Boss Mick McCarthy says he always expected the games against strugglers Barnsley and Blackpool to be just as tough as the previous games against the likes of play-off challengers Reading and Leeds. The Blues followed up the 2-2 draw away against the second-bottom Tykes by drawing 0-0 at home to Blackpool — who are now without a win in 15 — on Saturday.

“It was a home game against Blackpool and we’d had what apparently seemed the harder games against Reading, Leeds away and Bolton and took most of the points,” he said.

“I knew Barnsley and Blackpool were going to be just as difficult. They’re fighting for their lives. Blackpool have had a bad run, they need to turn it around and they’re no mugs. They had a great run at the start of the season.

“I’m disappointed but I’m always delighted with the effort the lads give. I think the circumstances and the conditions knocked the quality of the game for both teams. It’s another point, let’s keep picking them up and who knows.”

Blackpool interim player-manager Barry Ferguson says that despite the winless run stretching to 15 games, they last beat Sheffield Wednesday at home in November, he's seen an improvement in the side he took charge of five matches ago with their last two fixtures ending in draws.

“What we've started to see in the last two games especially is the quality, they’re starting to believe in themselves," he said. "That’s something that’s been lacking with the run they’ve been on.

“Obviously, it’s my job to try and bring that out in them and certainly [after] the last two games they’ve got to be [more] confident because Nottingham Forest are a right good team on a good run and the same with Ipswich, they’ve been on a fantastic run as well. They’re always a good team, Ipswich, well-organised under Mick McCarthy.

"So, they’re disappointed, and I like that, they’ve come in at the end and they’re having a wee go at each other because they’re not happy at not getting three points. That’s what I like — they’re not happy to settle for a point.”

Sixth-placed Reading are now five points ahead of the Blues in eighth following their 3-1 win at QPR on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Town's U21s are in action against Charlton at Portman Road this evening (KO 7pm). Speaking on Saturday, McCarthy said striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake would be amongst those involved.

The Blues' U18s lost 2-1 to Crystal Palace at Kesgrave High School on Saturday morning. Skipper Joe Robinson netted the Town goal from the spot.

Photo: Action Images

shoopdelang added 07:18 - Feb 17 Very suprised reading beat QPR. I have a feeling we won't get into the playoffs however put 2-3 wins together and we are right back in the mix so let's keep going and see what happens
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bluefeast added 07:22 - Feb 17 Play to win and more wins will come. We simply do not cause opposition teams enough problems. If you look at the opta and prozone stats you will see that other than yeoval we have the lowest possession stats for the final 3rd of the pitch. We interestingly have the 2nd highest stats for distances covered on the pitch by our players. Very simply these two sets of stats show / prove how poor in possession we are.

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shoopdelang added 07:26 - Feb 17 Just looked at the table and noticed if the teams below us won their games in hand we can slip down to 11th
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northstand78 added 07:50 - Feb 17 I'm sorry, you can give the preverbial 110% but you need more than effort..The players whole weeks work revolves about producing a productive and entertaining performance for 90 mins, for which they get handsomely paid from us. I say entertaining because that's what our hard earned cash deserves. That crap that was served up on Saturday doesn't deserve any more of my hard earned wages. Entertaining not, productive not. Those teams that are at the bottom are there for a reason, the reason is they get beaten by better teams. I can't blame MM as I think that's unfair, with the cash he's been given you'd struggle to run a pub team. Mr Evans, MM is a good manager, one of the best in your teniour and he's not had a pot to piss in. Back him with a reasonable budget and MM will succeed, don't and you'll be getting 12,000 gates and mid table mediocrity for an eternity. End of rant; I'll get me coat!!!

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50yearsablue added 07:59 - Feb 17 Not likely to happen shoopdelang as rarely do they all win or they might play each other. However, currently, I am not confident of getting much higher as Reading seem to have more options than us. Perhaps I am frustrated as they are pleasing on the eye and we are turgid but we might just grind out enough points to stay in touch. Mick is usually straight and honest but he has bigged up two poor teams to justify sub-standard performances, especially on Saturday. The conditions were difficult but didn't account for simple 5 yard passes going astray. I try not to be critical, as so many on here love to get on their backs for nothing, but Saturday was a non-event, lacking any excitement and only one team did enough to win it - and it wasn't us

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mparkyn added 08:02 - Feb 17 It may be obvious but I think these were two games that could and should have been won. After a quick check here are the top 8 teams and remaining games against others in the top 8. 1) Leicester - 6 2) Burnley - 5 3) QPR - 3 4) Derby - 4 5) Forest - 6 6) Reading - 4 7) Brighton - 5 8) Town - 5 Four of the Town matches come before end of March including Brighton away. It will be very clear what is possible by then. It can be done and probably have to hope that someone falls away like Leicester last year.

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Mark added 08:15 - Feb 17 I know Loach made some good saves, but from the stands Blackpool looked a poor side and one we should have beaten at home if we want to have any realistic hope of the play-offs. We just did not control the midfield. Are Blackpool "fighting for their lives"? They are 16th, 11 points ahead of the relegation zone.
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Keaneish added 08:40 - Feb 17 The one thing I liked about Jewell's reign is that when he was wrong, we were bad or we didn't do enough, he'd say as much. Gone are the days now when the moral of this squad was so low they needed an arm around the shoulder and everything needed to be celebrated or put into perspective. To get in the play-offs we need a push and that means an injection of something different into the side. Saturday was a selection and tactical mistake from the start. It's time for a tweak to the squad and the ethos in we''re to hit the top 6. Our Saturdays on the run in should be getting better not worse...

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Surco72 added 08:49 - Feb 17 We are not a playoff standard side selection wise , tactically wise . Playing three holding midfielders from the start against a team that hasn't scored away or won for so long is appalling , when we have an injury we bring on another work hard midfielder ? What have Taylor , Anderson and Edwards done so wrong that central midfielders with limited creative ability get selected above them or Nouble ? We have a centre back at right back that is the issue and he needs cover in front of him . How do we expect to create anything on the right with a centre back and a holding central midfielder at home ? 3 wins in 14 is no where near playoff standard at this stage of the season and people are deluding themselves if they think different

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ArnieM added 08:53 - Feb 17 Dont buy this comment from MM, sorry. how is it other teams can take 3pts off teams thst havent won a game in months. Yet good old Town out up the rear guard a defend for 90 sodding mins claiming they were difficult opposition yet havent had the balls to even bloody attack then. Ffs wake up and at least have a go at teams. We might even win - shock, horror!!
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Kesgraveblue57 added 08:54 - Feb 17 Sorry to say this Mick what you said about the last two game is just a lame excuse your side is just not good enough, play offs no chance
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hampstead_blue added 09:06 - Feb 17 I think it is easy to forget that only last season we where bottom and looking stranded. In a very, very short space of time, MM and TC have bought in some fantastic quality on a meager budget, and turned a team on it's knees into something special. This year is about consolidation and seeing where we finish. However, if ME doesn't stump-up a decent budget for players in the next transfer window I can see MM and TC packing-up and moving on. Why would they stay and juggle pennies when they could get a lower Prem job and/or recently relegated team with money to spend. I hope they stay and next year we can really see what they are made of. All is good.

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Bluetaff added 09:10 - Feb 17 This is the stock standard response to a home draw against a team that is clearly struggling. The team is set up to counter the threat from the opposition which is MM's instruction. I fail to see where we take the initiative in these games and take the match to the opposition, the odd point here and there is well enough but if we finish in roughly the same position as we have over the previous three or four years where is the progress? I firmly believe that we have a squad capable of taking the game to the middle and lower placed teams in the championship and making a fist of clashes against the top 6! But I am getting tired of the excuses and spin, "our squad isn't very big", "we are better than we were under Jewell/Keane", "the team spirit is great!" No, we have just brought in another pony central midfielder to play out of position in a flat 4 that will do nothing than strangle the middle of the pitch! There is no attacking intent or creativity and we have square pegs in round holes again, just as we had with Jewell.

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Surco72 added 09:17 - Feb 17 hampstead blue .. I don't believe MM would be so sought after as you may think , he has failed in the premiership many times , his Sunderland team were one of the worst in premiership history . Clubs want new young thinking managers who approach the game differently than defensive hoofball with possession and movement . What MM did last year was no different to what Jewell did when he took over from Keane . MM's team has only 5 more points than Jewells did in his first full season at this stage but yet he is some wonder manager ? At least we had entertainment then and tried to play attacking football on the ground . It is not ME that didn't select a right back or right winger on Saturday

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HarryfromBath added 09:48 - Feb 17 For what it's worth, I believe that both Barnsley and Blackpool are in false league positions. They both have new managers and - crucially - both have substantially strengthened their squads in the January window. Blackpool had no fewer than six new signings on the field on Saturday, with players of the calibre of Stephen Dobbie, Andy Keogh and Faris Haroun giving them better shape and a more attacking threat. Likewise, Barnsley had Liam Lawrence, Nick Proschwitz and Jack Hunt on the pitch, and they are now being far better marshalled under Danny Wilson than they were under David Flitcroft. I am not offering a blanket defence of Mick. It is obvious that we are still a work in progress. Mick will know as well as anyone that aspects of the team need strengthening and the style of play isn't always easy on the eye. I just think that there is a false logic in assuming that we should beat Blackpool because they are on a winless run. I will be the first to hold my hands up and apologise if Barnsley and Blackpool are mired in trouble in April, but I honestly will be surprised if this is the case.

1

muccletonjoe added 10:08 - Feb 17 Anyone who saw that game on saturday will know we have absolutely no chance of getting into the play - offs. 10th or 11th at best imo
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caught-in-limbo added 10:14 - Feb 17 Does Mick know which games WON'T be tough, or is it just one of those hindsight things?
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OldClactonBlue added 10:35 - Feb 17 You can make as many excuses as you like. The product on show on Saturday was very, very,poor. Guaranteed to make occasional visitors make a different decision next time someone asks them about going to the game!
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Tractamatt added 10:40 - Feb 17 The main problem for the rest of this season is that who honestly can see us getting any more than 4 points from our next 8 games. I hope I'm wrong but it's that old Ipswich problem of finding the net and up against the likes of Forrest and Leicester that's gonna mean no points and maybe draws against Blackburn and the such the only team I can see us beating is Middlesborough. I'm only being honest I hope I'm wrong but we could end up around the same position as last season but having played so much better.

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murhtuG added 10:56 - Feb 17 Blimey - a slightly shabby draw and almost everyone's wallowing in deepest gloom! It's not like we're getting thrashed (or even beaten) all the time.
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theobald1985 added 11:18 - Feb 17 not really sure how the way we play so negativly and long ball can not be mcarthys fault as suggested by northstand78 who claims you could not run a pub team with our budget. mick brought in free agents but they will be on good money and look at who some of them are Mcgoldrick ebanks blake skuse berra hunt etc they all could have commanded big fees if they were under contract and are all capable of playing a different way but mcarthy seems to be insisting on this style of play as he believes in it. look at when brendan rodgers was at swansea he got an old jouneyman like gary monk playing out from the back, ashley williams had been sat stockport and all of a sudden they adopted just the sort of style we should and then got up and stayed there.-we are a bigger club than swansea and if we adopted a similar approach and applied it from the first team to the under 8s we would build a better future for our club. mcarthys approach is out dated and short term and we need a new direction -we cant stay a long ball side trying to grind our way to the premier league-evans dosent care he wants to get to the premier league by any means possible so he can take the money and flog the club-i personally want better than this for my club

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rambohambo added 11:19 - Feb 17 We made the games harder by putting a defensive squad out.
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Garv added 11:31 - Feb 17 The conditions didn't affect Blackpool, pathetic excuse. The away side broke away with pace and actually created decent chances. It's a good job Loach was on form.
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roytheboy added 11:32 - Feb 17 Whichever way you look at it, Saturday was a very boring, lack lustre spectacle and that is not good enough, I hope you read these posts Mick, we are behind you but I personally am fed up with wasting my time and money travelling 90 miles round trip to watch this type of non attacking football (if you can still call it football) the ball seems to be bouncing from one head to the other for large parts of the match these days, why do we keep passing sideways or backwards when there is an opportunity to advance and why can't we see Paul Taylor starting, he really does have something special to offer going forward, it's time to have another think Mick !!

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brittaniaman added 12:53 - Feb 17 Whatever one says , LOACH saved us from a 3-0 thrashing at home on Sat.and I hope that MM congratulated him for it !!! otherwise it would have been a bigger embarrassment to MM
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