

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superblueflude added 11:51 - Jan 27 Surco I didn't say if we win 5 - we most prob wont im saying that wouldn't make a difference to your 5 in 30 etc etc. All im saying is that surely as a supporter you look at the positives and there were loads last night - why keep bringing the negatives to everything? and thats not being optimistic its realistic, do you think Managers sit and say guys look 5 in 30 not good, forget the fact your hard to beat lets just go out and make it 6 in 31 - a figure which means nothing. we all know the start of the season was bad, we can't do anything about that now, so forget that and the figures that go with it. anyways I wouldnt start Prisking and John in each game thank you i never said I would. I said i'd start them this weekend as for me Pablo is not a starting 11 guy and Stead isn't ready until back to full fitness - John isn't but he's still a better alternative at the moment.

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leagueonescum added 12:12 - Jan 27 HGive RK credit where it's due. I'll be the first to admit that come Christmas I thought he'd jump ship. He's slowly getting things right. Alf Ramsey and Bobby Robson took years to create their squads, Burley took 5 years but the in the long haul was worth it. StiffShorts and Hampshire: you're probably old enough by now to realize that arguing online gets you nowhere. It's like trying to sell ice to the Eskimos.

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Surco72 added 12:14 - Jan 27 Flude i would hope our manager does sit and think that this season is not good enough and it is nothing to do with being negative ,we have spent a lot of money for teams in this division and yes we are hard to beat at the moment and certainly improved on the start of the season but also we are an easy team to get points off . I wanted Magilton to go as i have stated before but this time last year we had 42 points ,3 points off the playoffs scoring 42 times and had plus 11 goal difference , i am a Keane fan and hope it will all come together as i can see it is starting to but will not go overboard with the praise until we are actually in a better position than when he took over ,if thats viewed as negative so be it but when we are 5 points off relegation with teams below us with games in hand that could be cut to 2 points i for one am slightly concerned

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leagueonescum added 12:24 - Jan 27 We're also 12 points from playoffs so forgive me if I do find that a little negative. We were bottom for a while and with the west brom game we have shown we have the quality to match the best. With Keano spending a decade under Fergie he'll probably have forgotten more than we'll ever know about football.
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pitseablue added 12:32 - Jan 27 Totally agree with leagueonescum, Things are improving under keano, it does take time to build a new team and no one on here would be unhappy if were playing in the Prem in two or three years time. Just compere the last eight games with the first eight.
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AJblue added 12:35 - Jan 27 I have not benn dissappointed! I knew i would come on here today and see that same old faces bleeting on about how bad we are, you know who you are. We were outplayed by a better side, fact is we were, but look what WBA did to Newcastle at the weekend, and what thae same Newcastle did to us in the earlier part of the season. It is a fact, (God i sound like Rafa!), also that we are not the best side in the league, but we are an ever improving side. We would have lost this game at the start of the season, a point against WBA before the game would have been seen by most (except you perpetual groaners), as a good point, and if it had been us equalising in the last minute, we would have felt it was almost as good as a win....funny old game innit?

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IpswichKev added 13:09 - Jan 27 Stiffshorts is a muppet! Full marks to the lads and Keano for what was nearly an incredible result.
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brockleyblueboy added 13:20 - Jan 27 I think that 5-0 thumping is coming, and I think it will be laid on Preston at the weekend. We've got a good run and if we can just concentrate for 100 minutes (Just to make sure) we can take a few big steps towards the play-offs.
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blue_em_away added 13:50 - Jan 27 Wont make play offs now, its too late. On the game last night... This wont go down too well but I thought Pablo was awful. Never held the ball up, couldn't keep hold of it and kept giving away needless freekicks. Maybe it was he was up against better defenders, we need better from him. Barrett. Only an average keeper. Flaped at loads last night and has no box presence. Defence were great. 100% inprovement on 3/4 months ago. Norris forgot how to position himself when they had the ball. Midfeild players only looking for 2nd balls and not interested in building play from the back. On paper, great result. Others in this league will see 1-1 and think wow Ipswich are getting it together. This can only be a possitive. On the whole, well done lads, a good point.

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jas0999 added 17:01 - Jan 27 Agree with Roy. 1-1 was fair. We didn't deserve to win (although wouldn't have complained!!). I can't understand why some people can not find a positive comment about the game - even if 90% of their post is negative! Surely holding a very good WBA side is a decent result - many teams have failed to do so this season!
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