McCarthy Praises Work Ethic and Team Spirit Tuesday, 8th Apr 2014 22:27 Town boss Mick McCarthy paid tribute to his side’s work ethic and team spirit after their 2-0 win at Huddersfield. “I think it shows what a good team spirit and work ethic we’ve got,” he said. “You get beaten away at Blackburn and have to travel back and if you’ve not got something about you there’s a very great danger of getting a slapping when you come here, so it was a really top class response from the lads. “I think everybody [tries to start on the front foot] sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But it did today. “I was a little bit surprised at their shape, playing 3-5-2 to start with, because they’ve been playing 4-1-4-1 and we’d planned for that. But we can go to 4-3-3 quickly from our 4-4-1-1 and I think it caused them problems. “Ando, who I left out on Saturday, responded in the right way, and Hunty, I thought the two wide guys were great. It was a good performance, you don’t win that game without a good performance.” The Blues manager was delighted to see Anderson net his fourth goal of the season: “I can’t tell you how we’ve been nipping his ears to be more positive. He’s got more in him, Ando. He does a really good job. “Chambo was laughing in there, he said he’ll play to 38 if Ando plays in front of him because he works hard and blocks balls into him. “That’s all right, but I’d sooner Chambo only played until he was 36 if we got a few more goals from Ando being a bit more positive.” McCarthy also had praise for Daryl Murphy, who took his season’s tally to 12: “He’s had a great season, Murph. He was excellent again up front, not quite on his own because Jonny was half up there. “I think they’re both good players, Jonny’s an excellent player, he holds the ball up and Murph’s just had a really good season. I think it’s probably the best season of his career, let’s hope he has more of it to come.” Keeper Dean Gerken was a spectator for the most part but when called upon to make a save for the first time in the 79th minute made an important stop with his foot from Oscar Gobern. “I’ve told you before, I hung my hat on him and that’s quite clear,” McCarthy added. “Despite when he lets one in or has a rick and all you guys in the media come and ask questions, ‘What about Loachy? What about this?’ and I’ve said ‘No, he’s the number one’. “And you have to do that and I think they respond then. If you keep chopping and changing after every mistake, it gives nobody any confidence. He’s another one, a free transfer and he’s had an excellent season.” The Blues boss confirmed that left-back Aaron Cresswell was replaced suffering with a minor injury and says he’s not sure whether he’ll have to make a change to his back four for the first time after 25 league games when Doncaster visit Portman Road on Saturday. “He’s got a tight groin,” he said. “I don’t know [how serious], he’ll get assessed tomorrow and we’ll see. I’m not worried, I’ve got Ty to play, so that’s good.” Overall, McCarthy is delighted to still be in the play-off hunt at this late stage of the season: “I did say on Monday that if we come here and win and Bournemouth beat Reading the [we’d be right in it], but I still think we’re three points away because we’ve got a big goal difference to catch up. But we’re still there, it’s great, it’s lovely.” Terriers boss Mark Robins kept his players in their dressing room for a very lengthy period after the game and let them know in no uncertain terms how unimpressed he was with their display. “This is something I’ve not experienced in a playing career or a managerial career so far," he said. "We’re struggling, we’re struggling to get a result. “Performance-wise, Saturday [a 1-0 defeat at Bolton] was very good. In terms of tonight and then, it was chalk and cheese really. “Ipswich wanted to win the game desperately because they want to get into the play-offs. For us, it was the most abject performance from any of my teams, be it here or anywhere else and that performance can’t happen again. “We’ve got to make sure that whether the players are young, old, inexperienced, experienced or whatever, when they go out and play for the supporters that we’ve got here, who want to cheer them, they’ve got to put on a performance and not fold, not capitulate mentally, physically, the whole lot. “That was a non-performance, that sort of performance can never happen again, wherever they’re playing, whether that’s here or whether it’s somewhere else.”
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