Boss Mick McCarthy hailed the Blues’ 1-0 win at Huddersfield as a “huge result”, Ben Pringle’s first goal for Town having seen his side back to winning ways after three successive defeats.

“It’s a huge result for us,” he said. “We needed a win, we needed to stop being beaten having been beaten three on the bounce and, as usual my lads, as the do more often than not, come up trumps when we’ve got our backs to the wall, and they’ve done it again today.

“Absolutely we rode our luck in the first half, but I could go back to the QPR game when we rode our luck in the first half and in the second half I thought we were going to win it and we lost it in the final minute.

“It’s very often a game of good luck/bad luck no matter how well you play. There are all sorts of ways of winning a game. For all the chances they had in the first half they didn’t score them.

“We were clinical with ours, which is the difference between winning and losing, unfortunately for them and fortunately for us.”

He admitted he had become frustrated with recent results and with a number of regulars unavailable to him: “I was down and upset and angry at losing three on the bounce, which I don’t think has happened during my tenure at Ipswich.

“A little bit frustrated at having lost good players [due to injury]. Not bothered about the play-offs. All you can do is get enough points and to be fair I think it took the pressure of us, I get sick of talking about the play-offs.

“If we end up in the play-offs, brilliant. If we don’t, there won’t be a damned thing I can do about it and we’ll have tried our best. Brilliant, we’ve got three points and we’ll just keep trying to do that.”

He added: “We want to be there, we all know that, but when you’re just in them in sixth spot, you’ve got to stay there. If you don’t stay there everybody’s just so disappointed and downbeat.

“[It gets like that] with us, with the club, with the town because we’re not in the play-offs. It’ll be determined on May 7th. That's what happened last year, I keep saying so.

“Maybe it did just take the pressure off. I said to the lads yesterday, ‘We’ve no chance of getting in the play-offs the way it’s going. The only way we can do it is to stop thinking about the play-offs and get three points from somewhere’. And we’ve done that.”

He admitted the result was a relief: “Without a doubt. I’m not going to be coming in here and putting a stoic face on and say I was never worried about it.

“If we’d have gone away from here and we’d lost four on the bounce I can’t imagine that happening, not in this league. I’ve done it in the Premier League, which is more than easy to do if you haven’t got the right team. Our lads just proved to me what a great set of lads they are.

“Yes, we rode our luck, surely everybody needs a bit of luck. Somebody said to me the other day, ‘Good luck Mick, but you don’t need it’. I said ‘I’ll take it if it’s going’ because if you get some of the other stuff, the bad luck, it’s a pretty shitty let me tell you.”

He says he switched his system, with Brett Pitman ending up wide on the left with Freddie Sears on the right, as his side weren’t in the game in the opening 20 minutes or so.

“We went to 4-3-3 because they were overrunning us,” he said. “I’m not that thick or proud about how I’ve set my team up that I’m going just going to keep doing it if it’s not working.

“That effectively stemmed the tide. We got the goal from it. We were still a bit out of kilter and a bit higgledy-piggledy in the middle because I’d changed it and they got a few chances.

“I don’t think we defended as well in the first half as we did in the second and they got a few chances out of it but we still kept the ball out of our net.”

McCarthy had praise for Daryl Murphy, who created Pringle’s goal when he forced Joel Lynch into a mistake.

“I spoke to him on Thursday or Friday morning, I think he had 19 goals at this stage last season, he’s got eight now, miles away from what he had last year,” he added.

“But last year was an unbelievable year for him. If he’s not scoring when he’s playing well, if he’s roughing centre-backs up and chasing in channels, sticking it and working hard, other people get the benefit from it.

“I said to him, ‘I don’t give a flying one whether you score the goals providing you’re setting other people up and upsetting back fours’.

“I thought he was great today and Freddie Sears was just outstanding. He’s been really good for us, outstanding since he signed and this season he’s been good.

“And he does it so selflessly, whether he’s up top, wide right, wide left, you can’t buy that. That’s just a lovely asset to have, somebody who can play but doesn’t mind doing it for the team.”

#itfc goalscorer @BenPringle18 reflects on today's important away win at Huddersfield to Ipswich Player HD.https://t.co/gxgOZHyUvI– Ipswich Town FC (@Official_ITFC) February 27, 2016

Regarding goalscorer Pringle he said: “I think there’s more to come from him, he’d not played that much before he came. I’m pleased with him, delighted for him today.”

Huddersfield manager David Wagner was pleased with the way his team played, if not with the result.

“On one side I’m very happy, I’m very pleased with the performance from my team,” he said. “I think the first half was excellent, was fantastic. We only miss the right result. The second half was probably only average.

“Then on the other side, I’m disappointed about the result but I think this is part of the game.

“I think there’s no doubt today that we did a good job. The performance was good. We made some easy mistakes in our offence and our defence and then we got a result we normally wouldn’t deserve if we had had nearly 70 per cent ball possession, 21-6 shots on goal. I think that says everything about the game.

“But in the end the result is the most important thing and we didn’t get it today and this is what we have to accept because it’s part of the game. But there’s no doubt we did a good job.”

Photo: Action Images

tractorintheloft added 10:07 - Feb 28 I'm not a fan of MM "style" but he did save us from L1 having looked at what was available in terms of resources. He is a pragmatic guy and given -£m when you consider the creswell and mings cash this is how he sees our best chance. Unless ME is prepared to roll the dice once more and invest, the sad truth is this ugly brand of football is our best shot at premier and mega £m to repay ME. The problem is that it's a long shot and may disenchant so many of us that the club will take a radical overhaul to recover. Sad days.

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TimmyH added 10:53 - Feb 28 @tractorintheloft - Unfortunately there's more of a chance of me getting a shock invitation to this years Masters at Augusta and winning than Mick getting us promoted with his brand of 'ugly' football... Sad but true
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blue86 added 11:10 - Feb 28 Much needed 3 points, and always good to get the win away from home. But let's be honest the style of play is horrible and negative and it doesn't look like it its going to change, this is Micks way. The stats say it all really, when was the last time we had a higher possession or pass completion rate than the oppistion? Boring times imo!
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Pip50 added 11:54 - Feb 28 I don't think I would really mind long ball, some posters on here are right it's a tactic used currently and in the past to good effect. The problem is we are getting battered by the opposition whether its Huddlesfield Portsmouth or whoever it's happening most weeks and we are "riding our luck" this won't continue and where is the progressive plan with youth development or purchase and players playing in their rightful positions. Doesn't seem to be much idea sad times indeed!

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Razor added 12:13 - Feb 28 This is why I no longer rate or trust our manager----there was a damned thing you could do about it, like strengthen the team in the January transfer window especially as Mr Milne confirmed the other week there was money available if needed. I am not sure you even talk a good game any more. On the game, Berra back to his best and no flapping from Bart just a good solid goalkeeping display. Not quite sure how we won, but if we can win the next 2 very winnable matches and get some injured players back (ha ha) we might just have a glorious end to the season. Despite everything I am TRYING to stay positive.

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carsey added 13:43 - Feb 28 Have just watched the "highlights" and have to say it was a miracle we got away with this one. Poor Huddersfield will be kicking themselves. Thank goodness for Bart being on song and the opposition strikers having an off day.
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Dissboyitfc added 14:09 - Feb 28 blue041273... there is a real skill in a long pass, on that we agree, where we dont agree is the fact that most of our long passes are to them, thats whats happens with hopeless hoofs. nothing in this team compares to magics long passes or hoddles. What we do is ugly in the extreme.
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Cheshire_Blue added 14:48 - Feb 28 As far as stats go, possession or passes are irrelevant, the one that matters is goals for and goals against and so long as the former exceeds the latter who cares about anything else. "Super Mick" was the chant from the real supporters at Huddersfield and all the negativity on here is like most statistics--irrelevant.
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Blue041273 added 14:53 - Feb 28 Dissboy I don't consider that you and I are at odds. I dislike the hoofball approach as much as anyone. My initial comment was purely to point out that there is a place for long ball tactics. Yes, it is a skill which few in the modern game possess and, as a tactic, is nowadays somewhat redundant because more often than not possession is lost. I would be interested to see some stats on how many attempted passes over 20 metres are successfully completed. However, the quarterback player pulling the strings and spraying long ball passes around the field would be priceless these days and that is the kind of player we, and most other teams, would love to have. More than anything it is the lack of a short ball option that invites the panic hoofball that we feel the need to indulge in.

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Penguinblue added 16:10 - Feb 28 More utter rubbish from second rate manager McCarthy. We won despite him not because of. He now seems to be saying not bothered about playoffs, it's all down to injuries, nothing he can do. What cr@p. Our relative failure this season is down to his mismanagement, negative hoofball and selections - virtually nothing else. No point blaming ME, even McCarthy can't get his story straight whether there is money or not - even if there were he can't see beyond his favourites and no decent footballer would want to play for him anyway. Enjoyed the win but message the same. McCarthy OUT

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blue86 added 16:17 - Feb 28 @ Cheshire blue, was your comment tongue in cheek? I reckon it must have been? Surely you would like town to play with a bit more flair and pass it a bit more, rather than the hoofball we are seeing at present?
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Cheshire_Blue added 16:46 - Feb 28 blue 86 : Yes, in an ideal world but success comes first and the way you achieve it second. I am lucky enough to have watched us win the League Championship in 1962, the FA Cup in 1978 and the UEFA Cup in 1981. If you don't like what is on offer stay at home and stop moaning about it. Otherwise get behind the team and support what we have as do 99% of supporters who attend matches. As I said previously, the chant from the SUPPORTERS at Huddersfield yesterday was 'super Mick' contrary to the views being expressed by a handful on this site.

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blue86 added 19:17 - Feb 28 Cheshire blue, I always have and always will get behind the team when attending games. Just wish we played a more passing game rather than kick and rush that's all. Would you still support Mr bean if he was our manager then? Lol at the end of the day I guess we all have different opinions, just want some entertainment back at Portman road. Envy you of the glory days though, I wasn't even thought about then!

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Cheshire_Blue added 09:54 - Feb 29 Blue 86, I don't think we would be challenging for a play off place if Mr Bean was Manager. At the end of the day I don't think our dreams are too far apart. Perhaps I should stick to supporting the team and leave the criticism to the Keyboard warriors!
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Safetyfirstmrwarke added 00:47 - Mar 2 Just watched the extended highlights. How on earth did we get away with that? #WITCHCRAFT
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