Manager Mick McCarthy was delighted to see his decision to keep faith with Dean Gerken pay off with the Blues keeper making a vital save just before half-time during Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday. The former Colchester man, who conceded four at Derby last Tuesday, blocked from Matty Fryatt with the on-loan Hull City man through on goal and appearing certain to put the Owls in front.

“Fabulous, wasn’t it?” said McCarthy, who named the same starting XI for the fourth game running.

“I love that about goalkeepers, they’re doing it with Joe Hart at the minute. Keepers make a rick and everybody wants to get them out and Hart’s the best keeper of them all.

“And Deano has come in and been terrific for us and I can’t fault him for any of the goals on Tuesday night.

“But there were people asking if I was going to change the keeper but there wasn’t a chance because he’s been great and he made a fabulous save. And that’s what you get for putting faith in people.

“It was the same team, we drew four-all and I bet everyone was wondering whether we’d make changes, but no. They’ve been great, have a bit of faith in them and they’ll repay you.”

The Town boss wouldn’t go into too detailed a review of his team’s overall performance so far this season as they go into another international break, other than to say that he is pleased with them.

“I don’t publicly [assess them],” he said. “I’m not one for washing my clothes [in public], but I do with the lads. I’m delighted with the players I’ve got and the effort they’ve put in, and we’re doing all right, we’re doing OK.”

McCarthy says he’s happy enough with Town gaining draws on their travels, with the Blues having won all but one of their home matches so far this season, but believes a first away win of the campaign will come sooner rather than later.

“It’s a nice recipe. Everybody keeps saying ‘When are you going to get away from home?’. Well, if we keep playing like that we’ll get a win away from home, keep playing like we did at Derby and Wigan and QPR.

“I’m not going to change it, we’ve been different class, maybe we haven’t got the points we’ve deserved but I’m not going to stop doing it the way we’re doing it.”

The Town manager had praise for Championship Player of the Month David McGoldrick’s role in Paul Anderson’s goal, but feels his Wednesday opposite number will have been asking questions regarding the whereabouts of his defence.

“I think Dave Jones might be looking at the fact that they haven’t got a defender in their half,” he said. “But it was good work.

“Dids was great, he’s had a terrific season. I’m glad we’ve got a break now because they’ve had to work really hard.

“I’ve got the 18 players, I’ve got Alan Lee and Jordan Adekunle, but the reality is that there’s a squad of 18 and they’ve been terrific again, so they need a break.”

While Elliott Hewitt will be away with the Wales U21s and Tommy Smith with New Zealand for a training camp in the US and a friendly in Trinidad and Tobago, McCarthy plans to give the rest of the squad some time off.

“They’ll get three or four days off like we did the last time, they’ll certainly get next weekend off, no question," he said.

“They’ve earned it, they’ll need to put their feet up and rest because they’ll be going again when they come back.”

Photo: Action Images

alfromcol added 19:00 - Oct 7 blueboy1981 How many years ago did RHODES leave? Talk about living in the past. When he left how many appearances for Town had he made and how many goals had he scored? Answer 10 appearances and 1 goal. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
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blueboy1981 added 19:53 - Oct 7 alfromcol ....... truth normally ruffles a few feathers - but just ironic that both positions are symbolic with our current issues. You quote what he did here (without getting much of a chance) - but you can't deny the potential OUR Club lost out on, as proven since - and continues. The other point was that Rhodes senior was / is an excellent Keeper Coach. Football is a game of OPINIONS - that is why they are so diverse on this site. And some will never understand the game, if they watch and follow it all their life. All hypothetical I know - but still relevant to some.

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TimmyH added 20:19 - Oct 7 MM seems to be rambling on a bit lately and some of it I'm not agreeing with, as another poster mentioned 'different class' really? certainly not away from home we haven't and to say if we keep playing like we did against QPR, Wigan, Derby we'll get an away win isn't really asking too much Mick is it! As for that tweet on Saturday night about where we are in the league as opposed to a similar time last season and the sheff wed 3-0 home defeat and Mick tweeting that any Ipswich supporter not being happy about the progress must be a bit of a nob - I thought was just a tad up his own backside.

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RegencyBlue added 20:24 - Oct 7 Gerken clearly has the No1 spot now from MM's comments and its up to Loach to raise his game if he wants it back. I dont think either of them are the finished article yet but I have to say that Gerken does seem to offer more than Loach who sticks to his line far too much for my liking!
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Stato added 20:32 - Oct 7 Len Brennan has summed it up perfectly. These 2 are dogs with different fleas. Maybe it was budget constraint that stopped Mick from going in for a loan on Henderson but hopefully January might see us move towards a longer term solution to our goalkeeper shortcomings.
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itfc12345 added 21:48 - Oct 7 Considering we battled relegation last few years its looking ot be a good season where we will finish in top 10 play offs unlikely but are possible. This years about building a spine of a team that at the end of the season we csn add 3 players too and then challenge for promotion. Please show some god damn patience we are koving forward for the first time in 5 years and haventt spent a penny!!!

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alfromcol added 22:35 - Oct 7 blueboy1981 I agree with your comment about lost potential, but it is not always obvious at the time, even to the trained eye. As an example in reverse, take the case of Connor Wickham. Sunderland and lots of people thought he had great potential, but he hasn't displayed it as yet. Maybe he never will.
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bohslegend added 11:58 - Oct 8 TimmyH I posted that tweet - dont be so naive to think that was actually MM - all Tweeters on here will know that there are plenty of people under assumed names on twitter. But whoever made that comment and compared those statistics was spot on. How easily we forget the desperate state we were in last season following years of mis-management. And how the vast majority of us backed MM's style of putting the right players in the right positions. Carlos at RB anybody? Not in MM's time. And before anyone says Chambo at RB instead of CB - you have obvioulsy forgotten that Stearman was another CB who also did well at RB for us. Work in Progress, People. Stop knocking something that is definitely going the right way but not there yet.

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TimmyH added 20:05 - Oct 8 bohslegend - ok fair enough mate but it wouldn't surprise me that tweet coming from even a manager in the football industry. Re: MM yes progress has been made since he's been here but can't help feeling that he hasn't quite got some positions sorted out and therefore feel we haven't made that much progress since say about February/March time. One away win this year doesn't help factors either.

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blueboy1981 added 18:03 - Oct 9 ....... we have lacked good Goalkeeper Coaches in this Country for years - Peter Shilton never been utilised as a Coach (and would have welcomed it) proves the point. No wonder we are no longer the force of old at International level.
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