Town boss Paul Jewell admitted his side were side were again under par as Crystal Palace picked up a deserved 1-0 victory at Portman Road. Eagles manager Dougie Freedman thought he had caught the Blues, who he believes will be in the top six at the end of the season, on a bad day.

Jewell said: “We didn’t perform today. Give Crystal Palace some credit, they caused us problems with their pace, but we didn’t cause them problems.

“In this little run we’ve been on we’ve created chances, we’ve had good movement, but today we just looked flat. It’s a shame that we get a terrific crowd in again and we don’t perform as we’d like to.”

The Blues boss says that during the run, in which Town won four home games in a row, he had tried to play down expectations, believing that while progress has been made, there’s still a lot of work to do: “People have been saying nice things about us and I’ve been trying saying to keep a lid on it because there’s a long way to go in the season.

“When we came here in January, we were three points from relegation, so I think we’ve come a long way in a shortish period of time and it’s not going to be one big quantum leap to where we want to go.

“We’ve had some troughs already this season, this is a kick in the teeth and we’ve got to bounce back from it.”

Jewell dismissed suggestions that his side might be tired with Palace also having played three games in a week: “I know what the next question is going to be about — we’ve got some 30-somethings in the side.

“Age is one of those things which people are always looking to use as an excuse. Our lads are fit but we just didn’t play well.

“We didn’t play well on Tuesday and we didn’t play well today. I’ll hold my hands up and say that today we weren’t at our best.”

The Town manager said Jimmy Bullard, subbed after an hour, wasn’t injured, despite the midfielder appearing to be suffering with a groin problem: “I thought I’d just try and freshen it up, whether the changes didn't work is just the way it is.

“Sonko’s a doubt for next week. He was never really going make this week; nicking a hamstring on a Tuesday and being fit for the Saturday is difficult.

“Damien’s done something to his foot, I don’t know what it is. Obviously for those two it’s disappointing.”

Jewell left strike pair Jason Scotland and Michael Chopra on the bench due to them both having minor problems: “They had one or two niggles. Without going into too much detail, I know what’s going on day to day with them and we don’t like to shout out about it, but they’ve been carrying one or two knocks.”

The Blues boss had no complaints about Aaron Cresswell’s sending off for a second yellow card for dissent in the closing stages.

Palace manager Dougie Freedman was delighted with the victory which took the Eagles into third with Town dropping to ninth: “I felt throughout the match we created enough chances to win the game. It’s pleasing to come to a place like Ipswich and win.

“I think we caught them on an off-day because I’ve seen them this season and they’ve been a lot better than that. I strongly believe with that group of players they’ll be in the top six come the end of the season.”

Photo: Action Images

jamiescowcroft added 14:28 - Oct 23 People are just using JET as a scapegoat. His pace is admittedly shocking! but he had a few good moments which can't be said for many other players in the team. The likes of Cresswell, Edwards, Andrews and Bullard all had very poor games but have avoided criticism on here because they have played very well up until this week. Give JET a chance, I used to think Scotland was a complete waste of space and how wrong I have been proved by his performances this season, he's been sensational! hopefully the same will happen with JET over time.

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irishtim added 14:48 - Oct 23 we need width in the team for me carson deserves a recall also martin we need pace & width & fast flowing footie. Palace showed it pays to give youth a chance so cmon paul bring back carson for starters
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Stretchstar added 20:18 - Oct 23 I've got to agree with the minority on here, yes this is two under par performances, but my god look how far we've come, we can't just turn our backs and put our heads down yet, the end of the loan period is definately a worry, but anything can happen, we may keep who we want, and get some more, who knows???? Come on Town, pick it up again, 6 points up for grabs shortly, lets 'ave it!!!!

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Guthrum added 00:52 - Oct 24 The problem with this talk of flexibility, options and "plan B", is that with the reduced 5-man benches this season, that doesn't give the Manager an awful lot to play with. If one is GK cover and another a defender, that leaves just three places to cover all the midfield and forward options.
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GiveusaWave added 08:02 - Oct 24 Stockdale was outstanding. So was Collins. Andrews wasn't bad. JET= looked like a larger Adrian Paz on a bad day. He had a real chance here to explode onto the scene and it never happened. All players have off-days though,-maybe this was his. I know loads of people here have said JET was the worst player in this match but did you actually see how bad Delaney was? Looked off the pace all match and was desperately out of his depth. Championship days have passed him by. Still think he could do a good job though for a League 2 side. Stockdale- 9, Collins-9, Delaney-0, Ingimarrson-5, Cresswell-5, Edwards-6, Bullard-6, Andrews-6, Bowyer-7, Leadbitter-6, Ellington- 5, JET- 4, Scotland-7, Chopra-7

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ErikaTractor added 08:08 - Oct 24 Agree completely with DissboyITFC. No plan b. Lack of squad depth. Jewell's never promised promotion this season anyway (unlike the Dark Lord), so he has time to bring in a few fresh faces with pace. Remember, our midfield is (mostly) old. They need rotation sometimes. More worryingly we've lost Cresswell for the next game. Can Wabara play at leftback?
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LFCITFC added 09:07 - Oct 24 Cornardblue - "why some people knock JET all the time i do not know there were worse players in a ITFC shirt today" there were worst players, BUT all the others can move one foot in front of the other quickly, I believe this is called running, a concept that is lost on JET. Beaten by the better team, there 2 wingers were fantastic.
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