Town boss Mick McCarthy admitted that Portsmouth fully deserved their 2-1 victory over the Blues in this evening’s FA Cup third round replay at Fratton Park.

“I thought Portsmouth played well again tonight and deserved to win,” he said. “I think that we’ve given barmy goals away, to be honest with you, and you’re never going to win against anybody if you’re going to give goals like that away.

“A bit like at home, I thought we were better in the second half. But, as I said, we gave the penalty away and we didn’t defend a cross which was pretty routine.”

McCarthy had no argument regarding the penalty, awarded in the first half after Piotr Malarczyk had fouled former Blue Gary Roberts, who netted the spotkick: “None at all.”

Having changed his entire XI, the Town boss says the performance reaffirmed his belief that his regular team is the best he has available: “It’s confirmed to me what I probably already know, that the best side is the one that’s been playing.

“With Christophe Berra with a shoulder injury and Chambo playing with a calf strain on Saturday, I need them this Saturday and to have a chance of being in those play-offs I need that best team playing week in, week out.

VIDEO: Mixed emotions for 'skipper' @LukeHyam19 following FA Cup defeat at Fratton Park #itfc https://t.co/V3saC1Jkns

— Ipswich Town FC (@Official_ITFC) January 20, 2016

“And unfortunately, that’s why some of them had to play [this evening]. Did any of them give me a problem about picking my team over the next few weeks? I don’t think so, no. But I know the ones who are capable of playing.”

McCarthy felt sent-off defender Malarczyk’s second yellow card was a touch harsh but wasn’t interested in debating the minutiae of the game: “He’s run across him. There’s no intent in it, he’s just running back and he’s run across him.

“I’m not here to complain, they deserved to win, so complaining about other things is irrelevant to me.”

Does he have any regrets about fielding such an extensively changed team? “None whatsoever, except that our fans didn’t see a particularly good performance from the lads who came in.

“I think Brett and Reg up front have had to work damned hard, and Ainsley, Luke Hyam, Tabby. Some of the young ‘uns who have come in, if I need them over the next 19 games they’re going to have to perform.

“Like I said, none of them have really given me any great headaches in terms of picking them, I know who the best players are.”

He added: “I’m disappointed to lose, of course I am. I didn’t come here to lose. Maybe the fact that these haven’t played for 10 days meant that they were fully fresh and they played well at our place. They deserved to win there.”

Portsmouth assistant manager Leam Richardson said: “From both the games, first we went to Ipswich and we thought we gave a good account of ourselves down there and were disappointed with the goal to take it to a replay.

“But you’re playing against a good team in Ipswich, a top Championship side with a class manager and management team, so to get ourselves through was a great credit to our lads.”

Despite Town exiting the competition, Reading’s 5-2 victory at home to Huddersfield means Town’s Championship game against the Royals set for a week on Saturday will be postponed and will be played on Tuesday 2nd February.

Photo: Action Images

Len_Brennan added 00:41 - Jan 20 It's not a fair assessment from Mick. He has changed to whole team, so there's no continuity there to allow his non first choice players measure themselves against the regulars a like for like basis, and he knows it. The disingenuous of it is the most annoying part. If he had played just one of the back 4 from tonight in a game where the established week in week out keeper & other 3 defenders were all included, at least then they would have a fighting chance. I wasn't there tonight & I don't know if Digby or Malarczyk are capable of being good enough; but with Berra or Smith partnering them in a set up that is cohesive with experience at playing together, they'd have been a whole lot more comfortable in trying to play themselves into the side. It's unfair on these lads to be thrown in together like a set of trialists in a reserves game, especially at such an important stage in the season. What impact will this have on them? Can't be good & it was unnecessary. The Southampton game last season proved to be the catalyst for a very poor run of form. The Man Utd defeat this season heralded another succession of disappointing results. The team selections were severely criticised on here back then too. I really hope we are not off back down the same road again here. Whatever happened to the old saying of winning being a good habit Mick? Squad rotation for the sake of it, especially to pre-season friendly levels, is not generally regarded as good management.

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Len_Brennan added 00:45 - Jan 20 @Daz: i have repeated some of your points above, I was typing when you were posting.
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Daz added 01:03 - Jan 20 That's ok len you said it better. Nice post
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MicksZzzTactics added 04:09 - Jan 20 Cup & Fan Disrespecting Dinosaur Mick: "I didn't com here to lose"???!!! No??? Really??? Well personally you sure could have fooled me, Boss .... and ehhhh is this comparable to exactly like you didn't take your Hoof Town to the likes of lowly Stevenage and Crawley in previous years (COC) doing your absolute best NOT to lose, Boss??? :-) lol Yep today's 'foolhearted' travelling fans -- and according to many of the TWTD Forum's non-dissent-accepting super zealots also "idiotic" travelling fans -- obviously expected SOME changes to the default-like starting XI .... but not THIS!!!, Not THIS, baby!!! This utterly OVERBOARD changed team i.e. an almost hilarious all green and/or all unproven and/or all 1st-team-rusty starting lineup (the latter with the possible exception of Pittman and Maitland-Niles) was not only disrespecting to The FA Cup and also the fans, but basically just tantamount to simply "forfeiting" the game as well as the Cup tournaments and good sportsmanship in those tournaments ... once AGAIN while with Dinosaur Mick at the helm! Especially taking into consideration the big warning we received by also being simply out-played and out-passed in the 1st game by this 'not-to-taken-too-seriously' 2nd division outfit. Also post game we were handed a niiiice completely FREE crash-course in 'Rocket Science 101' by the Football Dinosaur himself: "“It's confirmed to me what I probably already know — my best side is the one that's been playing.” Doh! Doh! Doh! Doh! :-)

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yungblue added 04:42 - Jan 20 Don't go to watch Ipswich to be bored, sitting there debating whether I'm at a rugby, football. I want to go to watch Ipswich to see good quality passing football and thinks that makes the fans go wow. McCarthy will never give us that. Also, where the hell has our money the fans constantly put into this club with stupidly high ticket prices gone?
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 05:03 - Jan 20 I'm a bit worried Mick seems to be dividing the squad into two distinct camps: those who are "best" and the rest. Can't do much for the confidence of those who were thrown in at the deep end last night, and seems a bit unlike Mick's normal "we're all in this together" philosophy.
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yorksblue added 05:19 - Jan 20 Don't know why we didn't concede the tie after first game. It was an inevitable outcome. FA should throw the book at him.
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muccletonjoe added 05:26 - Jan 20 If course mm is fully aware that the first team plays together week in week out, where as the team last night was thrown together for first time, so his comparison is a bit laughable really
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sidtheswan added 06:12 - Jan 20 Well done MM you were outplayed twice by a second division team . You stuck 2 fingers up at the clubs cup traditions and 2 fingers up at the fans who travelled in great numbers to Pompey on a Tuesday night . When the club sticks 2 fingers up at you (the sooner the better) then hopefully they will look and managers from lower divisions like Paul Cook who treat the cup seriously and like to play football all season and not for just one game !

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Umros added 06:54 - Jan 20 Disrespectful to the fans and competition and Portsmouth. Can't see any benefits to not trying to get through, thought we were poor, each round reaps cash for the club, so now we have no game at all next Saturday Which again is of no benefit. Think the FA need to step up here to change the rules a bit, a minimum number of players that played in the last league game must feature in the line up. No one is disappointed with the result as you know that this is second, possibly third string and yet the facts are that we are beaten by a club two divisions below. Poor.

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bigron added 06:57 - Jan 20 When a Premier League winter break is finally implemented — and everyone involved in football with the exception of the media is crying out for it - it would last for around two weeks in early January, with the Christmas and New Year holiday fixtures rightly deemed sacrosanct. Then the FA Cup third round will herald the return of competitive football — earning it showcase status in deserves.

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floridaboy added 07:08 - Jan 20 I think the majority who went knew the side he w/Ulf play anyway and knew the result before the game kicked off. What bothers me is that if we were to get promoted we would basically need to invest in a new squad because the current one is not good enough and would get tonked every week Something none of us would want and could face
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essex57 added 07:15 - Jan 20 There are some strange contributors on here whilst we are constantly reminded every one is entitled to their opinion I got down marked for wishing the team good luck before the match indicates to me that at least one contributer wants us to lose to justify his moaning by the way it was oldgold
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pablo123 added 07:19 - Jan 20 We did this against man utd , then with confidence shattered went on to win NONE of the next 6 games !! Great
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Len_Brennan added 07:31 - Jan 20 @essex57 : To cope with your perceived grievance at there being too many moaners on here, you decide to get on & have a good old moan yourself. Trying to bring the system down from within I see.
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tractorfromongar added 07:42 - Jan 20 "I'm disappointed to lose, of course I am. I didn't come here to lose" Complete and utter rowlocks!
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carlo88 added 07:54 - Jan 20 Usually fully behind MM but he seems to have managed a remarkable feat here of disrespecting the FA Cup (surely drawing Ipswich in any competition is a bye now), the fans who travel and listen at home, the image of Ipswich Town, but most importantly his entire second string team. His comments after the match will have done nothing for their team spirit.
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Westy added 08:10 - Jan 20 Portsmouth deserved to win McCarthy ? Yes. Why ? Because they took the F A Cup seriously, played their strongest team and wanted it more, so guess what they won. ITFC's attitude to the FA Cup now is contemptable.
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prebsa added 08:14 - Jan 20 essex57 we mark you down all the time cos you constantly talk a load of cr@p, when others try to speak valid opinions good or bad.
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grumpyoldman added 08:32 - Jan 20 MM use this display to justify his regular selection policy, if anybody took eleven players who do not regularly play together they would struggle against a team playing regularly. If you draft a couple of new players into your team it is easier for the regulars to accommodate them. From MMs statement he will not change anybody no matter how badly they play. He has said he has the strongest squad he has ever had at Ipswich, perhaps if he gave some of them the opportunity occasionally he might prove it. Essex57, nobody wants the team to lose, but blind loyalty is no good to anyone, as you state everybody is entitled to their opinion so voting you down is others showing theirs

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scott91itfc added 08:38 - Jan 20 Lets be honest, every fan who went last night knew exactly what team Mick was going to put out. We were never going to play a full strength team, if the quality of our team put out in an Fa Cup 3rd round replay, a few days before a massive game against Birmingham, was that disappointing to you then you shouldn't have bothered going!! Unfortunately when you are going for promotion, the Fa Cup and other competitions aren't as important, they maybe should be, but they aren't. A win Saturday and everyone will be happy and calling Mick a genius, if we lose Saturday then questions will be asked by a certain few clueless fans we have. But I for one wont be asking them questions......In Mick We Trust!

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oldegold added 08:39 - Jan 20 " Physician,heal thyself " .....you get down marked essex57 because you are a perennial trouble maker who is loath to accept other people's opinions and is constantly looking for an argument with other posters - you just can't leave it alone, can you ? I suggest you look at the number of times you criticise other bloggers because they don't subscribe to your inflated point of view with harsh language...most hypocritical of you. Take heed of Len_Brennan's wise words to you and go and post on Norwich's site, which is where you belong.

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bayblue added 08:53 - Jan 20 Which of our squad is Premiership class??????
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Cheshire_Blue added 09:09 - Jan 20 Got exactly what we deserved, which is why I stayed at home. It is time we went back to the days clubs were fined for not fielding their strongest lineup in order to give the fans a fair deal. Does anyone really believe putting out a 2nd string team at Portsmouth will have any bearing whatsoever on promotion to the Premier League ?
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essex57 added 09:10 - Jan 20 Your post len Brennan and old gold make no sense I will reiterate if as you say you support the football team why would you give a disagree vote to someone who wishes the team well I can only conclude that if you vote somebody down for wishing the team good luck that you want them to lose . Prebsa I am constantly voted down by the same5-6 people for believing in the team and management as are others I go to nearly all matches home and away how does that make me a Norwich supporter very strange.

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