Town boss Mick McCarthy admitted the Blues were beaten by a better team following their 1-0 loss to Sheffield Wednesday in this season’s final home game. Kieran Lee scored the game’s only goal in the 77th minute to confirm the Owls’ place in this season's play-offs.

“We were beaten by a better team and a team which looked to have the edge on us,” McCarthy said.

“They are still playing for something, we are playing for pride and for results, yes, but that’s their sixth win on the bounce, so they’ve come here with a bit of momentum and form, and they looked like that. They’re a very good team.

“I thought they had the edge to us, they were slightly better than us and had the bit of quality at the end that really counted.

“We didn’t have that many chances, as always the lads have put everything in and matched them for lots of things but they had the better percentage of the ball and used it better than us.”

He added: “We had that edge against Newcastle, we needed a result and I think that does make a huge difference.

“We got that result and I changed the team last week, maybe that had an effect, although it shouldn’t really do. I think we just all took a huge sigh of relief and they’re still wired for the play-offs and have got that edge to us.”

McCarthy was disappointed not to go out on a high with the post-match lap of appreciation somewhat understated after a defeat at the end of an under par season.

“The lap at the end was always going to be that way if we’d lost, that was absolutely gilt-edged, nailed-on that it was going to be like that,” he reflected.

“We’ve not been good enough at home, we’ve not really entertained fans here, so I fully understand that.”

McCarthy admitted it’s a season he wants to move on from following next Sunday’s final match.

“Absolutely, but we’ve got a game to play and Nottingham Forest are right in the mire,” he added. “There’s going to be an edge to that game and we’ve got to go there and perform and do it right for us, first and foremost, for our fans that go and watch it, and for the other teams that are down there with them.”

The Town boss was pleased that on-loan Leicester man Tom Lawrence was given a standing ovation as he left the field in the second half at the end of his final game for the Blues at Portman Road and maybe his last game for them anywhere as he picked up a knock.

“He’s been terrific and he deserved that,” McCarthy said. “I didn’t want him to get injured, he took a knock on his ankle just before I took him off.

“He’s got bigger and better things in front of him and I’d hate for him to be going into the close season injured. He deserved his ovation, it was nice for him to get that.”

Wednesday boss Carlos Carvalhal was delighted with the result and to confirm a second successive play-off place.

“We deserved to win today,” he said. “It gives me satisfaction to see people around me happy, the chairman, the players and the fans.

“Six wins in a row is fantastic, we are making history and that is something very special. We have much more points than last season, we are playing better and there are many, many positives here."

Photo: TWTD

positivity added 20:08 - Apr 29 barry, you wouldn't be that rich, £75 at best! other than that i agree!
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ArnieM added 20:08 - Apr 29 #EvansOUT
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surgery added 20:20 - Apr 29 Geddis78....of course 100 per cent correct. What beggars believe is what sane person would sign someone who was considered not good enough for a National League team? It's frightening really
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dukey44 added 21:13 - Apr 29 Sam sorry pressed wrong arrow!!
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DurhamTownFan added 21:30 - Apr 29 Ok karlos, I see where you're coming from but I think we have to agree to disagree here. I do agree about the lack of funds but ask wolves and Sunderland what they thought of MM after a few years in charge and they pretty much all hated him. My biggest gripe is the playing style. It's ugly and it doesn't work. Totally outplayed by Lincoln twice, due to an inability to get the ball on the floor and play.

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Suffolk_n_Good added 21:33 - Apr 29 Beaten by a: better team, a better manager, a better owner, better tactics, better players.....
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magnus68 added 21:40 - Apr 29 Ok, Mick will go, trust me Im psycic. He will go, and the next guy will have funds. Marcus showed that in his early years, got burned, and are ready to go again. We all have a very promising season ahead. Maybe not playoff next season But close, season after defenetly our year, mist likely winners or runners ups. Remember who told you 👊
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lightingblue added 21:58 - Apr 29 As big bad Mick says. 'We haven't been good enough at home'. Please add the away part to that as well. Not rocket science. Play crap, lose games, raised ticket prices, limited entertainment= downward spiral= lose of revenue due to fans not going and lack of corporate deals = relegation= a Leyton orient situation. If it is a business (albeit I've limited knowledge of running a business of any size) I can't see the company strategy moving forward and making money which from my understanding is what a business is about, but as part of the company ethics/ethos you have to keep these to maintain and enhance to move forward and expand the company. What's the plan. Please educate me, I'm willing to learn and listen as knowledge is wonderful. I would like to know where does mr Evans see Ipswich town fc in 5,10 or 15 years times. I like to think that most people associated with the club in any capacity at any level are not greedy, and we appreciate we are possibly never going to be of the caliba of Man Utd, Man City and Chelsea in the modern football world. All we ask is direction and what's the the plan going forward. At present it's hard to see the his for most fans in all due respect to th m including myself. We need this plan in black and white. Personally I do,appreciate what Evans has done for the club financially, but there gets to a point where mr Evans needs to,come out and make himself the face of the club. With the last ke of Milne there I think most people have have worked out that his the puppet part of the show. It's a bit like Mugabe in Zimbabwae. The dictator has lost the plot and is being badly mismanaged. What you think guys.

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dukey44 added 22:08 - Apr 29 sorry positivity I just meant our manager is tosh yet others can work with the players they have and play them in their correct places and not ruin them like ours has down to many of our players? Our manager doesn't know how to spend and never has done in his management carrier!!
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Karlosfandangal added 22:16 - Apr 29 Durham, I agree and yes the football is very poor, I have not been to a game since October because the football was not better than last season and after watching Lincoln on to I feel have made the right decision. Even with a change of manager and money to spend I still can see how Ipswich can compete with the prem teams Middlesbrough spent big on getting up last year and look to be coming down plus we will face Sunderland plus another all with parocute payments of 20mil. Looking at Huws who took a pay cut to play for us, you have to question football as Cardiff are paying more in wages for their reserves than we do for a first team players. We need to find more Cresswell and Mings...... here's hoping Moore becomes one of them.

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madmouse1959 added 00:09 - Apr 30 Ah.....Back to the " They were better than us " catch-phrase. What does McCarthy know about momentum ? What does he know about progress ? He now wants another season to build a team and to carry on upsetting the supporters. Na....he has got to go.
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Swn98 added 07:42 - Apr 30 Surgery?remember Tyrone mings where did he come from?
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Dissboyitfc added 08:43 - Apr 30 preston and Barnsley are above us and play football! Its not about the money all the time, we have some good youth players he doesnt play them though, Kenlock is only in because the proper bloke Knudsen is injured. MM OUT!!!!!!!
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woohoo added 09:25 - Apr 30 Last game that I will see for a while as the club decided to take the p*ss with it's new approach (HA HA) to its 60+ yr-old fans. Just confirmed that my decision not to renew was the right one.
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Dissboyitfc added 09:48 - Apr 30 Positivity Brighton bought 2 players 1 free transfer and ten loans and play great football, there is no defending MM any more the crap football is nothing to do with spending! preston Spent 255k play football and until recently were within a chance of the play-offs! MM out !!!!!!!!!!!
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prebbs007 added 10:01 - Apr 30 Better team. Better players. Better manager. Better owners. Of the players we "own" on the pitch yesterday imo only 2 are capable of top 6 in this division. Youngsters can improve and may reach that level but chambers Berra exskuse sears mcG Moore bru pitman Douglas hyam gerken Knudsen are all either not good enough or miles past their best. We need around a dozen new players and that won't happen. Dinosaur you have to go or the fans will not return and players will not come. We are in a terrible state and this set up and squad will be relegation candidates next season.

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bingboast added 11:06 - Apr 30 £10m Rhodes, £10k Moore was there evidence to illustrate the difference?
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littlestoneblue added 12:06 - Apr 30 Well I still remember Joe Royale at the club, he had naff all funds to work with, BUT he had good contacts in the football world, hence 2 play offs and we played some dam good football, as we did with Sir Bobby, and George Burley, and we are lumbered with Mick??? what baffles me is why wont Evans come out and get close to the fans, and invest in building a team and new manager, the incentive is there, get up and its worth £200 million to the club, you have to speculate to accumulate, if Evans wont invest or sell the club to someone who will, then we will have tedium mediocre seasons for the foreseeable future, so my advise to the 1000's of season ticket holders don't renew until the change's are made, and we all can see some evidence of going forward. But I still want MIck out

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BiGDonnie added 12:22 - Apr 30 Bored of that headline now.
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Ryorry added 13:06 - Apr 30 Geddis78 & bingboast - that'd be the £10m Rhodes who we could have had for nothing had it not been for Roy bluddy Keane!
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Seasider added 13:07 - Apr 30 For once a good summary from our Manager,without anything controversial. Micks personality does not make one feel for him too much;but when you see who they brought on as subs,it makes you realise that under Evans Ipswich Town have regressed to the stage where the Tractor Boys have become a struggling Championship club. Our owner is so anonymous that us fans have no idea what will happen in the future.I know that Mr Evans has a lot more dosh than most of us;but he ould be asset rich/cash poor so cant afford to compete financially in which case why not try to unload some of his investment? It may be that he cannot afford to remove McCarthy and his entourage;but unless he does this I fear the slide will continue. Our group was once 9 strong(all season tickets)but anothernonrenewal has meant that we are now five,which I am sure is being repeated elsewhere;so maintaining the status quo is not a viable option!

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roytheboy added 14:12 - Apr 30 It won't matter who is Manager if Mr Evans does not support him with the required finances, having said that I would love to see ITFC playing proper Football again and that will probably require another Manager.
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Razor added 10:19 - May 1 Mick has certainly lost the majority of fans and possibly the dressing room. To progress I am afraid he has to go----Sunderland, Birmingham? Dream case scenario would be they came in for him and we actually got compensation---that would be cool!!
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BecclesBlue500 added 14:22 - May 2 Perspective is needed when weighing up MM - check out page 11 of the document below, it's all you need to know. Go to beta.companies house search Ipswich Town Football Club Click on Filing History Click on Group Companies Accounts made up to 30th June 2016 (click on view pdf) go to page 11. £net debt = £86,513,000. Page 26, note 26 confirms that the cub owes ME (in two chunks) £73.7m. Its worth pointing out that MM and to a greater or lesser extent ME have picked this up from legends like Sheepshanks, Burley, Keane etc - you want to know why Chambers is playing at centre back and we bring Moore on off the bench?? 86.5m reasons spring to mind......

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