McCarthy: Unlucky Not to Claim All Three Points Saturday, 18th Feb 2017 19:01 Boss Mick McCarthy thought Town were unlucky not to have beaten Leeds after putting in what he felt was a “really good positive performance” as the sides drew 1-1 at Portman Road. Freddie Sears put the Blues in front on nine before Stuart Dallas equalised for the Whites three minutes before the break. “A really good positive performance and we could have won it, I think we were the better team,” he said. McCarthy says Town's recent resurgence shouldn’t be seen as a huge surprise given the strengthening which took place in the January transfer window and with senior players returning from injury. “It’s probably not strange or rocket science,” he reflected. “The fact that six or eight weeks ago I had 12 first-team players and six kids on the bench and it was tough for us all, and we were asking even the likes of Josh Emmanuel and Myles Kenlock, who have done really well recently, to kind of sort it out when it was going tough. “We get Didzy back, who is fully fit, and he looks like the quality player that we all know now. “And we’ve had Emyr Huws and Toumani Diagouraga playing and it’s just made us far more solid, a far better team, a far more confident team, just having experienced players. “We were asking the likes of Andre Dozzell to come in and play at 17, it’s just not on. It’s not rocket science or it’s not unusual the fact that you get better players in the team. I tend to be a better manager with good players, probably like everybody else.” McCarthy was impressed with McGoldrick, who he says has been at the top of his form for a number of weeks now. “I go back to QPR and I thought he was excellent there,” he added. “He’s been gradually getting back and he’s been back to his best for a few games, whether that was just a home game we’ve all seen, but he’s been very, very good recently. “And that’s his fitness. It’s very hard for somebody to keep coming back and we’re relying on him to be the top player when he’s sort of struggling coming back from injury, he’s not fully fit, we expect more of him. “He’s a lad that gets disappointed if he doesn’t play well as well. Now he’s fully fit everybody can see the quality.” The Town boss says he spent a lot of time weighing up his options before deciding to play goalscorer Sears alongside McGoldrick in place of the suspended Tom Lawrence. “It was really a toss-up, it was keenly contested yesterday morning when the striker position was available because we had Tom suspended,” he continued. “Me and TC spoke about it, we weren’t certain what to do, which to go with, we had options but we both thought that Freddie would certainly give us movement, pace, legs. “And having been out of the team I think sometimes when he’s gone as many games as he had without scoring [he might have benefited from being out of the side]. “Everybody wants to play and they’ll never admit to it, but when you get left out and it’s getting tough, it’s a bit of a bloody relief sometimes. “We were having to scrap it out, it wasn’t going well and he’s come back into team that’s playing well and he’s really energised it with his movement, with his pace, with his running power and they really haven’t enjoyed playing against him today. “I’m delighted he got his goal today because for all the other stuff, he wants to score.” Emyr Huws continued his excellent start to his time at Town in midfield before being replaced in the second half as he was tiring. “He hasn’t been playing, he played against Fulham in the FA Cup [for Cardiff] and that’s probably his only game from the start of the season,” McCarthy said. “And for him to come in and do what he’s done and then go Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday again, hardly easy games, there are no easy games in the Championship, but real physical, tough games. He’s been great but he was just knackered, so I brought him off.” McCarthy says Cole Skuse was subbed in the second half as he was tiring: “He was just goosed, he was knackered, he’d missed a few. It wasn’t planned sub.” The Blues manager also had praise for centre-half Christophe Berra, who kept Leeds’ 22-goal Chris Wood in check. “I think it was a good team performance today, I think everybody’s played well,” he added. “Christophe’s been an outstanding player for us. “He’s had some tough games, but the majority he’s been seven or eight out of 10 most weeks, he’s been one of our most consistent performers. He was good.” Regarding Leeds, he added: “I think they’ve come up a team who have been playing well and found it very hard to play. “They probably made a lot of passes in the second half. I think they’re an excellent team. They’ve come off and their players are saying ‘We don’t want to play against you lot every week’. “But that’s not been us every week either. But then again we’ve got different players on the pitch and players who are fit. “I think Leeds are a good side. I think Garry Monk has been amazing, from the start that he had. “And to get them playing the way they’re playing and have the results and get that club [on the up] because everybody knows I’m a Leeds fan. “The Leeds fans when they’re beating us usually sing ‘Mick McCarthy’s a Leeds fan’. They must have forgotten today or maybe we were playing well enough for them to forget! That was a hundred years ago, I’ve just seen one of my heroes, actually, Eddie Gray. “They’re a good side, he’s got good players in there and I think they’ve just had a bit of a tough time from going really well, but it happens. I remember getting promoted with Wolves and we didn’t win a game for 13 games. “It’s just not easy, the league’s not easy but I think they’ll be in the play-offs, there’s no doubt about that.” The Town boss was pleased with the atmosphere created by the Blues support, but isn’t surprised Portman Road is now a more positive place on a matchday. “Six weeks ago I said they want to come and see a team play well and win,” he recalled. “They don’t spend their hard-earned to see us play rubbish and get beat. And that’s the only thing that brings fans through the door, a good team. “It wasn’t strange when we finished sixth that we had the best crowds and we got to the play-offs. “I’ve continued to get great support from the majority and it was lovely. I think they’ve enjoyed a good performance and are perhaps a bit unlucky we’ve not gone away with three points in our pocket.” Leeds boss Garry Monk was pleased with the point which he felt was a fair reflection of the game. “I think it was a good point in the end,” he said. “We knew it was going to be a difficult game, especially with Ipswich having been in good form recently and having had some good results against some good teams. So we knew it was going to be extra difficult here. “Obviously, the conditions, the pitch didn’t help both teams, especially in terms of trying to play our football, but we tried to pass the ball. “I thought we started very well well in the first 10 minutes. I think the goal came against the run of play, it was the first time we really made a mistake and they scored from it. “And then I don’t think we reacted well to the goal, I thought we started to make too many mistakes which invited pressure from Ipswich. “And quite like their goal, we probably scored our goal against the run of play at the end of the half. “That enabled us to have a little talk at half-time, we tried to gain more control in the second half, we tried to play, which was difficult. “And credit to Ipswich, I thought they defended very well, I thought we defended very well. “At 1-1 the game looked like it might be decided by a set piece or a mistake but we stayed concentrated to the end and overall I think it was a deserved point and a good point.”
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