Town boss Paul Jewell was delighted with his side’s 1-1 draw at Leicester, believing that they might have taken all three points but for Paul Gallagher’s second-half penalty. Lee Bowyer had put the Blues in front early on after Michael Chopra had missed from the spot.

Jewell said: “I thought we worked exceptionally hard. We started the game very brightly, obviously we missed the penalty but we didn’t have time to let that affect us because we scored so soon afterwards.

“We had to dig in and defend at times and I actually thought we were going to sneak it 1-0 but the referee gave a penalty.

“I’m not sure whether it was a penalty or not, it’s certainly hit Jason’s hands but I don’t know how intentional it was. Towards the final whistle it was end to end.”

The Town boss felt it would have been harsh if Konchesky had been red-carded for the foul which led to the penalty: “Not really but what I found a bit difficult to understand was that he didn’t get a yellow card.

“I spoke to the fourth official and he said he’d done well to give it after 30 seconds, which made me wonder if they’re not allowed to give penalties in the first minute.

“But I didn’t think it was a sending off by any stretch of the imagination, I just found it a bit difficult that we had a couple of yellow cards after that which were given for yellow cards. If it’s a foul in the box, it’s normally a yellow card. But I’m not here to talk about referees, I thought our performance was excellent.”

Jewell didn't think Leicester overly threatened his team’s goal despite having most of the ball: “There was plenty of pressure but our keeper’s had one save to make with his feet at the start of the second half.

“The only disappointment I’ve got is that we had one or two situations on the break that we didn’t make the most of. But I thought it was two, honest evenly-matches teams. A typical Championship game.”

The Blues boss had praise for Damien Delaney, who was back after loanee Danny Collins’s exit having undergone surgery on a foot injury last month: “He played well. He just gave us a little bit of balance on the left-hand side.

“None of the centre-halves, Damo, Ívar or Tommy, have had a lot of football. That was the call I made and I thought he was excellent today.

“It was a good point and any point in this league is hard fought. It’s always tinged with disappointment when you’re leading the game, but a point away from home is good and seven points from the last nine is decent form.”

One piece of bad news for Town was leading scorer Keith Andrews coming off injured just before the break: “He’s just nicked his hamstring. We won’t know the severity of it until he gets it scanned.

“It probably means he’s played the last game of his loan, as far as fitness is concerned. He’s disappointed because he wants to play every minute of every game Keith. We’ll have a better idea tomorrow afternoon.

“We want to keep Keith Andrews here and we’re in with a fighting chance of keeping him, that’s what we’re after.”

Jewell confirmed that there have been no other changes on contract or transfer front since the end of last week.

Town goalscorer Lee Bowyer believed a draw was the right result: "If you weigh up the whole game, a draw was probably fair.

"It's just disappointing to have only come away with one point, because apart from the penalty I couldn't see them scoring.

"But I think overall we're looking a lot more solid as a unit, we're creating chances and we are going into games with confidence and believing that we can win."

Michael Chopra was disappointed to miss the early spotkick, tweeting: "Gutted I missed a penalty, can't believe it. Everyone worked hard again, another point in the bag .Ipswich were great again, thanks for the support."

Leicester boss Nigel Pearson felt his team deserved at least the point and was pleased with his players’ reaction to going behind: “Conceding so early was very disappointing but what I would say is that the response from the players after that was very positive.

“People have told me that when we’ve gone a goal behind this season the body language and the way we’ve gone about dealing with that hasn’t been very good.

“Today I thought the players were very, very positive and I would say that we’ve pressed them, we’ve tried everything we could without being able to break them down in the second half.

“There are positives, but it’s still very frustrating that we’re not making inroads into the league.”

Photo: Action Images

Paulc added 18:46 - Dec 26 This is progress. We would have shipped 3 goals after the pen a month ago and lost the game. Good away point.
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brian_a_mul added 18:58 - Dec 26 A very good solid point and keeps the recent good form going. Leicester are a good team and we probably were marginally the better team. It shows the players are behind the manager and want to prove their worth to the fans. Also delighted for Delaney, good performance and lets hope he can form a formidable partnership with Sonko. Onwards and upwards!!
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Tractamatt added 19:03 - Dec 26 In the absence of Andrews I think Bowyer for captain Bullard to start and Leadbitter on the bench. A good point away and well done to our supporters who took the time to travel.
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irishtim added 19:09 - Dec 26 Well done lads. Keep this level of performance up. Commitment seems to be there also. Well done dd u get alot of bad press from me also but well done today my fellow corkman. Keep it up now lads.
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Garv added 20:02 - Dec 26 Good point that. As PJ says 7 points from 9 is decent considering the run we were on! I didn't think Jewell would risk Delaney but it was a good call in the end as fully fit Delaney should always play ahead of Ingimarsson and Smith. Reading will be tough, another big win for them today. Both teans will have confidence going into that one, Leicester are a good side which has been invested in heavily and we limited them to very few chances. At the end of the day a penalty given for handball is always going to be unlucky. Time for Bullard to re-claim that spot in midfield now. Even though its a big shame Andrews will probably be out for the duration of his loan now, Jimmy and Bowyer both have goals in them. COYB

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chorltonskylineblue added 20:05 - Dec 26 We have exactly the same number of points (27) from the same number of games (22) as at the same stage last season (26 Dec 2010). Only change is a goal difference of -10 to -5 last season. Still, the optimist in me says 3 games unbeaten
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Garv added 20:13 - Dec 26 Well chorltonskylineblue I'd rather be scoring goals and losing games than not scoring any goals and losing. We need to get used to winning games 1-0 and drawing games 1-1 which is what we've done in the last two games so I'm happy.
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yorksblue added 20:43 - Dec 26 Good performance. Agree that Delaney had a fine game, along with Scotland Bowyer and Cresswell. However, why Martin remained on the pitch was a mystery. He was hopeless. Edwards had his kamikaze head on and as for JET and Duke ......least said, the better.
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yorksblue added 20:54 - Dec 26 PS Ref was a homer
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village_blue added 21:15 - Dec 26 Who's idea was it for Chopra to take the penalty? The way he has been playing lately he's lucky to be starting matches and you can see his head is not right. Cressy or Andrews would have been my choice.
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tomisamos added 21:19 - Dec 26 Real progress, disappointed we only conceded to a penalty and didn't score ours, but would have definitely taken a point at the start of the game! Finally we're managing to hang onto things and take points from games! I know we were at this stage last year, but this manager will take us infinitely further than Keane, let's give him a chance and january, we're not going down, so may as well take a risk and see if we can go on a late surge!

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chepstowblue added 21:37 - Dec 26 A terrific opening 10mins and then a very gutsy performance,not always gr8 but full of character. Thumbs up to PJ for picking Delaney,added a physical presence which gave us a much more solid look,no way Inga or Smith would hav coped with a game like that today(too slow&lightweight).Tireless work from Martin and a lively front two had me feeling we cud still nick it late on even when we were under the cosh.Most heartening tho for me was the Performance of Cresswell who i think has been awful for the last 4-5games,coped well against some quality players. All in all,a very decent outcome.

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Garv added 21:37 - Dec 26 Didn't JET nearly ping one top corner?
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yorksblue added 21:42 - Dec 26 Tireless Martin. My ar*e. Lazy, slow and ineffective Martin, definitely.
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ClassyCranson added 22:02 - Dec 26 A good point and the team showed a bit of character which is good to see. If the team showed a bit of more belief and the manager was a bit more tactically aware then the play offs would be a realistic possibility. If either of those components are not there then it is going to be a tough second half of the season. Another solid performance from ALB. Delaney is a good centre half provided he has got a solid central defensive partner alongside him, which he has with Sonko. We should not fear going to Reading and that is one of the toughest games of the season. There is an opportunity for Town to really kick on in the second half of the season.

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ITFC4daprem added 22:04 - Dec 26 Play carson ahead of murphy as he adds natural width and pace plus more goals JET to start ahead of chopra as not in great form and jet did well but overall a good result
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chepstowblue added 22:38 - Dec 26 Im not keen on stats but the Derby and Leicester games actually prove that Martin has covered more miles than anyone else!! So i guess its his blonde moustache that causes outrage to some?!
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TimmyH added 23:38 - Dec 26 The draw didn't realy surprise me, it's the sort of game Ipswich have done well in this season. Leicester like us to a degree are under performing and lacking in confidence but all the same the performance is heartening but lets not let it slip against a lower positioned team like Forest in the weeks ahead.
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Garv added 00:26 - Dec 27 Seems to me sometimes Martin is better defending than going forward, gets back very well helping out Edwards but sometimes isn't inventive enough in the final third.
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toforoge added 04:30 - Dec 27 martin turned into right back with practice? carson on a wing ,creswell maybe jet in the future , hyam as backup in midfield and the team will start to be younger and 2 or 3 younger ones in transfer window and the team may have a ffuture.
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yorksblue added 08:52 - Dec 27 Not bad suggestion, with exception of Martin, who, despite stats, (lol) needs another club. I suggest Chepstow reserves.
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RRanger added 09:31 - Dec 27 yorksblue - I have generally agreed with most of your posts but I'm afraid I can't agree with your opinion of Martin. I thought he had a reasonable game yesterday and remains one of the few players in our side who can take on and beat players. He has pace but I suspect has been asked to tone down his dribbling. Its true there isn't always an end product - he doesn't cross a ball as well as he should but it was his burst into the box and pace that won us that early stonewall penalty. You obviously don't like Martin and are not being objectively fair about him (unlike most of your usual sensible posts).

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piersmorganisatool added 10:05 - Dec 27 agreed, a good away point. we seem to have steadied the ship and the recent fall has been arrested. the next few weeks and games will give us a clear picture as to what we can expect from the second half of the season, if i had to put money on it? well a mid table finish at best, feel a bit sad with myself having mediocre expectations for our great club, but i'm much more realistic these days! i'm puzzled with Chopra right now, i know he has his problems, is this a another signing we will ultimately regret?

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bluearmy4life added 10:17 - Dec 27 Leicester is a tough place to go and in recent meetings there it's not a happy ground for us. But yesterday we got a good point to carry on building on our little run. I think we need 4 points or 6 points from the next two games ideally we have got to keep going building confidence and building a stronger squad in January then we will take it from there. COYB
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yorksblue added 10:18 - Dec 27 RRanger - Thanks. You're quite right. I have watched him for a while, including his spell at Sheff Utd, and I'm not convinced he is up to the required standard. Yes, he has the occasional flash of inspiration such as in the 1st minute of yesterday's game but, those flashes are too few and far between for my liking and, I disagree that he had a decent game. He had plenty of opportunities to take defenders on, but was either muscled off the ball or ran into no-mans land. A common occurence in my opinion.

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