Town boss Paul Jewell thought his side probably deserved to beat Burnley by more than just 1-0 after what he felt was an "excellent" second half performance.

Jewell said: “In the first half, I don’t think it was a great game, it was scrappy and I don’t think either side really dominated.

“They put a lot of passes together in their own half and we couldn’t really pass the ball.

"In the second half I thought we were excellent, created a lot of chances, played with a lot of energy, a lot of quality and showed that we’ve improved over the last two or three months in terms of getting through bad periods in games when we have them.”

The Blues boss, who was delighted with the clean sheet, felt the scoreline ought to have been more comfortable: “It should have been more than 1-0 and when it’s 1-0 you’re always worried that they can score, but I thought we created a lot of good opportunities, a lot of danger from set plays and 1-0 definitely flattered them.”

The Liverpudlian had few arguments with Grant Leadbitter’s late sending off, which will see him suspended for one game: “I thought the first booking might have been a little bit harsh.

"For the second I had my back turned to it. It was the last minute and I think he’s tried to play the old soldier and knocked the ball back to the goalie, kicked it away and the referee’s spotted it.

“That’s the only slight disappointment on the night, we’ve lost Grant for Saturday and in the second half I thought him and Lee Bowyer were excellent.”

The Blues boss thought his side should have had a penalty when Bowyer was fouled by Marvin Bartley in the first half: “Yes, but I thought the ref was good. He got most things right, but I thought he got that one wrong and it was a penalty. He said he didn’t have a great view of it.”

Inevitably, with the Blues now nine points from sixth, questions were asked about Town’s chances of making the play-offs, but Jewell wasn’t getting carried away: “It’s been an unbelievable season both on and off the pitch, it’s been one thing after another really. I’ve said all along we’re taking every game as it comes.

“We don’t want the season to peter out. We’ve got 51 points, are probably safe from relegation and we’re not even thinking about anything other Watford now, recovering tomorrow for Watford on Saturday and that’s it. But people will talk about if we win the next nine games we might get promoted.”

The Town manager had praise for goalscorer Michael Chopra: “He’s got 14 goals for us now and I thought some of his movement in the second half was excellent. He’s not just a good finisher, he’s a good player.

“He’s got 14 goals in a season in which we’ve not struggled to score goals, we’ve struggled to keep them out.”

Jewell admits that at the moment he’s still slightly concerned when Town are defending a one-goal lead late on: “When you’re sat there with our record of conceding late goals and not keeping too many clean sheets, you’re never comfortable. We want to get to a situation where we’re almost comfortable.

“In the second half I can’t really remember them having too many opportunities, if any at all, and it was a good second half display.”

He says there’s been no further progress on the move to sign Portsmouth’s Joel Ward: “We had an informal chat on Sunday and I think they said that if they won on Tuesday they might not let anyone go. That’s as far as I know. I was at a game last night [Chesterfield-Huddersfield] and I haven’t spoken to anybody today about it.”

As for further developments before Thursday’s 5pm deadline, the Town boss wasn’t sure: “There may well be, but I honestly don’t know.”

Jewell says no other moves are ongoing at present: “Nothing that will probably get done tomorrow unless something comes up. As I said yesterday, we’re trying to do things for the long-term.

“We want to try and make sure we finish the season as strongly as possible and if we can get people in place early for next season, we’ll do it, but we’ve got some good players here.”

The Town manager confirmed that striker Jason Scotland was left out of the squad after injuring an adductor in training.

Burnley boss Eddie Howe admitted his team was very much second best after the break: "I was pleased with the first half, I thought we were well in the game and I felt quite confident going into the second half that we could cause them more problems.

"But the second half was really disappointing, we didn't get going. It looked like we lacked our usual spark and zip and just looked totally flat and Ipswich deservedly won the game. We were well below par in the second half. It's hugely frustrating because I felt we could go on and win the game at half-time."

Photo: Action Images

IvorFeeling added 09:36 - Mar 22 With regard the the Playoffs and the Prem league - I would take it as a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!! Who knows when we would make it next, we are supposing that next season will be better but take what you can when you can. I not saying we will but if we are there, then we are there on merit that's why we have a league and a table!! Blackpool, although they went down, only just made the playoffs the year they went up and whilst they went down they had a season to remember. Take out the top 6/7 clubs in the Prem and the difference between the remainder and the top 12 in the Championship is nominal.

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positiveblue added 09:37 - Mar 22 Totally agree with 50 years a blue!!! Town were superb in the 2nd half and would of beaten any championship team!! Burnley's front 2 who have scored 25 goals between them this season never looked like scoring!
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mschultz76 added 09:40 - Mar 22 50yearsablue - Totally agree. Great comment. Town need player like Leadbitter, Bowyer in squad. Both great last night. Murphy would be great to sign too. He makes things happen without being flash. Without these types of players Martin and partly JET would not get the freedom that makes them good.
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AlexanderFields added 09:40 - Mar 22 Well said, 50yearsablue. I have a long memory, too.
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naa added 09:51 - Mar 22 50yearsablue: excellent post. I agree, some of the comments on here are painful. Why are people unhappy when a player does well? Just because they criticised them earlier in the season they seem to think that it would be bad if they were 'proved wrong'. the same goes for comments about PJ. Some decided he was wrong - and who knows, maybe long term he will be - but clearly he's done something right, why can't people give credit where it is due? Jeez. I really good win last night. Yes Burnley were poor, but maybe, shock horror, we were the reason for that. Second half we were essentially camped in their half. they have a decent away record so I'd put that down as a decent performance for us

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MickMillsTash added 10:04 - Mar 22 I thought we were good, we did not allow Burnley to play their game and really never looked like conceding. Played some good football, we have some players who are good to watch and on another day think we could have had at least 3 goals. Things are really going in the right direction, we are good to watch, ok we all know we need a few new players but given the state I was in after the cup game at Hull and Leeds this is euphoric Good value for money- i will be back. Lets enjoy.

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eaii added 10:28 - Mar 22 Charlie Austin my a..e!
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Surco72 added 10:45 - Mar 22 50yearsblue ..excellent post . I have never been a Leadbitter fan ,and even posted a few games ago why are we playing him if he wont sign a contract ,but he has been great and i am glad to be proved wrong . Also dont understand the Bowyer knockers he has made the difference coming on in last three games and was box to box last night linking really well . The same if Jimmy gets recalled ,he could be a big addition to the run in get behind him . And as Naa said perhaps Burnley looked so poor because we didnt allow them to play ,the same way people criticised the Peterboro result who had beaten Blackpool the game before and then beat Reading ,us beating them was a good result . We must be doing ok as even JAS and H32 cannot find a negative comment to come out with

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Lightningboy added 11:17 - Mar 22 I'm not going to say no to the play-offs (!) but "IF" we were to go up,how many of this team could seriously hack it in the prem?..we've had a great run since the start of the year but let's face it,we are still only 14th and a bloody long way from being good enough to challenge at the top level. When Burley took us up we were a ready made team to challenge in the prem which only needed a couple of additions...if this lot went up we'd be looking to buy probably another 10 players and then I still think we'd struggle with all the rebuilding/gelling. Realistically PJ needs to add 4 or 5 youngish players during the summer (ala Cresswell,JET) and build a team that can challenge in the prem without having to have a major overhaul once/if we do get there. Swansea are the perfect example of how it should be done.

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Lightningboy added 11:21 - Mar 22 As regards to Leadbitter : he's had 2 or 3 decent games..when he's had 200 hundred or so ala Matt Holland,then i'll be impressed.
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walberswick added 11:25 - Mar 22 How is is possible for Ipswich to make up 10 points in 7 games to reach the play-offs? Maybe a 1in 50 chance. Not worth betting on.
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LFCITFC added 12:07 - Mar 22 another 3pts, should have been more. But 2 months ago we would have gave them a point in the 90th minute, so defensively we are more confident together with Burnley being very poor. Leadbitter was good again yesterday but he's an idiot, I hope PJ gave him a slap afterwards. Its a shame as he has had 3 good games. Drury back in with Hyam (hopefully) on the bench, although would prefer Hyam in the starting linep with Drury.

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MathieandMarshall added 12:40 - Mar 22 The flatest first half i have seen for many weeks. There was no energy out there and we couldnt pass the ball 5 yards! However we came out all guns blazing at half time and if it wasnt for some good goal keeping, last ditch defending and a few narrow misses we could have scored 4 or 5. Agree that Leadbitter had another good game although he was sounding off at the ref all game and was a red card waiting to happen. Silly boy considering he's just won his place back and started to win some fans over! As some others have said, no real drama. Drury back Saturday and we go again. I would still be happy with a top 10 finish BUT.... playoffs?.... wouldnt say no to a bit of Play off drama, extra revenue for the club...

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megamoth added 14:28 - Mar 22 How can people say that we wouldnt be be better off going up? Are you completely mad? It's about as nuts as the posters saying a couple of months ago that we would be best off getting relegated and then rebuilding. If we get promoted, the worst way round is that the club gets some flack from the budgies for getting relegated straight away and that we then get the parachute payments that so many others in our league are benefitting from.

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Keaneish added 14:50 - Mar 22 Thanks for the kind words thechangingman and i have to agree. I think the prem at the moment would be way beyond us. In a dream world we'd make the play-offs and finish as high as possible to gain as much cash as we could for next season. I too, like many think that we need to sign another 4 or 5 players in the summer and spend another season really gelling in the Championship before we dream of a prem return. Our fixture list is looking very favourable for a real play-off push though and with competition good for (most) places, it's going to be a very positive end to the season!

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Surco72 added 16:22 - Mar 22 walberswick ... 9 points off playoffs with a game in hand over 2 teams ,with 9 games to go .You must be looking at a different league ? 4 teams above us to play in which if we won every game three of those teams would be below us . Saturday alone 6 teams above us are playing each other so both cannot win and Reading home to another . A playoff place at the moment is very much in our own hands if we can continue to win ,big ask but certainly achieveable

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buryblue77 added 16:55 - Mar 22 @LFCITFC you said another 3 points, should have been more. I like your way of thinking that by sneaking a few more points on the board for a win we can make the play offs lol but I'm not sure how you get more than 3 points (although I've always thought there should be bonus points on offer for scoring say 3 goals or more, could make for some exciting attacking football) For those who are hoping for a late push into the play offs, whilst it will be great end to a frustrating season, I feel if we won (which given the momentum required for that play off push, winning could be a reality if we made it) I feel it's a season too early and we could well end up 'doing a Derby' Consolidation is what it's all about, gather some quality and determination for next season in the Championship and we could well 'do a Swansea'

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jas0999 added 17:16 - Mar 22 I wouldn't agree with 'excellent second half' - it was better than the first, but still pretty disjointed and despite a high tempo finish, I thought we were on the whole average at best. Luckily, Burnley were surprisingly poor. I don't agree with Bluelady - I don't think we didn't allow them to play - they simply didn't see bothered! We deserved the win, but the overall performance and entertainment factor was poor. A silly red for Leadbitter, which is a shame, because I thought up until then he played well. I didn't and still don't see the point of the Bowyer selection. With his deal set to expire (I really hope it is not renewed - so why on earth PJ selects him to give him that opportunity to beyond me) - surely it would have been better to play Hyam or Stevenson? Bowyer offers little and is NOT the future of ITFC. What still worries me is the number of players possibly leaving in the Summer. Looking at last night's team, it is a real possibility that the following will not be here next season: McCarthy, Smith, Delaney, Murphy, Leadbitter and Bowyer. Add to that, Scotland may also leave - leaving us with just Chopra as the only striker - last nights bench was very light of a striking option! This Summer will be interesting. There will be much for PJ to do. 7 wins in last 10 is very good. Credit to all concerned. But sadly, 2 wins in 16 before that was abysmal. This is why we are mid-table and frankly don't deserve / are not prepared for possible promotion. 9 games to go - will need at least 8 wins for the play-offs; not going to happen - but will hopefully see some encouraging performances, with the likes of Hyam given a chance above Bowyer.

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bluearmy4life added 18:14 - Mar 22 Another good result last night! First half was dire very flat and below average. Second was much better we would of liked to score more but Jet was unlucky and there keeper did save well from Chops. Really wished I could go to Watford but at least Radio Suffolk will be on hand. If we win the next three on the bounce we will be within a chance of the play-offs. You never know! COYB

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Ipswichbusiness added 18:49 - Mar 22 Very good; three points, a clean sheet and a decent second half performance. It shows we are making progress. I have said here before that so far as the play offs are concerned the maths are against us. Most years you need 70-75 points to be there and we have too few games (I would like to be proved wrong!). We are a good mid-table side. With work over the summer we can become genuine promotion contenders. We need to push out a few of the older and underperforming players (e.g. Ellington, Bowyer and Bullard) to free up resources for the 'keeper and centre-back that are so urgently required.

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Dissboyitfc added 18:56 - Mar 22 Buryblue77...probably one of the most sensible posters on here, i totally agree, i can remember when we last held the record for the least number of points in the premiership, was not great at all, i am just starting to enjoy the winning feeling again, lets consolidate and really hit the ground running next season, which if this progress continues could be a good fun season with lots to look forward to. Jas0999...agreed first half was poor, but when you say the second half was average, what are you comparing it to, Man utd? Surely you have to compare it to the rubbish we were watching earlier in the season. Last nights score could have been so different, Bowyers first half header, a turned down penalty some great long range efforts by jet and leadbitter, some superb saves from the keeper and you felt there was no entertainment , cast your mind back not very far needed to remember games when we had no efforts on goal. And i do agree with bluelady about letting them play, we can only beat what is put in front of us and traditionally we have mastered the art in the past of making poor teams look good, now we are making teams look poor.I agree with you about bowyer, thought he was very poor last night, gave the ball away on numerous occasions, which is a shame i wanted to see him have a good performance, imo i think he was outshone by leadbitter...coyb

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TimmyH added 19:20 - Mar 22 This really is not the league where you can look at fixtures and think we might only drop points at such and such a game, it all depends on our continued confidence and also as I always mention the strength of the team mentality to keep going up the league...our inner resolve if you like to keep winning games and not lose our bottle. Look at teams near the top in this division and the one's below too...now we're getting to the cruch end of the season quite a few teams are starting to lose their nerve!

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blue added 19:29 - Mar 22 With all the games we got left keep this up and we can hit the play-offs, albeit a very long shot but looking at teams we got to play and who they got to play playing one another is our surge to late ? Cmon sort the hornets then see results go our way sceptic but im sure we gonna have a good go.
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blue added 19:37 - Mar 22 24 Mar 3:00pm Watford A 27 Mar 7:45pm Middlesbrough H 31 Mar 3:00pm Barnsley H 7 Apr 3:00pm Derby County A 9 Apr 3:00pm Leicester City H 14 Apr 3:00pm Crystal Palace A 17 Apr 7:45pm Birmingham City H 21 Apr 3:00pm Millwall H 28 Apr 12:30pm Doncaster Rovers A
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blue added 19:39 - Mar 22 2011/12 Championship League Table Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A Gd Pts 1 Southampton 38 14 3 2 40 13 8 6 5 30 22 35 75 2 Reading 38 11 4 4 28 15 10 3 6 25 18 20 70 3 West Ham United 37 9 7 3 28 18 10 4 4 29 18 21 68 4 Brighton and Hove Albion 38 11 5 3 32 16 6 5 8 15 23 8 61 5 Blackpool 38 10 6 3 33 20 6 6 7 32 33 12 60 6 Middlesbrough 37 7 8 4 19 17 9 4 5 25 24 3 60 7 Birmingham City 37 11 7 1 29 10 5 4 9 30 30 19 59 8 Cardiff City 38 10 4 5 33 27 5 10 4 23 22 7 59 9 Hull City 37 9 4 6 21 17 7 6 5 16 13 7 58 10 Leeds United 38 8 3 8 29 34 7 6 6 29 23 1 54 11 Crystal Palace 37 7 9 2 19 10 6 5 8 18 22 5 53 12 Leicester City 37 9 4 5 29 19 5 6 8 25 28 7 52 13 Derby County 38 10 2 7 24 19 5 5 9 17 31 -9 52 14 Ipswich Town 37 10 1 7 35 25 5 5 9 25 40 -5 51 15 Watford 38 8 5 6 27 28 5 7 7 17 26 -10 51 16 Burnley 37 6 6 6 27 20 8 1 10 21 25 3 49 17 Peterborough United 37 9 2 7 37 30 3 6 10 22 31 -2 44 18 Barnsley 38 8 3 8 30 32 4 4 11 16 30 -16 43 19 Millwall 38 5 6 8 21 26 5 4 10 23 27 -9 40 20 Nottingham Forest 37 5 3 11 18 30 6 2 10 22 28 -18 38 21 Bristol City 38 5 4 10 19 29 4 4 11 13 32 -29 35 22 Coventry City 38 7 6 6 24 21 0 5 14 9 31 -19 32 23 Doncaster Rovers 37 4 8 7 15 23 3 2 13 18 38 -28 31 24 Portsmouth 37 8 5 5 24 15 2 5 12 14 26 -3 30

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