Boss Roy Keane felt 3-0 was harsh on his side but admitted that the Blues have a long way to go before they can compete with the likes of Nottingham Forest for the play-off places. The Town manager says Damien Delaney might miss the rest of the season after injuring his ankle at the City Ground.

Keane said: "I think 3-0 is a little bit harsh but that's football, that's the reality of it if you don't take your chances.

"The first goal was always going to be vital. I'm not sure about the decision that led to it and the deflection didn't help.

"But I was disappointed with our response - we played naive football after that and obviously Forest picked us off as you would expect with the great home record they've got.

"I thought we reacted poorly in terms of shutting up shop for five or 10 minutes.

"We don't score enough goals - Forest are where they are because they've got good attacking options, they've got strikers and can change things around.

"Our leading scorer has got six or seven goals and you're not going to get anywhere fast with that. We saw where we're at today.

"Forest showed how far we still have to go but I knew that before kick-off. We have a lot of hard work in front of us but Forest have shown what can be achieved after the progress they have made over the last year."

The Blues boss says Damien Delaney’s ankle injury may force him to miss the season’s remaining games: "It looks a sore one. He will have a scan on Monday but it looks as though there is ligament damage and that means he could be out for the rest of the season.”

Delaney’s possible absence could give Tommy Smith a run of games ahead of joining up with New Zealand’s squad for the World Cup.

Forest assistant manager David Kelly hailed boss Billy Davies’s efforts in taking another side into the play-offs: "The gaffer has produced the goods yet again.

“The players have been absolutely brilliant all season and we're delighted. I think a teetotal Scotsman [Davies] might have a glass of champagne tonight.

"He's very good at his job. He's meticulous in his preparation and he's meticulous in the information he gets on opposing teams and the players we will be up against.

"We work very hard on the training ground all the time - we train as we play, at a high tempo."

Kelly felt Forest’s second half display would have beaten anyone: "I thought we played quite well in the first half and had a few chances.

"We settled down a little bit after the break and would have beaten anybody on our second half performance today. The football was absolutely superb."

Photo: Action Images

Mark added 21:55 - Apr 10 Disappointing result today. I know it was a tough game, but I am worried about our lack of progress. We lost 3-0 despite Colback and D.Murphy playing, both of whom we probably cannot afford to keep. Forest do indeed have good attacking options. When will we?
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WREXHAM_BLUE added 22:16 - Apr 10 I'm not sure which game David Kelly was watching! Disappointing result, though after the season we've had, I'm finding it hard to be too despondent now we're mathematically safe at last. Hopefully we can pick up a couple of home wins and give it a good go at Newcastle. Big blow to lose Delaney who's been outstanding at centre half. I agree with Keano that the first goal was key and you could hardly call it a classic strike, though we'd certainly have taken the same at our end. Roll on pre-season!!

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bennyblue added 22:40 - Apr 10 SACK HIM SACK HIM SACK HIM ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ROY OUT
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bennyblue added 22:43 - Apr 10 "AFTER THE PROGRESS FOREST HAVE MADE OVER THE YEAR"" well how come forest can make progress but we cant it wouldnt be a competant manager would it ?
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devontractorboy added 22:51 - Apr 10 Davis = Great Manager Keane = Numpty That's the difference, KEANE OUT NOW!!!!!!
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northernblues added 23:02 - Apr 10 it has been the worst season in my living memory as a town fan(37 years), and not only that, we have never spent so much! glad its almost over!
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blue_shoes added 23:09 - Apr 10 bennyblue and devon go support man u or chelsea if u wanna win every week. Its football, losings part of the game im afraid. calling for the sack after losing away against a team 3rd in the league with a great home record, come on, no one can be that moronic.
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Notts_tractor added 23:09 - Apr 10 I doubt very much whether the last two posters were at the game. They would have seen a Town side match Forest in the first half, fall behind to a flukey goal from a dubious free kick early in the second half and then end up second best to a team which has been outstanding this season. Where's the shame in that? People need to get real here. Devon: Billy Davies was the "great manager" that took Preston to play off failure, Derby to Premiership humiliation. Benny: Get back to Crossroads like I told you.

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northernblues added 23:20 - Apr 10 notts tractor, take a look how much the club has spent, and take a look back at the league tables to 1970, both my points are facts,!
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ITFCAlex added 23:38 - Apr 10 Why get rid of Keane now? We're not going down and bringing in a new manager would put us back to where we were. Let Keane continue to create HIS team and let him see out his contract then decide. Rash decisions get clubs nowhere, continuity does.
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buryblue77 added 23:59 - Apr 10 Forest have one of the best home records in the league, especially of late. We're just not clinical enough in front of goal at times. Still, I've said it before and I'll say it again. I really do feel it'll all come together nicely next season!
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Singapore_Blue added 01:38 - Apr 11 Northerblues.....you either have a very short memory or are a massive drama queen. Sure it has been a very poor season. no arguments there, but lest we forget......The diabliocal teams of the late 80's under John Duncan with the likes of Graham Harbey and when our attacking options were the likes of Neil Woods and Ian Redford......The Class of 95 which embarrassed us week in week out with the hihg class midfield of Steve Sedgely and Gerient Williams (With the ever solid Eddie Youds behind them !)......and the facelss commitmentless teams of Magilton for 3 or 4 years. Bad yes, but most of that from a horrific start which to be fair has been put right to some extent (Although there is some way to go clearly !). We have gone from a team with no wins, in bootom place, and favourites for relegation to a team who will likely finish in the top half (Yes higher than under the previous manager !), who have had more shots on goal than any other team in the league, and whose 2nd half of the season form is actually better than those who will finish in the play-offs. Disappointing season - yes. Progress being made - yes. Worst season in 37 years - NO.

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bennyblue added 04:45 - Apr 11 disapointing season-very progress being made- no worst season in 37 years-in the top 3 now thats more like it
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bobbyramsey added 06:41 - Apr 11 We too could have good attacking options if Keane would cast his net further than second rate Irish players or Sunderland cast-off's. Blinkers off Roy.
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MVBlue added 07:49 - Apr 11 I was there for this one. I was close to the goal action as I was sitting in the Trent end. The Forest strikeforce surged through onto goal, with good interplay and direct football. Ipswich tried to play in from the wings, but at corners and crosses there was no one on the end ball. Roy Keane might be a fine manager, but his style might not get the best out of these players. Jon Walters has gone to sh~t, he was frustrated with himself with every reason to be. We saw our best attacks soaked up by the decent Forest defence. By the end of the second half Ipswich were having passes intercepted easily as they lost their way a bit. The side has no bite at the moment. So we give Roy Keane 1 more season to see what happens, best to hope for next season is top 6.

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BowBoy added 08:19 - Apr 11 In the end, a harsh scoreline but a good indicator that Roy needs both more time and money. Davies has had an extra half season to mould his team, and don't forget Forest have spent money getting where they are today - Earnshaw (£2.65m), Gunter (£1.75m), McGoldrick ("undisclosed seven figure fee"), Garner (£1.14m), Blackstock (undisclosed, but sizeable), Camp (undisclosed, but sizable), (McKenna (£750k), and more. Time to judge will be 15 games into the new season.

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dirtydingusmagee added 09:00 - Apr 11 keano ,harsh result maybe , as you say we are a long way from being a promotion team, that is harsh reality! where do we go now, who do we get in WHO can we afford ,WHO will be available, and just as worrying WHO will want to come to Town .Harsh reality is we probably arent going to be a promotion team next year either im afraid .Barring a miracle .
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kevinscoles added 09:26 - Apr 11 Forest got one flukey goal, we took Colback off probably to try and work out what we do next season without him, as Sunderland have had some great value loaning him to us, becasue he is a better player going back,and the answer is we need another answer than the team we have. It's probably more dissapointing as I live just outside Nottingham to see a result like this, but Forest have got the second best home record in the division and we have one of the worst away records. We have definitely made progress this season any fool can see that except Bennyblue and Devontractor, but every season is going to be harder as the premiership drop outs have more cash and teams like Cardiff will gamble the club on getting to the hallowed ground.That's life.

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tommyblue added 11:08 - Apr 11 i dont no how people can moan at a defeat away at forest
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Len_Brennan added 11:45 - Apr 11 Singapore, the problem is the progress that you speak of is only progress from where the manager himself brought us to before Christmas, (with a squad that always should have been in contention) which is the worst position I have witnessed in my 31 years of supporting the club. Can you really say that the club is in a better position now than it was under the previous manager 12 months ago? Neither league position-wise, nor the quality of football in my view. I don't want to hear about us having the most shots at goal in the league when our goals scored column is so poor. One of the reasons our leading scorer's total is so low is because the manager keeps switching our forwards around, denying anyone the opportunity to stake a claim, forge a partnership/link with other players & get the confidence all strikers need. Limited & all as Stead is, I am convinced he would have scored at least 15 league goals had the manager shown any faith in him & given him a chance. A lot of posters are very confident about next season because of recent results & the progress from pre-Christmas form, but I don't see it. With the money spent we should a) have a team capable of fighting for automatic promotion next season, which the Forest game showed us we are still far from and b) have a very good idea of what the team/squad will be for next season - we don't. I don't believe the manager has much of a clue as to what his starting XI will be for the opening game of the season, which is shocking after 12 months. Too many players are in on loan and will not stay, too many have had run ins with the manager (and others soon will no doubt) and far too many have been played out of position or in too many positions over the course of this season to give any element of stability to the side. I can only imagine further upheaval over the coming months and thus more excuses for another poor start to next season while the manager talks about waiting to gets HIS team in place. Good managers first & foremost work with what they have, get the best out of them, support them publically and inspire belief & confidence, making gradual changes where a squad needs it most. I don't see our current manager ticking those boxes I'm afraid.

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blueandred added 11:59 - Apr 11 They're all out in force again today. Did Town lose yesterday?
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jas0999 added 12:13 - Apr 11 Totally agree. Harsh scoreline - but Forest deserved the win. People need to realise that Forests home form is outstanding. Are all the other clubs in the league rubbish? Afterall most have lost at Forest. Need to put this into perspective. That said, it i clear we need to strengthen in the summer.
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kirbs added 12:16 - Apr 11 A few days ago i met barry hearn (Leyton Orient chairman) we was talking about ipswich and he rekons keane will be sacked this season and curbishly will come in, interesting.
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osborne1nil added 12:18 - Apr 11 Spot on Len, would expect improvement after £8 million spent and if league position is used as a yard stick, its not an improvement. It also appears from their lack of involvement that some of these signings (Priskin, Martin & Healy) aren't up to the job. After Colback and perhaps 1 or 2 other loanees return home, what are we left with? Alot of the contracts end this summer too and it will be interesting to see how many of these are renewed? IMO what RK has done though is create a better defence and in B Murphy a reasonable keeper as No1 or 2. Still the it's all down to what M E thinks, as if he is as unimpressed as alot of the supporters are who knows what will happen in the closed season?

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dirtydingusmagee added 13:10 - Apr 11 well said len brennan , couldnt agree more.And to the people who always say we shouldnt be disapointed at losing to teams like Forrest , its because teams do lose to them thats they are at top WHERE WE WANT TO BE , losers are losers ,sorry if i sound negative, but if we are to be up there WE DO HAVE TO WIN THOSE GAMES .
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