Town boss Mick McCarthy admitted the Blues are “making it extremely difficult” to make the play-offs following their 0-0 home draw with Charlton. McCarthy said neither side were good enough to claim the three points.

“It was a tough game, neither of us were good enough to win it, we both had chances,” he said. “Why the hell they’re in the bottom three heaven only knows.

“[It wasn’t the worst 0-0] as a game to watch maybe, but it does neither of us any favours, us trying to get in the play-offs and them trying to get out of the bottom three.

“I go back to my first point, I don’t think either of us were good enough to win the game, because we both had chances.

“They’re a pretty tight unit at the minute, they sit back in and we weren’t good enough to break them down.

"We lost the ball, they caught us on the break, as we did to them at times and neither of us were good enough to finish it.”

The result leaves the Blues in eighth, seven points plus goal difference off sixth-placed Derby with only six games in which to close that gap.

“We’ll probably have to beat them at Derby,” the Town manager admitted. “We are at must-win, of course we are, can’t hide away from that fact.”

He added: “Try and win the next game, for us that’s all it can be. We’re making it extremely difficult to get in the play-offs.

“It’s getting harder and harder. But I’ve just said to the lads, stick together, we’ll try and get as many points as we can and we’ll see where it takes us, that’s all we can do.”

McCarthy felt the mix-up in the first half between Christophe Berra and Bartosz Bialkowski didn’t help the mood on or off the pitch just as the game was starting to settle.

“It didn’t, and it gave them encouragement. The game had started as you’d expect with one team trying to get into the play-offs and one trying to get out of the bottom three, it was a bit of a scrap for 10 minutes, it was a tough old fight.

“It started to settle down and that just made us nervy and it gave them a bit of encouragement and it doesn’t help the game in our way at all.”

More positive, David McGoldrick and Teddy Bishop both came off the bench in the second half, the latter making his first appearance of the season.

“I’m pleased to have them back on the pitch playing and at the end of the game I had Reg [Luke Varney] on, Didzy on and I had Bish on and was conscious of the time I gave them. I thought Reg gave us a really good shift for 45 minutes.

“And the other two lads, it’s difficult coming back and trying to be as sharp as you possibly can and need that whatever it is, that little bit of something, that spark when you haven’t been playing. That’s a gamble, but it’s good to have them back on the pitch.

“It’s a gamble worth taking in my book to try and get them on the pitch and try and get them some minutes.”

The Town boss had praise for keeper Bialkowski, who made an important double save in the second half and put in another very good display.

“He did, he always does. I’ve no problem with that at all. We’ve managed to keep another clean sheet but we’ve not scored, which leaves us with a point.”

Charlton boss José Riga was pleased with his team’s performance, believing only a goal was missing.

“We did very well, we created good opportunities, had some very good action offensively, we were strong defensively and we were even better than Ipswich on the strength of Ipswich, the set pieces,” he said.

“At the end only one goal is missing and we had the opportunities. We deserved the three points but deserving is not having, so our situation is very difficult.”

The draw and results elsewhere leave the Addicks seven points off safety with their Championship status hanging by a thread.

Riga added: “Until the end, while mathematically it’s still possible, we have to think about being able to make a miracle.”

Photo: Action Images

essex57 added 00:05 - Apr 6 Blueblood 66 thank you for a touch of realism as i said sat doesnt matter what combination of our squad or what tactics they just are not good enough to get in the play offs.
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Michael11 added 00:12 - Apr 6 I'd love to back Mick as much as I want to but I've just loat faith. He's too stubborn to learn and kick on next year as he hasn't done anything different for 2 or 3 seasons now. His favouritism of certain players clouds his judgement on who should actually play and just throws all of them in to play a formation that makes no sense. It has to be a case of bringing youth into the next 6 games. I'd like to see Dozzell and McDonnell get a chance.

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BrettenhamBlue added 00:15 - Apr 6 Positives Man of the match performance from Bialkowski yet again. Easily our player of the season yet for some reason he seems to be way down the list behind the likes of Coke and Douglas. How he won't win the award is beyond me. Maybe it's just nigh impossible for a keeper to win it? We got a point. Negatives Season close to being over. Defence a shambles and if it wasn't for heroics of Bialkowski we would have lost the game. No creativity and Douglas clearly needs a rest, the guy is completely exhausted after 10 mins. Why isn't Mick giving him a break? General fatigue throughout the team. Defenders seem exhausted. Midfield no energy and only tactic is rocket ball. Awful, awful football. We are now (according to 442）the most boring team to watch in the UK and have been nominated as the most boring team in Europe. If we win that award you never know we may end up as most boring team in the world. A title we came close to winning in 2014 and 2015 (think IFK Timra won it one of those years).

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bohslegend added 00:27 - Apr 6 I'm a huge fan of MM. But for his own sake I would like to see him give the two fingers up to the boo boys on here (and in the stand) who seem to think this is just one big game of FIFA 16. The stark reality is that MM has not been supported by ME (other than moral support) and MM takes all the cr@p from the realists on here every week rather than using lack of finance as the excuse. You don't miss the water till the well runs dry. Unfortunately those calling for MM to go won't realise this until it's too late.

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Garv added 00:38 - Apr 6 Has Mick not worked out yet that games are scraps because that's how he sets his teams up and how he plans to win games? Why don't you try and make it a good game?
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irish_tractor added 00:57 - Apr 6 That's an up arrow bohslegend from me......mistake on the dodgy smart phone
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irish_tractor added 01:04 - Apr 6 I've a budget of what's for free and players for whatever reason other clubs don't want but want premier league football. What club on the modern game have or will achieve the above..........with any manager. I think mick Mccarthy is one of the best managers in the country and can't understand why given nothing everyone expects so much and when not given want his head.

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GiveusaWave added 01:25 - Apr 6 Have to agree with Irish-tractor and bohslegend on this one. MM has done amazingly well given his lack of resources. The fact that we are in the top half shows how well MM and TC have done. I'm not stupid, I can see the football is dire. But when you have a weaker team everyone knows that the best way to win the game is extreme longball. Look at Wimbledon in the 1980's. They kept in the division by using tactics that others saw as "anti football". If we play football against most of the sides in this division we would be in the bottom 3. Think criticism of Douglas is over-the-top too. "Worst player ever". Really? I see a player who is giving the best he can. Creative players cost money which we have not got. MM has made a few mistakes along the way (Coke etc), but hardly in the same category as the huge mistakes made by Keane and Jewell. Most of the time he gets it right. I don't think we will even be in the top half next season if we lose MM. In fact it could be back to another relegation battle. We have players here who have been signed on the basis of them being good at "hoofball". If the new manager comes in and changes tactics (which fans will want) we will come up short in most games. Like others have said, be careful what you wish for. Bet Charlton/Bolton fans would love to be in the position we are in.

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Taricco_Fan added 01:38 - Apr 6 Football is all about tactics and coaching, areas in which McCarthy is coming up short. Success wont come purely with huff and puff, hit and run football. Spending millions doesn't necessarily guarantee sucess either. McCarthy hasn't been backed by Evans, we can all agree, but this doesn't justify the dire style of football. We need a smart manager, tactically flexible, with the ability to scout the lower leagues and promote youth in the absence of transfer funds. I don't know who that man is but Mick demonstrably not the guy for the job.

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FromIpswichToPhoenix added 05:05 - Apr 6 Maybe the question shouldn't be why are they in the bottom three, but rather why are we in the top 8?
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markytitfc66 added 05:18 - Apr 6 They are in the bottom 3 because they are a very poor side!!! MM you have had your day PLEASE GO!
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markytitfc66 added 05:21 - Apr 6 How the hell Aston Villa are bottom of the premier league heaven only knows!!!
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Mick_Mills_Tache added 05:27 - Apr 6 You MM lovers need to pull your heads out of his/yours/each other's backsides and actually look at Mick as a manager. Using finances is a cheap cop out (no pun intended)! Douglas is quite possibly the worst midfielder I've seen in an Ipswich shirt in a decade. Everybody agrees that Skuse/Douglas, Skuse/Hyam, Hyam/Douglas or all 3 together just doesn't work. They're too slow and can't pass the ball forwards at all. We have creativity...We had 4 creative players sat on the bench in Didz, Bru, Foley and Bishop!! It's becoming a joke now, McCarthy clearly knows our thoughts on 'Dougie', as he calls him (which says a lot as to why he's constantly picked), and yet he's still playing him and then singles him out for praise in press conferences....that's just pure arrogance and rubbing it in?! He's had money available according to Milne, whether true or not we'll never know, but Mick said in January that he didn't want or need to sign anybody because he's happy with what he's got (despite Didz, Hyam and Bish being injured). You don't need money and finances has sod all to do with the style of football we play. We played decent football at the start of the season and we're doing ok with it. Let's face it, this whole debacle and downward turn started as soon as he played the third team against Pompey in the FA Cup. We also need to face up to the facts that unless Evans invests, we aren't going anywhere. So why should we put up with the worst football in the football league on some of the highest prices in the league? Why not get a younger, attacking, pro football manager in who can actually entertain us? McCarthy has lost the plot. He's setting us up to not lose and when you're chasing the play offs, that isn't going to get you there and is quite frankly unacceptable. We've played the bottom 3 recently and only taken 2 points and let's face it we shouldn't have got any. How is that anyone other than Micks fault?

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Robbo1966 added 05:29 - Apr 6 Irish tractor. well said. too many football experts living in the past, we are what we are, stop whining and get behind the team and management.
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sidtheswan added 06:18 - Apr 6 We were the better team in the first half and the only team that looked like scoring. Second half on comes Varney for Pringle then all huff and puff and long balls and you then new it was going to be 0-0. Then Didz comes for Feeney so we are now playing 4-2-4 so now Charlton have all the midfield and we revert to hoofball. Charlton now are the only team that look like scoring . Thanks to dire performances at home against Charlton and Rotherham having dropped 5 points we are now out of play offs. I could put up with MM if we were in play offs but he is clueless and time to move on as he wont change and next year will get worse . Why on earth did he start with Pringle behind Pitman and Sears out wide. Surely it should be the other way round. We play to many players out of position our midfield is pedestrian and there is no creativity which means the strikers don't get enough chances and currently couldn't hit a barn door with a cow's arse ! We need a fresh perspective and we need it the second the season finishes. Foxtrot Oscar MM for all our sakes!

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prebbs007 added 06:34 - Apr 6 Guentchev- to say it's money we haven't got is just factually incorrect !!! Marcus Evans is worth £750 million (to give u comparison to the so called big clubs in this division the owners of boro £170m, hull£350m, derby £300m) he is the richest individual owner in the championship by a distance (Sheff Wed owned by family whose combined wealth is around equal to ME) .... People have to get away from the thought that we are poor relations in this league. Our owner chooses the zero fee transfer policy, it's not that he doesn't have the money !!! Our chief executive tells us there is money to spend. Our manager tells us he can't get better than we have. It's lies upon lies upon lies. Any of you who renew their season tickets have to understand you are throwing money down the drain. This owner will not back the team financially (he keeps the club afloat but not the team) this chief executive is pointless and lies to the fans, this manager is a stubborn dinosaur with no tactical ability. None of that will change so unless the fans vote with their feet it will remain the same, dross players played out of position weather in form or not with one instruction, to run around a lot.... We have no quality or idea from the very top of the club and throughout. For those of you willing to accept that I admire your persistence but I question your judgement. I live ITFC with passion but I will not be wasting money anymore on a season ticket to watch utter dross. I will be back when the dross is gone 😂😂😂😂😂

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NSL added 06:44 - Apr 6 You really love yourself don't you Mick!
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Bob7881 added 06:47 - Apr 6 why oh why do these McCarthy groupies defend his style of football by saying the current squad can only play hoofball because they are free transfers. Any player given a proffessional contract should have the ability to pass and move its not rocket science. If the players are not good enough then that is down to McCarthy he signed them. They might be freebies but they are well paid.

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Popeye added 06:49 - Apr 6 Unfortunately as soon as Fraser got injured, the season was effectively over with no chance of making the play offs.
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jas0999 added 06:49 - Apr 6 Tough sell on the season tickets after this. There will be some outstanding spin from Milne and the club. ME Will definitely be investing. MM is the right man to lead us. We have an excellent squad. Dougie is terrific. We have missed Giles Coke etc etc etc. Bottom line Mick, is the reason Charlton are second bottom is because they are poor. Woeful. The reason we are making it difficult for the play offs is because we are poor, you have been negative and stubborn, whilst the owner has lacked ambition. It's a sorry state of affairs. Big changes needed.

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JimmyP45 added 07:09 - Apr 6 We have the players! Bart Chambers, Smith, Berra Knudsen Foley, Bru Feeney, Bishop, Pringle Sears or Murphy If that's not a team to terrorise a defence playing the ball on the ground I don't know what is. Plus we would then have Varney, Pitman, Didsy and others on the bench
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grumpyoldman added 07:32 - Apr 6 Robbo1966 as football expert can you explain the bigger picture as you see it. For me I see a team not reaching the playoffs, a manager clearly playing players out of form, with only one plan, an owner not investing. Have I missed anything?
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Ipswichtown4life added 07:45 - Apr 6 Are ye all mad lol.. Mick has been the best manager we have had in 15 years.. I totally agree with irish tractor... Mick is stubborn is a way that nothing fazes him, he does what he needs to do to make a fighting team nd thats exactly what he has done with Ipswich. Lets go back to jewell or Keane era shud we nd start fighting relegation like charlton... Hope mick stays on

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Dissboyitfc added 07:48 - Apr 6 To all of those defending MM and stating injuries and lack of investment as the cause i say this! Success or failure is all about small margins, our failure has been more about the square pegs in round holes. Just think about this, with a proper RB and a right footed centre half( and that has cost us goals) a manager who sets out to win games by playing through the midfield ( notts forest at home) a manager who is flexible and not stubborn, not playing his favourites regardless of form, we could have been in the play-offs and been entertained too! What we see going on, on that pitch is MM's doing, he picks the square pegs he plays douglas, his team, his tactics, his stubbornness, his responsibility. I want people to start respecting us as a football team. I really couldnt stand the wimbledon of the 80's. Never thought my team would resemble that utter anti-football rubbish. People ( some ) have said judge mm at the end of the season, now those same people are blaming the players for not being good enough. PRICELESS!

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therein61 added 07:51 - Apr 6 Mick you have really lost the plot (and I the will to live watching this continued rubbish) with yet more ridiculous post match comments, now that you have messed the season up at least leave some go through the motions favourites out and put someone in a blue shirt who cares and will give his all for our club! Mick it's not the league that's effin bonkers have a long look in the mirror!!

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