DJ Campbell netted his fifth goal in nine games from the penalty spot in the second half as the Blues drew 1-1 with fellow strugglers Peterborough at Portman Road. Posh went ahead via Lee Tomlin during a dreadful first half with Town improving after the break.

Blues boss Mick McCarthy recalled Michael Chopra and Tommy Smith to his starting line-up with Luke Chambers and Daryl Murphy dropping to the bench.

New loan signing Tyrone Barnett is unavailable against his parent club, while keeper Scott Loach was back on the bench after his thigh injury. Peterborough, in white with black shorts, included summer Blues target George Boyd.

There was an early scare for Town in the fifth minute when Mark Little, the right-back in a five-man Peterborough backline, returned a Posh corner back into the Blues area from deep. Keeper Stephen Henderson came a long way for a ball when he should have stayed on his line and got lucky when it deflected into his right hand off Shaun Brisley.

Four minutes later, the Blues were behind after another yet defensive mix-up. Joe Newell found Lee Tomlin, who scored a hat-trick in last year’s 7-1 at London Road, inside the area and two Town defenders followed Saido Berahino leaving the Posh frontman an easy task of beating Henderson.

It was another woeful piece of defending from the Blues which wouldn’t have been out of place on a Sunday morning park pitch.

Town threatened for the first time on 10. Lee Martin crossed from the left and the ball was cleared to Guirane N’Daw, who looped a header which Posh keeper Bobby Olejnik punched away from under the bar with Chopra appearing to foul him.

Referee Mark Halsey failed to spot the shove but play was stopped anyway to allow N’Daw to receive treatment for a head injury, the midfielder returning to the field not long after wearing a bandage on his head.

Higginbotham headed a cross from the right into Olejnik’s arms but with an offside flag raised. The game, played in driving rain, had developed into a scrappy affair with Town unable to keep possession and Peterborough little better.

However, as the game reached the half hour mark the Blues started to get a bit more of a grip on the game, Edwards sending over a cross which flew just behind Campbell.

But it was the visitors who were still presenting the greater threat and on 43 Berahino, who earlier had been through on goal a couple of times only to be thwarted by a linesman’s flag, hit a low shot from the edge of the area which Henderson saved, albeit not entirely comfortably.

Town enjoyed their best spell of possession in the minutes before the break but were unable to convert that into chances with Edwards sending in a late cross which was too close to OIejnik.

It had been another poor half from the Blues, having conceded yet another dreadful goal. Peterborough had been only marginally better but neither side had been able to hold on to the ball for more than a couple of passes.

The sodden conditions may not have helped but both teams looked short on confidence and cohesion with Town only having threatened with N’Daw’s header.

The Blues had what looked a reasonable penalty shout in the 49th minute when Little grabbed hold of Martin’s shirt as an Edwards cross came in from the right. The Peterborough right-back clearly had a grip of the midfielder’s shirt but referee Halsey waved away the protests.

Town were starting the second period strongly and a Martin corner led to Higginbotham, twice, and Chopra having shots blocked. For Posh, George Thorne hit a low strike wide after a Boyd break down the left.

On 59 Tomlin turned from hero to villain. Martin tricked his way past the striker on the left inside the area and the former Rushden and Diamonds man tripped him. Campbell took the responsibility from the spot and hit his fifth goal in nine games for the Blues powerfully to Olejnik’s right and low into the corner of the net.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas replaced Chopra, who had shown willing but had had little service, in the 62nd minute.

Henderson did well to block from Tomlin after the Posh striker had somehow got in behind the Blues’ defence, before N’Daw made a superb 50-yard pass to Emmanuel-Thomas but the break eventually came to nothing with an Edwards cross headed away.

Town had made a significant improvement on their first-half showing though and looked the more likely winners.

In the 66th minute they came within an inch or so of going in front. Edwards played Orr in down the right and the on-loan full-back sent a low ball across the box which Campbell sliding in at the far post only just failed to reach.

Little curled over for Posh on 69 with the visitors now beginning to get on top and enjoying the greater share of the ball.

Daryl Murphy replaced scorer DJ Campbell for the final 14 minutes and moments later created a chance for Martin. Cresswell sent in a freekick from deep on the left, the Irishman headed down and Martin’s audacious overhead kick wasn’t quite strong enough to beat Olejnik, who saved to his left.

Henderson, who had been given stick from some sections of the home support in the first half, saved from Peterborough sub Dwight Gayle in the 78th minute.

Moments later, the Blues switched the underwhelming Reo-Coker for Luke Hyam, the crowd greeting the academy product’s introduction warmly.

Posh debutant Gayle cut in from the left on 84 and hit a shot only narrowly over, but as the game moved into its final minutes it was mainly Town threatening.

The Blues nearly won it in the 86th minute. A Town corner was cleared to Orr on the right and the loanee sent over a deep cross to Higginbotham. The centre-half’s looping header looked destined for the top corner until Olejnik superbly tipped it over.

N’Daw was booked for a foul on 89 when he appeared to win the ball, before Henderson saved to his left from Grant McCann.

Town continued to push, albeit unconvincingly, in the closing stages but failed to test Olejnik any further and after three minutes of injury time Mr Halsey blew his whistle.

It had been a better second half from Town, although by no means brilliant, and they certainly deserved their equaliser. The Blues probably had the better chances thereafter with Campbell unfortunate not to get a toe to Orr’s cross and Higginbotham only failing to register due to Olejnik’s exceptional save, although defeat would probably have been harsh on Posh.

Neither side will be particularly happy with a point against one of their fellow strugglers, especially with Bristol City picking up all three points at Middlesbrough and dropping the Blues to 23rd with the more tricky prospect of Nottingham Forest at home on Tuesday.

Town: Henderson, Orr, Smith, Higginbotham, Cresswell, Edwards (c), N'Daw, Reo-Coker (Hyam 79), Martin, Chopra (Emmanuel-Thomas 62), Campbell (Murphy 76). Subs: Loach, Hewitt, Chambers, Mohsni.

Peterborough: Olejnik, Little, Brisley, Knight-Percival, Bostwick (c), Newell, Thorne, McCann, Boyd, Berahino (Gayle 53), Tomlin. Subs: Day, Ferdinand, Zakuani, Alcock, Swanson, Clarke-Harris. Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire). Att: 16,427 (Peterborough: 519).

Photo: Action Images

martleshamitfc added 22:04 - Nov 24 Phil @ TWTD - surprised nothing on here yet re. Sean McCarthy? MM post match interview said he had gone?
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mad_mohsni added 22:36 - Nov 24 Everyone seems to be looking at January for a turn around but surely we can't expect this to be the answer to all of our problems we simply do not compete well enough across the park it's early days for mm and we need to have faith and hope he can sort out the people in the club that simply don't give two hoots! Relegation is simply not an option.
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itfcjon added 23:17 - Nov 24 When will he give scotland a chance at least he wants to play for ipswich
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R_LAMB3 added 01:39 - Nov 25 The reason the croud were very unhappy at halftime is not the fact that we were one goal behind it was the way the team was playing and every town fan that watched the first forty five minutes would sum it with one word RUBBISH. If you take a average family such as a bloke and his partner and a couple of kids who want to watch their favourite team play a game of football by the time they paid for them all to get in and buy a program buy some drinks and eats at halftime and maybe a few items from the gift shop and your looking at them spending close on a hundred pounds. Then they watch town being out played by a team bottom of the league and the same team put seven goals past us before and take in mind we have just had two heavy defeats and we were all thinking god here we go again. The problem is that money is getting tight for most people and with christmas coming up and if things dont soon starting to improve the gates are going to drop and people will just get fed up watching games like today of which we all thought was a game we were going to win and see a few goals and instead we were lucky to get a draw against the bottom team who have not won a game for several weeks. When you have half the team trying and the other half just going through the motions what hope have you got. If we play like that on tuesday against forest we will get another hammering.

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jimlad added 08:58 - Nov 25 The 16,000 or so fans who keep faith and every game keep hoping for things to improve all deserve better and a medal for their loyalty!
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algarvefan added 09:14 - Nov 25 Lets be honest here, it has taken several years of mismanagement, poor buying and even poorer selling to get us into this position. Morale is rock bottom along with confidence. I feel for MM as whoever came in we were hoping for miracles but they were never going to happen. I think all MM can do is keep the points trickling in until January and keep us in contention with the rest of the Championship dross, for that is where we are. I can't (even with a few good signings) see us finishing far off the relegation places, as this season now is all about staying up. I would however like to see the number of loan players reduced greatly as I'm sure that doesn't improve on pitch morale and effort, we need our own players and I think we have them, they're just not playing. Keep the faith people, it will improve.................eventually!!

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The_Prisoner added 09:23 - Nov 25 Town "fans" abusing our own goalkeeper at the Peterborough game, what a disgrace. Henderson is a loanee but he is wearing Ipswich Town colours at the moment. Nothing like getting behind the team. He's really going to improve with numpties on his back like they abused Bywater at Scunthorpe a few years ago. I personally would like Loach back in goal but I will support whoever is in goal wearing the Town shirt.

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RRanger added 10:11 - Nov 25 I do wonder how many people posting comments were actually at the game. Yes it was a very poor game and in the first half particularly we were awful but to say the players weren't trying is ridiculous - they simply are totally lacking in self confidence and very out of form. Chopra didn't have a bad game - he just didn't have any service. Reo- Coker , I agree was poor particularly in the first half but he was a lot better in the second. I would like to see our players who can dribble (Edwards, Martin, Cresswell) take on opponents more often. Our central midfield is lacking in creativity but in N'Daw we have a brave,large physical presence with a pretty good left foot (50 yard pass of the match in the second half). Finally it is disgraceful the way some so-called supporters are abusing Henderson. Yesterday he kept us in the game in the second half with 2 superb saves. Why do you think a succession of experienced managers ,who have more football knowledge in their little fingers than a dozen of these so-called supporters keep picking him? Do you think it may have something to do with the possibility that he is a better keeper at the moment than our other two? What would be top of my shopping list in the New Year would be a Boyd type creative midfielder to complement N'daw (or Hyam). Another Jim Magilton would be perfect.

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NoelTheDub added 12:42 - Nov 25 IN ALL FAIRNESS WHAT HAVE WE SEEN IN THE LAST 2YRS AT THIS CLUB OF OURS GIVES US THE RIGHT TO BEAT ANYONE LET ALONE POSH.THEY ARE AS BAD AS US BUT HAVE A CREATIVE PLAYER IN BOYD AND 1 OR 2 OTHERS WHO GIVE THERE ALL NOT LIKE US.WE HAVE NOTHING AT THE MOMENT BAB BACK 4 ,NO PACE OUT WIDE, NO CREATIVITY IN MIDDLE, AND STRIKERS PICKING UP CRUMBS ANY HALF DECENT TEAM IN THE LOWER LEAGUES HAVE SOME OF WHAT WE DONT HAVE.LOWER TEAM HAVE KNOCKED US OUT OF CUPS IN RECENT TIMES AND THAT IS WHY WE WOULD STRUGGLE IN LEAGUE 1 AT THE MO.ROLL ON JAN FOR MM TEAM TO TAKE SHAPE .ITS TIME FOR HYMN ,SCOTLAND, MOSHI, LOACH,MAYBE DURY,.

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R_LAMB3 added 12:53 - Nov 25 I have worked out why town players were unfit when Jewell was our manager. Monday morning training for a few hours and the rest of the day off. Tuesday morning training for a few hours and the rest of the day off. Wednesday no training all of the day off. Thursday morning training for a few hours and the rest of the day off. Friday morning light training ready before the next days game for a few hours. Saturday some of the players playing and some just doing their own thing. Sunday reading the sunday papers about how unfit they were and where it all went wrong after they were beat again.

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coyb99 added 14:30 - Nov 25 We were CRAP in the first half, but we improved in the second. One positive was Orr at right back and Edwards in his favoured position right mid. Edwards had a great game and led from the front. Keep Orr or get a decent experienced right back in January and make him permanent.
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h32 added 17:39 - Nov 25 Some unjustified criticism of Reo-Coker amongst Supporters - he is one of the pack that cares about results, and would like to stay at the Club. He also knows the game well, and it should be remembered that he is trying to perform in a rag bag team pf individuals - some of whom don't really want the ball at all, and would obviously rather avoid it. McCarthy will be well aware of these facts - thankfully.

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nffc1865 added 18:33 - Nov 25 I posted on here that Luke Chambers wasn,t going to be the signing you were expecting ( Am I right ? ) lets hope he plays tuesday . we are not in bad nick at the moment so you might have to wait to start your revival. all the best tractor boys. You Reds
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Pip50 added 19:02 - Nov 25 Yep you have three wins away this season we have two in our position, trust you will have the balls to come back on here 10pm tues!
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blue_jim added 19:33 - Nov 25 Have heard of people who lose the will to live, but I think our players have lost the will to win, and the ability. Whatever next? League one?
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dirtydingusmagee added 19:48 - Nov 25 a very poor performance, and certainly not near good enough to get us out of the mire .It may seem harsh but that was a poor league one performance by a team looking like becoming a League one side.Honestly think this season will end in tears .Im not knocking Mick, the bloke has walked into a nightmare.
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nffc1865 added 20:25 - Nov 25 pip 50 I will be stuck on some rural road and wont be home until 2ish so your right I wont be on here tuesday night but with 3 more points in the bag I might be on wednesday night YOU REDS
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