Manager Mick McCarthy thought his side were on their way to a good point before debutant Tom Hitchcock’s last-minute winner for QPR at Loftus Road.

Asked whether he felt the goal had been on the way after the home side spurned a number of decent chances, most notably Charlie Austin crashing a shot against the bar when he seemed destined to score, McCarthy said: “Did I hell feel it was coming. We just didn’t do enough in that 90th minute.”

QPR assistant manager Kevin Bond spoke to the press before McCarthy and said that his club’s management thought it was going to be one of those days where a team does everything but score, but McCarthy thought it was a different story before the break.

“I’m sure he didn’t feel it was going to be one of those days when Robert Green pulled off that save from Murph in the first half and we were having chance after chance and it was an even game. Strange that, isn’t it?

“I thought it was going to be a really good point until we didn’t defend it in the last minute,” he said.

As at Reading the Blues played well but without having anything to show for it, but McCarthy wasn’t in the mood for taking positives from the display: “That’s for Monday morning, ‘Pleased with the performance’. We’ve been beaten, we’ve got diddly squat to show for it. Play well and getting beat isn’t my idea of fun.

“Second half, they were better than us, I thought we were even to them certainly in the first half. They’ve got some decent players, haven’t they?”

He added: “If you’re looking for yardsticks in terms of performances, both have been pretty good. But if we want to contest the top six, pretty good’s got to be good.

“We’ve got to have a point at Reading, we’ve got to have a point here. Then they can come up and talk about whatever they want.

“But I don’t think they should have beaten us, although I know we got away with one that hit the crossbar. But it was a good performance.”

He says the players were as frustrated as he was about the result: “Bitterly disappointed, as you’d expect them to be.

“I said to them to be a team that progresses and does better than being disappointed, it’s got to be 0-0, it’s got to be a point and we haven’t got one, so there’s no point in patting ourselves on the back saying ‘Well played’ because we’ve got diddly to show for it.”

Despite some of his players protesting after the goal, McCarthy had no complaints: “It hasn’t gone out. If they’re appealing for offside with Chambo off the pitch. If the ball goes in the net you want people to complain about it because you don’t want to say ‘That’s great, a goal’.

“They were looking for it to get disallowed for some reason, I guess, maybe they thought it was offside. Chambo had slipped off the pitch but in general play he wasn’t offside and it was a goal.”

The Town boss confirmed that midfielder Cole Skuse was replaced at half-time due to injury: “He’s jarred his Achilles’ and I hope he’ll be OK, I thought he was excellent. I thought Ryan Tunnicliffe did well. But we don’t want to be losing players, we’ve only got 20.”

He says Paul Taylor’s replacement 24 minutes after coming on as a sub was tactical: “No injury at all, I put my faith and trust in him to go on thinking he was ready but I don’t think he is. He needs to get games. We’re trying to get him fit with 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there.

“He needs some games and I just thought he could have been the difference because he’d got that ability, but we were having to defend and Frank’s bigger than him and can defend corners and freekicks better than him.

“I thought he was the right one to take off. Plus Frank’s got good pace and power, he can run in the channels for us.”

Asked whether Taylor took the decision well, McCarthy added: “I don’t care. I haven’t explained it to him because it’s not the right time. Straight after the game he’s feeling sore about it, it’s not the time or place to do that. Calm, Monday.

“I make my decisions and it was the right decision. It’s not cost us at all, it’s not been that that’s done it. It’s one of those. You’ve just got to accept and try and get him some football.”

The Town boss says keeper Dean Gerken should be available again next week: “He’s got a dead leg and I’m hopeful he’ll be OK for next week.”

With Harry Redknapp still on crutches after knee surgery, his assistant Kevin Bond took on press duties and said they were delighted with their debutant match-winner Tom Hitchcock: “He’s a goalscorer. He can find the back of the net in training, that’s the thing that he can do.

“Charlie Austin had a number of good chances, they seemed to fall to him, so it was getting late in the game, and we thought we’d just try him, have a little look and there he was, he just popped up at the far post.”

He added: “We thought it was going to be one of those days. The one that Charlie brought down and smashed against the crossbar.

“When he missed that, we thought maybe it wasn’t going to be our day. But we kept going, the lads worked really hard and should have won the game. It looked like we weren’t going to do it, but thankfully in the end, we did.”

Photo: Action Images

Walk_the_Wark added 00:06 - Aug 18 Me too!
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NSL added 00:08 - Aug 18 Blimey, how the comments on this topic have gone down the path of debating whether MM is or isn't the man to keep us in the Premier League I do not know - We are well out of the race of even getting there on the basis of what we have seen so far. By that I am not just talking about ITFC's shortcomings but also the seemingly amazing strength of other sides - Watford, QPR, Blackpool, Wigan, Forest, Reading - The top two could be out of any of them this season. All have very strong squads with Premiership ability and excellent managers. IF we finish in the top half we would have done alright this season but to even do that, Christ we need to start scoring some goals.

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ian_marshall added 00:10 - Aug 18 I thought you were going to have a tug over the boys of 81 DVD?
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Walk_the_Wark added 00:14 - Aug 18 MMMmmm. Guys who could pass a ball, and then finish---- how absurd!!! lol
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Walk_the_Wark added 00:17 - Aug 18 Mr Walk scored 36 goals from a 'holding midefielder' role in one season... the best midfielder of the last 25 years!!!
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Walk_the_Wark added 00:19 - Aug 18 Thats wark! got my username mixed up lol!!
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NSL added 00:23 - Aug 18 Wark did used to take penalties mind - of which I am sure we used to get a lot more of - when was our last penalty? Oh yeah, you actually have to players dribbling with the ball and running into the box to get those. . . . . . . . .
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Hegansheroes added 07:25 - Aug 18 Any one noticed JET-3 goals in 3 games plus assists!! May be McCarthy got rid of him because he is more eloquent than him self & actually is prepared to attack. I can see this being a long tedious season but that is what you get with MM & I'm not sure after 50+ years of going PR and all over the country I am prepared to pay £30 to be bored, frustrated & generally pixxed off by an inept team run by an even more inept manager who talks utter crxp most of the time. ME has managed to appoint 3 pretty useless managers with PJ just about taking the honour for the worst manager in the history of ITFC, McCarthy did turn things around & kept us up but long term it is a bad appointment. There is an Uruguan & and an Argentinian out of football at the moment and if ME is serious about getting ITFC into the Premiership he needs to get his money out & get some real coaches in.

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oddball added 07:43 - Aug 18 Wow, we get rid of bluefeast then walk the walk turns up!
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brittaniaman added 08:04 - Aug 18 MM swaps Jet for Anderson then he does not even play him ???? so if he does not play him why the swap ???????? Might as well have kept Jet hey !!!!!!
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stevelincsexile added 08:16 - Aug 18 Lets all calm down, we are a much better team than last year, we are more solid all round and are not going to lose many games if we are not conceding goals. My worry is that is that we won't win many if we cannot score and finish mid table. I'm sure MM can see this but will see how we progress over the next couple of games before the transfer deadline and I hope with views to a creative midfielder and if he does not have the faith in Marriott yet and possible not Taylor a proven striker.

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shamboy added 08:37 - Aug 18 Back to Taylor. Everyone, it seems, has failed to understand Mick's coded comments. When he talks about 'faith and trust' he is saying that Taylor told him that he was fit to play, and that when he got on the pitch he clearly wasn't. We know Taylor is a bit of a hideous Rooney-esque character, and this is just another reminder to him that you don't lie to Mick.
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blueherts added 09:04 - Aug 18 Wow - some people on here need to reign it in abit - three league games and people are spouting off as if we were being thrashed - we have played two of the top teams away and got beat by the odd late goal - 12 years in the Championship means we have little or no money - The squad is better and please stop bleating on about JET - He is gone , he didnt light up Portman Road - and was an expensive luxury that rarely delivered - Good luck to him but Move on Lets review after we have played some of the other'non overseas owned/recent ex prem teams !! Enjoy yer Sunday - I will with me matchball - Thanks Calamity Green

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cossy81 added 09:47 - Aug 18 It's all very well people saying who we have played away but thats the point really..Have we no chance when playing good sides away...we won't get anywhere if we don't pick up points at these places..But hayho lets have everybody say it's work in progress Blah Blah Blah.... i prefered it before ME came here
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bennyitfc added 10:18 - Aug 18 Mick M, Mick M Mick M, Mick M Mick, Mick M Mick McCarthy, Terry, Tery Connor, Terry Connor, Terry Tery Connor x100
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Michael11 added 10:28 - Aug 18 Some of you clowns need to get a grip!! We're only in this division because of Mick so let him get on with it and support him. We've lost to two relegated teams with Premier League players and you're acting like it's the end of the world. Some absolute muppets for our fans.
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blue_moon09 added 11:48 - Aug 18 The over reaction to two away defeats from part time muppet supporters is over the top, start going to games and support the team. Remember its only a game. town are not that good and they can't win every game.
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Bluebert added 12:11 - Aug 18 I think Leeds are in for a right royal tonking on Saturday, I like nothing better than seeing us beat those nasty northern buggers, it will all fall into place soon and the championship will be ours for the taking. Moo ha ha
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jas0999 added 13:17 - Aug 18 Blues1 - no you are wrong I am afraid. Not negative, just being realistic. I have full faith in mick and his team and think he has done an excellent job. But, I am disappointed that he wasn't backed by Evans in the summer. The majority of Ipswich fans can see that we need a creative midfielder and a goal scorer. For me we will need to spend money to get them. Not many millions, but a few quid. I don't sign up to the financial fair play argument - we should have been able to spend say a million in the summer. Other clubs have and not just the relegated ones. Three away defeats to start the season is poor in my opinion. Sorry if you don't like that. My expectations were for at least one away point by now and certainly through to the second round of the cup. We simply can't afford to fall behind early on. As always, this site is about opinions. If you don't like mine - don't read it.

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hollywoodginge added 14:01 - Aug 18 So cossy81 you preferred it before Marcus arrived did you? When we were struggling to keep up with the way the game was going financially? I honestly dread to think where we would be know without what Marcus has done for us in that sense, never underestimate stability!!
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ChrisFelix added 14:08 - Aug 18 Mick Mills said it all after the game,the goals should come from the two strikers plus the two wide midfielders ( Edwards & Tabb). I feel that the weakest link is Edwards , so we need Anderson to replace him & Tunnicliffe for Tabb. Thats how we finished the game against Millwall.
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Keaneish added 14:13 - Aug 18 'The majority of Ipswich fans can see we need a creative midfielder and a goal scorer'...-Jas0999... And how would they see that when only 4200 have travelled to the two away league matches, many of them returning supporters. I'd say, the minority of Ipswich fans think we need a creative midfielder and a goal scorer because those ate the two simplest knee jerk reactions when you don't score. Didn't Murphy and McGoldrick get 9 between them pre-season? Haven't we scored 4 in 3 league games? Haven't we got a plus goal difference? Knee jerk reactions from fickle fans who don't travel in my opinion. Fans who also don't seem to understand that every game is different tactically and we're not going to play the same week in week out. Any of you who thought we'd take 7 or 9 points to date and score a glut of goals are demented!! Walking out of Loftus Road yesterday, I didn't hear too many fans grumbling, so why so many on here!?

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blue_moon09 added 14:51 - Aug 18 Who cares Cossy81 Ipswich are no good, they've got a decent manager, average players, rubbish part time stay away fickle living in the past supporters. I'm cancelling my season ticket and joining Ged Scott and Rob Streoo at Carrow Road, I've had enough..
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jas0999 added 14:55 - Aug 18 Keaneish - again, this IS MY OPINION. That's what THIS board is all about. Call ins on Suffolk, reports from people who went yesterday, what I saw last week and last season - means in my opinion we need a creative midfield player. Re the striker - this is not a knee jerk reaction. we have not really improved since last year - where we failed to score goals. Okay, Taylor was injured - but still IN MY OPINION has not shown why people rate him so highly. We have the same strike force who finished last season and we didn't score many then. On this board - throughout pre-season - many fans commented that we needed another striker - me included. I stick by my earlier post. Hyam/Skuse are too similar and I don't think Murphy/McGoldrick will score enough goals. It's annoying that people see the need to 'slag' off other posters, just because they have a different opinion. Has it dawned on you that people don't agree with you?!!!

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billlm added 15:03 - Aug 18 were a hard working tight unit, decent out n out striker distributor in midfield and a winger{verdict not reached on anderson as not enough games to judge] and we would be a force,we will have our moment this season but at the moment we really are an average joe unit but wont be looking over our shoulders
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