Town boss Mick McCarthy felt his side had had the better of a well-contested game between two sides but “let their guard down” and allowed Middlesbrough to get their noses in front via Christian Stuani. The Teessiders went on to win the game 2-0 to climb to the top of the Championship table with David Nugent continuing his remarkable goalscoring record against the Blues and at Portman Road.

“I thought it was two good teams playing in the first half and they had a right good go at it,” McCarthy said. “I thought we shaded it slightly.

“I thought we started the second half well and I said to them at half-time that it would be whoever blinks first or lets their guard down and we did it unfortunately.

“We really shouldn’t have been in any danger with that clearance from the goalkeeper, we messed that up and we didn’t defend the far post well enough.

“Of course, if we’d scored it I would be saying it’s a good goal, but the way we dealt with it wasn’t good enough.

“That changed the course of the game, they’ve got a very good defensive record anyway and they were then 1-0 up.

“And again it was our throw-in from which we conceded the second goal, which I’m bemoaning, but actually Stewart Downing and David Nugent, Premier League footballers, probably getting Premier League salaries, showed their quality and punished us.

“And at 2-0 I’ve left three players up and I’m trying to wing it a little bit, trying to get something back and I left us wide open. They looked a very good side and deserved to win in the end because they didn’t concede.”

Despite the defeat the Town boss wasn’t too downhearted: “We’ve had a great run and we’ve lost to a side who will be competing for the top two places.

“We’ve lost two here now this season, Brighton were the other one and they’ll be competing for the top two as well.

“Not that I want to lose to the best teams. I was delighted with our performance for an hour but then unfortunately we let our guard down and we were beaten.”

He added: “I was stood there [prior to Boro going ahead] thinking that we’d performed very well in the game, but I also knew, and I guess we both knew, whichever one went in front it was going to change the course of the game and the other would have to open up.

“Unfortunately it was us and once they got in front they showed what a good team they are. They’ve got good players, good quality players and they deserved it in the end. I’ve no qualms about it at all.”

McCarthy felt Nugent and and Stewart Downing showed their top flight pedigree with Boro’s second goal, which took the striker’s record to 15 goals in 14 games against Town and 10 in eight at Portman Road.

“He didn’t have a kick up until the goal, but that’s good centre forwards,” McCarthy said.

“It was a great quality goal by them on the break. Stewie Downing picked him out with the pass and I can admire that and respect that, that was just a top class finish.”

Reflecting on the match overall, he continued: “I thought it was a really good game and a really good performance by us, up until them scoring.

“And of course that does change things and I’ve said to the lads that I’ll take the responsibility when I’ve left three up and put Giles Coke on for Ainsley, who had a nasty thump in the first half and he’d run out of steam.

“I’m trying to get back in the game and winging it a bit and put the lads under a bit of pressure.

“They played round us and kept it but even then we still had a chance near the end, still had a couple, so the lads kept going. I was delighted with them. They’re a good side, they deserved to win in the end.

“For the first 50-odd minutes until they scored, we were a match for them, no question about that. Just can’t afford to give goals like that away, can we?”

Boro boss Aitor Karanka was delighted with his club’s first victory at Portman Road in nearly 23 years.

“An amazing win because you know how difficult it is to win here. It was 1993 when Middlesbrough last won here," he said.

“I know from last season how difficult it is to win here and this was the same.

"The first half was more or less like last season and for that reason I told [the players] at half-time we had to change because they had more chances than us and we were in danger because if they had scored first we would have had problems.”

Regarding Nugent’s goal record, he added: “It was high pressure for me because if he hadn’t scored it would have been my fault. He scored, we won the game, so everybody’s happy.”

Nugent himself said: “As a footballer you always get a team who you score against and Ipswich is my team now. Just wish I could play them every week really.

"A clean sheet and three points was our goal. We’re top of the league now so it’s a job well done.”

Photo: Action Images

warktheline added 07:57 - Dec 6 McCarthy you let YOU let your guard down tail end of last season, and so it goes on and on! All to comfortable, yes you've established us as a top eight team, but no higher than sixth as best. I'm getting the impression that appears to be the bench mark for yourself and owner!
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mroberts added 11:02 - Dec 7 Mick you are a joke sometimes, you replace our best player in the first half Mailand Miles for a complete donkey in the second. Coke is a Joke of a signing. miles was covering that side really well in the first half and you left a gaping whole there in the second.
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