Town boss Mick McCarthy was delighted with his side’s 2-0 Carabao Cup first round victory over Luton at Kenilworth Road, particularly given the quality of the opposition, who thrashed Yeovil 8-2 on Saturday.

“I am delighted with it, and they’re a very good side, they proved that on Saturday when they murdered Yeovil,” McCarthy said.

“A bit like us at Charlton, just one of those days when everything goes right for that team, which was summed up by Alan McCormack’s goal which flew in from a clearance from a corner kick.

“You could see today from the way they play, they way they linked up. They play a really attacking system, playing that diamond and it did cause us a few problems, they had some chances, I have to be honest

“It’s not a perfect performance by us, but it’s still a very good one and it’s a clean sheet and a 2-0 win, so we’re in the next round of the Carabao Cup.”

McCarthy was pleased to build on Saturday’s opening day win against Birmingham, the Blues recording back to back victories in their first two fixtures having had to wait until April to do the same last season.

“That is always the case, I’ve never tried to lose one of these games,” he said. “I think this is the hardest game of the season. Players all want to play on Saturday against Birmingham and the ones that don’t are bitterly disappointed.

“I spoke about it at the team meeting before the game. The ones who come in and think ‘I’m playing Tuesday, I won’t play Saturday, I’m not in the gaffer’s first team, I’ll change it again’.

“But I said to them that it’s an audition to be in the team this, and there’s one thing for certain, if you don’t pull your finger out and play well and run about you’ve no chance of getting in the team on Saturday.

“I think the young ones have given us a real bit of fizz in there. I thought Tristan Nydam and Flynn Downes were excellent. And even Woolfy [Luke Woolfenden] coming on at half-time and not letting anybody down.’""With Bryan Klug watching from the stand, McCarthy said it was a good night for the Blues academy.

“Flynn and Tristan, they’re nailed on footballers, there’s no doubt in my mind. Woolfy I didn’t know [as well]. He comes and trains with us, of course I know him, and he’s trained with us more in the last couple of weeks because we’ve not had enough players. And it’s lovely to see him come on and do well.

“They can be proud the lads in the academy. They always want to see players get in the first team.

“And I get asked at times at every club I’ve been at, ‘Can you get any in your first team?’. Aand I say ‘If you’ve got any good ‘uns and they’re good enough I’ll put them in the first team’. Well, there they are.”

The Blues boss also had praise for skipper Luke Chambers: “Chambo’s been great, 46 games he played last year. He had a bit of a knock from Saturday but I needed him in the team and he really played well.”

McCarthy handed yesterday’s new signing Martyn Waghorn his debut from the bench and was pleased with his new acquisition, who he says cost a lot less than the reported £1 million with rumours that the initial fee may have been as low as £300,000 circulating on social media.

“Waggy, I’m delighted with him,” McCarthy said. “That’s an absolute snip, and it’s not the million quid, by the way that was reported, nowhere near that. Sounds good for the club that, and for Rangers, I guess, but you’ll find that’s not. That might be his deal over two years, I don’t know. It’s an absolute snip. I’m delighted with him.

“I said to him, ‘Can you go and do Tristan’s job?’. He said, ‘No problem, just stick me on’. And he went on and he was very good. He did his defensive duties. I’m thrilled we’ve got him.”

Loanee Bersant Celina made his Town debut and impressed his new manager with his approach to the game as much as with his skills.

“He’s what everybody likes but sometimes you get a bit of that and it can be a juggling act and nothing happens,” he said.

“But that wasn’t him tonight, he contributed, I thought his pace and his running power, he competed, he tried to win headers. His all-round game was good. I was delighted with him.

“And Didzy getting his goals will do him the world of good. He probably thought he was fit to play on Saturday. But that will do him great tonight.”

On the downside, both Adam Webster and Cole Skuse suffered knocks, McCarthy confirmed: “Adam’s a concern, he’s rocked his ankle again and Skusey’s jarred his knee. Skusey’s pretty durable and plays his games but we’ll have to wait and see tomorrow.”

Lutn boss Nathan Jones was proud of the way his team played against the Blues, despite the defeat.

"I am, he said. "There are still elements of naivety too. But they've got real Championship quality. David McGoldrick's been one hell of good player for a long time and he was the difference tonight: two bits of real quality from him.

"I don't think we deserved to concede the second goal but we have to eradicate that. As far as performance-wise and how they went about their work, I'm very proud of them.

"They worked tirelessly, moved the ball really well and we had the best chances first half.

"Elliot Lee's missed a glorious opportunity to send us in level and we've actually, apart from the counter-attack, we were making all the running. They were just trying to pick us off on the counter-attack.

"I was very pleased. We acquitted ourselves well and it was a real even and well-contested game. I'm proud of them today."

He added: "We believe in ourselves and we're disappointed to have lost. Ipswich are a good Championship side, they had a good win against big spending Birmingham on the weekend so we're delighted.

"It's not our focus and I'm glad we went out admirably really because the league's our focus and we don't want any distractions this year."

Photo: TWTD

Mark added 23:05 - Aug 8 Aside from the Dozzell injury, the good news just keeps flowing - what an unbelievable few days! Two wins, two clean sheets, good performances, surprisingly high home attendance, good news on season ticket sales, progressing in the cup, seeing academy players step up and play brilliantly, signing Waghorn for a reported £1M, learning Waghorn cost a lot less than £1M so was even more of a bargain...what a total transformation on how we felt a week ago. Well done to all concerned.

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blueherts added 23:30 - Aug 8 Nice and local game for me and a really devsnt cup tie in which Luton played their part and probably should have drawn level just before ht But this was a joy to watch an ipswich team passing it about and a midfield - Downes , who is a class player and Nydam and also looked so assured . With the youth now knocking on the door we suddenly have real compt in CM and with Huws Adeyemi Bish and Hyam to come back all is good Up front Dids showed his class . Celina looks tricky and Waghorn came on and looks like he will def be a handful . So a good performance but great to see young players really stamping a mark . Having low expectations could really help us this season . Def have a squad in a better place than a year ago . Well done .

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boroughblue added 23:33 - Aug 8 As mark said, everything seems to be going really well. The only thing that isn't going well is our awful luck with injuries.
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Currie10 added 23:57 - Aug 8 Great win! Re Hyam and Bishop, both well down the pecking order behind Skuse/ Huws/ Adeyemi/ Hydam and Downes. I honestly don't expect to see Hyam in a town shirt again. Bishop I think needs a loan, but interestingly when Mick's mentioned players not one mention of Teddy.
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brian_a_mul added 23:57 - Aug 8 Hope Webster is OK and Skuse too, can't afford too many more injuries. Klug must be thrilled, it's taken until now that we see the outstanding work Klug has done to repair the damage Keane did to our academy. Fair play to MM too, he always has attended youth games and kept the youngsters motivated and involved with senior team. It really is promising
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KiwiBlue2 added 00:38 - Aug 9 You can see things building nicely with the youngsters. This time next year they will be even better. Just hope that we have more luck this year with injuries as we are still a bit thin in some areas......... roll on Saturday.......
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Currie10 added 03:05 - Aug 9 Love this forum after a win and McCarthy writes comments, sod all TWTD users bother to post! Look forward to this site upon our first defeat, be comments galore and + arrows galore ;)
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martin587 added 06:51 - Aug 9 Great to see the young lads given a chance and proving there worth.Future looks good.🙏
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Gingerblues added 07:27 - Aug 9 So refreshing to come away from this fixture with a win. It does seem MM has listened to the fans on the style, although we need to be realistic on what this team can achieve. I worry about Webster...can he stay fit?
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ChrisFelix added 07:38 - Aug 9 Great win but it looks like Webster's injured again. Looks like he is going to be a player who sits in the stand more than plays
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dukey44 added 07:47 - Aug 9 Currie10 it's only two games. I for one can't stand Mick but it's amazing what wins do to make everyone happy and to have our team defend and play football at last that's all we need to see Ipswich playing passing football and winning!! Simple
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Brownie added 08:01 - Aug 9 I'm pleased for the club with the start. Early doors but long may it continue. When you are one side of the fence or the other with the future of the club in mind it can be difficult to post without being accused of being negative or if not changing your mind all the time! I haven't changed mine yet. And one thing never changes for most of us - we love & support the club. COYB!

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philpott2 added 08:33 - Aug 9 Wish I'd ventured down to the game now. Decided after recent years disappointments that i wasn't going to bother....damn......great news though, and looks like there may be skill, heart and effort in the whole squad, as well as the required bits of luck. Long may it continue (10 months would do it). Well done all. Up the Blues!!!
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BobbyBell added 08:57 - Aug 9 This is what the fans have been asking for. Play football and give the youngsters a chance. Maybe, just maybe the penny has dropped but the real test will come when we lose. Will we then revert to defence first again or shrug it off and carry on playing football the right way?
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cat added 09:05 - Aug 9 Spot on Brownie, I'm not going to get negative on the back of 2 wins, nor would I have if we had lost 2. MM is still here, so we just have to roll with that. I will give it a couple of months to see where we are at, so, unlike a few on here, their will be no knee jerk reactions from me in the meantime!
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Ferguson added 09:18 - Aug 9 Do you know what ? Let's forget last season and move on. Happy days.
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Currie10 added 09:37 - Aug 9 It is Dukey but it's noticeable upon a defeat the amount of comments and absolute drivel people feel the need to write is beyond me. Come 5.07 or something on a Saturday, if we've lost we're already on page 2. Anyway, see what we do up Barnsley. I get that a lot of people are anti Mick - fair play to them however the first defeat, lets see how many dinosaur / knee jerk reaction / toys out of pram comments there are.

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midastouch added 17:08 - Aug 9 Some fair points on here. We certainly need to try and be positive. On the flip side of all the harmony and positivity that is breaking out is this... Which is? That if nobody had of moaned season there's a strong argument that Marcus wouldn't of felt such a need to dip into his pocket again (at long last!) and the ball would most likely being played more in the air still rather than the deck. Fortunately there's a lot of signs coming out of the club they've paid heed to some of the criticism and with good reason given it was our worst finish in 58 years and if that didn't cause some soul searching at the club I don't know what would! So for all the positivity crew, without the many moans last season there's a strong argument we wouldn't have as much to be as positive about right now as if nobody held the club accountable for such a season of failure Marcus might of been quite content to keep the wallet shut and thereby risk serving up more of the same drivel as last season. Just saying! :-)

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Seasider added 19:36 - Aug 9 I think Midas Touch that the 3000 or so drop in season ticket numbers over the past couple of seasons has probably been a factor as well;but certainly more has been done off the field than at any time during the last decade.The only thing that hasn't been done is to restore phone applications for tickets,which are still available at a lot of grounds,and all the theatres that I am aware of. On the field things are also on the up,although its early days; but there are hopeful signs for the future in the youngsters once again coming through,and the new signings. We must remember though that we have had false dawns with Hyam and Bishop in the recent past,and many others between them back to Smithy.In fact I cant recall in Micks reign any youngster who has made it regularly into the first team. Last season we had the two full backs;but Spence was elevated above Josh who is now out on loan,and has become third choice with Iofa coming from Wolves. Then you have left back Kenlock who played well when Knudsen was injured at the end of last season,only to be told by Mick that Jonas is still first choice.Perhaps this is why he didn't play so well yesterday. Still must be careful not to appear to be negative,as I shall be downmarked by some,and abused by others.Something that I am not used to,as normally my markings are mainly positive.

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rugbytomc added 19:38 - Aug 9 When I read waghorn cost £1m I laughed at the clubs official announcement that he cost "a substantial fee" because in modern day terms for the championship, £1m isn't that substantial! So if he did indeed cost less than that-great what a bargain hopefully but worrying that the club doesn't ever look to replace Murphy with a£3m plus player and Evans isn't opening his cheque book but merely using some of the Murphy/mings/cresswell/wickham money on transfers ( finally) Sorry to be less than positive after an encouraging start to the season

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bluemike1969 added 09:15 - Aug 10 Sending our best wishes to one of St Benedict's favourite sons, Tristan. He was a pleasure to work with and we are all so pleased your debut went so well. Jack R and I will be continuing to follow your career with pride. See you back at college soon mate!
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