Town boss Mick McCarthy felt the 1-1 scoreline was the right result from the Blues’ visit to Bolton, a match he felt was the worst he’s seen all season, believing his side didn’t really get going until they’d gone a goal down.

“I think 1-1 is a fair reflection,” he said. “I think it was possibly the worst game I’ve seen all season.

“They’re no mugs and they didn’t make it easy for us. They’re a big, strong powerful team and neither of us [played particularly well], although actually we played great football from 1-0 down.

“When we went 1-0 down a football team turned up and we passed it around and I thought we played well then.

“Up until that point, as I said, it was the worst game, first half, I’ve seen all season and probably for a long time.”

The Blues' best moment of the match was their well-worked goal with debutant sub Stephen Gleeson, Bersant Celina, David McGoldrick and Martyn Waghorn involved as Joe Garner bundled home his ninth of the season.

In the closing minutes Waghorn almost won it with a shot which struck the post.

“I guess when games start getting stretched and people start getting tired, we’ve got quality on the pitch, we showed it and Waggy hit the inside of the post and it flew out,” McCarthy reflected. “We had to scrap it out, it was a tough old game.”

Why was that? There was no lack of attacking ability in the team he fielded: "No, there wasn’t. But both teams worked extremely hard to stop each other playing but it was only with half an hour to go and the goal had gone in that we actually played well.”

The Town boss admitted he was happy with the point: “I’d always take it. We come up here and, I don’t know what it is, do we think we’re Ipswich Town with Sir Bobby Robson still involved here with all the players and we’re a top, top team and we should come here and beat them?

“I don’t think that’s the case. I think Bolton are full of Championship experience. They’ve been having a bit of a resurgence, they are tough to play here. I’ve never come here and had an easy game. And at the end of it I’ll take the point and go down home with it in my pocket.”

McCarthy was pleased with his debutants, midfielder Gleeson, who came on at half-time, and centre-half Cameron Carter-Vickers, who started.

“Yes, it’s not easy,” he added. “I was really pleased with [Carter-Vickers], it’s not an easy one playing against Gary Madine, he’s on fire, he scored his goal, he’s such a big unit, but I thought Cameron and Chambo played well.

“And I thought Stephen Gleeson was the outstanding player when he came on, I thought he was a mile above everybody else in terms of getting it and passing it and a bit of quality when he turned them around and put it up the sides of them. And he was involved in the goal, he played really well.”

Given that the 29-year-old Irishman had been out-of-favour at Birmingham and had played only seven games this season prior to today, his display was particularly impressive.

“Well, I know him,” McCarthy continued. “I saw a comment about me signing somebody [else] and fans were underwhelmed. I bet they were underwhelmed when I signed Glees as well, but that’s why they’re fans and that's why I’m the manager.”

He says the Carter-Vickers loan deal came about via academy head of player development Bryan Klug, who worked with the defender during his time coaching at Spurs.

“We were spinning plates for the last two, nearly three weeks and Bryan Klug actually came in and said to me on Thursday morning, ‘Would I be interested in Cameron Carter-Vickers?’,” McCarthy revealed.

“I said, ‘Has he left Sheffield United?’ and he said, ‘He has, he’s gone back to Spurs’ and I said, ‘Yes, I would’.

“I saw him play here, he scored here, the winner when I came to watch the game before we played Bolton.

“And I’ve been impressed with him. He’s not the biggest, he’s not 6ft 4, but he jumps and he heads it, he’s tough, he’s powerful and he’ll play a lot better than he did today because the game did nobody any favours for 60 minutes.”

McCarthy says Gleeson has a chance to win himself a longer stay at Portman Road: “For sure, we’ve taken his contract, he’s our player to the end of the season and I think he showed his quality.

“I’ve known from the start of the window I’ve been trying to find Glees, but we’ve had Luke Hyam coming back, however, he’s played one game in 18 months.

“We’ve had Tristan coming back, but he’s 18. Flynn’s not yet back. Tom Adeyemi’s not yet back.

“Skusey’s got an ankle injury and he’s come off again today. But apparently it was us that was making all the bad tackles, I thought every tackle of ours was a foul, apparently.

“Skusey’s got a knock on his ankle again and signing Glees was as much to cover that because he sits in that position, he gets the ball, he does a really good defensive job. Callum and Skusey have been great and if I lose one of them it makes our team weaker.”

McCarthy says that’s all the January business he’ll do unless someone were to move on: “I think so. I don’t think we’ll be taking anybody in. I think we’ve got a front four that’s doing well. Freddie comes on and he’s always a threat.

“Aaron Drinan, I’m pleased with him, I’d have no problem playing him. No, I think that’s us, I’m hoping Adam Webster will be back and we get Jordan Spence back next week after his suspension.”

McCarthy confirmed that Carter-Vickers’s recruitment means Tommy Smith’s move to the Colorado Rapids will now be completed.

“Tommy will be moving on,” he added. “It’s a good opportunity for him, he wants to play first-team football and we can use that salary to get somebody else in now, I hope.”

McCarthy also poured cold water on claims that Bersant Celina’s loan could be cut short and the Manchester City man could be sold during the window with Werder Bremen, Espanyol and Torino all said to be interested in signing the Kosovo international.

“Go back to what I told you right at the very start of this arrangement,” he said. “He’s our player. Bersant’s our player to the end of the season.”

Werder Bremen’s sporting director Frank Baumann has also distanced his club from the link.

Bolton boss Phil Parkinson admitted it felt like two points dropped: "When you're ahead in a game and as comfortable as we were [it does]."

"However, Ipswich have got some very talented front players - Martyn Waghorn, Joe Garner and David McGoldrick - and the one moment where they unlocked us, a real bit of quality in and around the box, has produced their equaliser.

"Our performance level was good considering we've had to play Dervite, who hasn't played for a long time. Mark Beevers went down ill but I thought Dorian Dervite was man of the match.

"Karl Henry has come into the team after only two days of training, so maybe we did fatigue a bit towards the end of the game.

"That was probably a factor which cost us, but it's another important point and keeps us out of the bottom three.

"We can now work over the next two weeks on reshaping the squad for the big push towards the end of the season."

Meanwhile, Parkinson felt Town midfielder Callum Connolly should have been red-carded for an alleged elbow which left Sammy Ameobi requiring treatment in the erly stages.

“You may have seen my reaction, I was thinking ‘Was I the only one in this stadium who saw him catch him?’” he said.

“To be fair to the lad Connolly, he was aggressive in midfield and played well, caught a few players, but I was right in front of it.

"I didn’t expect the ref to see it because he was right on the other side but the fourth official and linesman had a clear view of him swinging and cutting Sammy just above his eye. On another day that could easily have been a red card.

“Gary Madine got booked first half for a late tackle, and that was fair enough, but how could someone who has flinged their elbow and cut someone’s eye open not at least get booked?

“He needed to rely on his linesman and fourth official — but they say they didn’t see it.”

Photos: TWTD/PagePix

blues1 added 07:54 - Jan 21 Does McCarthy have the memory of a goldfish? In one part of this interview he says thats us done with signings this window. Moments later he says the money saved from tommy Smith's wages will hopefully allow us to bring in someone else? Talk about contradicting urself. Then yet another unwarranted and unprovoked criticism of fans. Just so arrogant. Oh and geminimustang. If he going to defend him at least get ur facts right. He didn't play Vickers due to injuries. He could have played the same defence as last week. But chose not to. Correctly imo by the way. But also probably because he has to play him under the terms of his loan. Was recalled from Sheffield utd as didnt play enough games for them.

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BlueMachines added 09:15 - Jan 21 Kikapu. I feel bad for you that you suffer from the same negativity as your potty mouthed leader. The best thing about football is the ability of the underdog to cause an upset. Watching Norwich nearly beat Chelsea was exciting, despite it being Norwich. Seeing Ipswich take on Inter Milan was exciting. The chance of the underdog is what made the FA CUP the best cup competition in the world. It's because of too many people like you that that competition has lost its magic and also why the fans are disappearing in their thousands from PR. We know we won't win the Champions League but I would like to set out to beat Bolton. Mick said the other day his aim to to finish where we are now ( Friday) which was for points off the play offs. The best thing about the first day of the season is the hope and expectation of promotion. If we aren't aiming for that why spend circa £400 on a season ticket? Might as well use for something to improve my life not MM or ME's. we should set out to win every game. It's 11 Vs 11. Try having some dreams and ambition and passion.

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Dissboyitfc added 09:22 - Jan 21 Geminimustang..... and you go through life wearing rose coloured spectacles! WE are not going to reach the play-offs, which is a fact! How can you say if the fans dont believe how can the players believe? well the players are paid to believe, they should be as professionals even more determined to prove they are able to do it. All throughout the history of itfc we have achieved those great heights being the underdogs. I went to the 78 cup final, did i expect us to outplay outclass and beat Arsenal? in all honesty even though i had bets on us to win i was dreading going back to school because i didnt know how i was going to fulfil those debts! Truth is we won even though i didnt think we would and it was down to the players own self belief installed into them by the Legend Sir Bobby. Once aagain MM has a digs at the fans, he has no right to speak about the Sir Bobby era! A better comparison would be the Joe Royal era, who had less money to spend, but that didnt take the entertainment away did it? and we reached the playoffs! People defending MM just beggars belief. He cant go quick enough! someone on the phone yesterday who had been a supporter siince 1947 saying he was doing a great job! He has done great if the goal is to make us a boring championship side with no ambition for better! A great job if losing all FA cup games to lower league sides is the aim! And great if the aim to go for the Draw and bore people, a great job of decreasing the attendances, awesome Work MM, NOT!!!!! Us fans dont expect to much, just a manager who has a winning mentality with an emphasis on entertaining the people who love the Club!!

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Dissboyitfc added 09:32 - Jan 21 One more thing i do think we could scrape into the play-offs ( possibly) if we had a manager that was to go for it from now until the end of the season. I dont think there is any chance of us being relegated, so why not just go for it!! the attitude should be " who dares wiins" not MM's attitude " who cares who wins?" going for draws is downright boring and is holding us back!

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BlueMachines added 10:08 - Jan 21 Geminimustang. It's the manager who doesn't believe. Check out his comments from Friday. I'm with you we need positivity at the club. So why have we got the worlds gloomiest and most negative manager in charge!
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Northstandveteran added 10:09 - Jan 21 @Bluemachines. As I've said before. Ipswich fans started to not expect a top 2 finish years ago. Then it became acceptable not to be challenging top six. When supporters start to settle for mid table mediocrity there is only one way the team begins to head. Ok, so we are not entitled to be a top 6 club but we should at least play like we are trying to achieve that goal. Supporters that accept where we are is the reason we are going nowhere. Playing for a draw in every league game and 'throwing' every F.A cup game is not what the once 'famous' Ipswich town's foundations were built on. We all know clubs have good years and bad years but to accept the rubbish on display at Portman road as some fans have suggested i.e. 'lets make the most of it' is the reason we have been stagnating for the last ten years. No other fan base would put up with it

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BlueMachines added 10:14 - Jan 21 Dissboyitfc you can't claim something to never fact that hasn't happened yet. However unlikely it is. Sorry
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Dissboyitfc added 10:32 - Jan 21 Sadly with MM it is a fact! we will not achieve the play-offs with him in charge, he is negative and that is a fact and that negativity will not help us up to the play-offs! We are going nowhere good under MM! Just wish he would go for it, but he wont! he wont change his nature of preserving the point he starts with.
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martin587 added 10:39 - Jan 21 I'm not a fan of MM and never have been,but in all fairness he has unearthed a few quality players over his time at the club.And to to be honest I don't think anybody can disagree over this. However I do believe the owner has not helped in supporting MM in the transfer market Only relying on loans and cheap signings. Ok,a few have worked out fine,and yes we have made a profit on some as well.There is a great deal of uncertainty at the club which I'm sure is not helping the players and the atmosphere in the ground. Whether MM leaves or remains at the end of the season should be announced sooner rather than later and the owner needs to come forward now and show his cards on his plans for the future of our club. After watching the game at Bolton yesterday nothing gave me any enthusiasm whatsoever and if we set out like that every game we will finish the season with a whimper.What encouragement does this give supporters for buying season tickets next season. We do have a very reasonable squad capable of a much higher position. Mr.Evans it's now up to you as the owner to get this club by the scruff of the neck and sort it out otherwise support will dwindle and you will be even more in debt.🙏

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TimmyH added 10:53 - Jan 21 What exactly are our accomplishments under McCarthy?? @Kikapu - notice a small club like Brentford still keeps showing us up even though they have a small budget, loss of Warburton and many of their players season in season out. Oh well I suppose there will always be a percentage of people who will always be content with the state of things although there have been clubs promoted on not huge budgets.

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Dissboyitfc added 11:02 - Jan 21 Martin yes he has achieved some good stuff, but he is paid well so he should do some good things! And the squad is capable of achieving more, that is down to MM not ME. personally i believe if we really went for it in the final games something amazing just could happen! ME's lack of investment doesnt help and i agree on that, but entertainment can be achieved on a budget!

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Surco72 added 11:03 - Jan 21 that's why they're fans and I'm the manager...... His arrogance knows no limits - 1 win in 7 games against a team who had a player sent off yes your doing really well MM . The only reason you are still in a job is because the owner doesn't care and has lost his bottle
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Surco72 added 11:13 - Jan 21 MM crying about other teams spending money all the time when it suits him , we have spent £3 million on signings and Bolton haven't spent a penny ?
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brittaniaman added 11:54 - Jan 21 Not to long ago Marco Silva was a Manager in demand, but stayed Loyal to Watford, I see his Loyalty paid off ?? He got the sack today ??? Perhaps they might go for Dino now ?????
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blueboy1981 added 12:09 - Jan 21 ..... martin587 - What proof has anyone that McCarthy has actually asked for any money to spend ?? - he preserves his existence, and secures his pay check, by managing on a small budget. His style of play, and philosophy, would never justify having the purse strings loosened by Evans - if he had such resource available to him, and had spent accordingly ... !! - he would have been gone before now. Hasn't Evans done just that before .... ??

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blueboy1981 added 12:09 - Jan 21 ..... martin587 - What proof has anyone that McCarthy has actually asked for any money to spend ?? - he preserves his existence, and secures his pay check, by managing on a small budget. His style of play, and philosophy, would never justify having the purse strings loosened by Evans - if he had such resource available to him, and had spent accordingly ... !! - he would have been gone before now. Hasn't Evans done just that before .... ??

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blueboy1981 added 12:12 - Jan 21 ....... not having money to spend - allegedly - is a ready made futile excuse. Money doesn't always buy success - as some have already highlighted. Let's hear less of this lame excuse - constantly used in defence of McCarthy by some.
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martin587 added 12:18 - Jan 21 Blueboy 1981. If you read my post correctly you will see I never said MM had asked for money.I used the word 'Support' from the owner.yes,your correct we will never get an answer to your question.
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GatesofDelirium added 12:18 - Jan 21 That seems to me to be an honest account from MM. I don't see any arrogance just simple truths that some of our thinner skinned brethren should learn to accept; 1. We aren't as good as we were under SBR 2. It was a lousy game for at least an hour but we improved eventually. 3. He is a better manager than any of us. That said, I appreciate the desire for more attacking, penetrative football and would welcome Marco Silva to Portman Road with open arms even though there's as much chance of that happening as us spending 5 million on a box-to-box midfielder.

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GatesofDelirium added 12:28 - Jan 21 Money does not always buy success but a lack of money definitely makes success harder to come by. For every Huddersfield there's a Wolves (1st), Derby (2nd), Villa (4th and rising), Newcastle (promoted 1st) etc etc. Therefore, not having money to spend is a legitimate excuse in what is accepted to be a very difficult league to achieve promotion, not a lame excuse as some would like us to believe.

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dirtydingusmagee added 13:22 - Jan 21 your team , your tactics, your motivation ....YOUR FAULT ! there will always be players injured, we had players back from injury , nothing changes at all, its just another excuse for your pathetic managerial failures, it wouldnt wash with most other clubs, Evans's apathy is the only thing that keeps you at ITFC. please please please just do one .
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norfolkbluey added 14:37 - Jan 21 Halfway up the table is the place where we sit, There isn't any other place quite like it, It isn't at the bottom and it isn't at the top, And there isn't any other place quite like it.........UNDER MM
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Henz10 added 15:53 - Jan 21 'That's why I am the manager and they are the fans' I think we should have fired him at the end of last season and I'm certain that he will not be here at the start of the new one. All of what has been said above is true but I do wonder what the fans genuinely believe about a play - off push. The players are an honest group but they are desperately lacking in ability. Even in MM's best season to date the only reason we limped into sixth is because of Daryl Murphy being phenomenal. This squad is a mid table squad. I think another manager could play a more attractive brand of football and not be so arrogant in his assertions, but he's probably fed up of having sold Cresswell and Mings and not having the money to reinvest. The real problem is PR. When I used to attend 5 - 8 games a year under from Royle to Jewell the atmosphere was loud and the prices reasonable. Now the atmosphere is poor and the price of everything a joke, not just the ticket. MM and ME are too blame for this but the real issue is that even Guardiola would struggle to get such an average team out of the division and we shall stagnate for even longer.

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wychyblue added 15:56 - Jan 21 I hear a lot about what a good manager MM is . May a little bit of truth in that but the question I have to ask about that is 1) our full back starts are hopeless . If he can't see that there is something lacking I. His know how . We have had all sorts tried there but. One of them have been ‘proper' attacking full backs. That's what is required if you play two holding midfielders . If he can see that then why has he not addressed it 2) A's an example tactically . Yesterday at the game , it can been seen that Bolton are a big physical side with two big centre halves . Why would you try for the whole game to punt it up to Garner who got nothing for the entire match . But no change of instruction from the bench . Had they not seen Bolton play before ?. It is ironic that the only passing move of the game resulted in our goal. Without moaning and groaning about MM forever and a day , we are no better off after his five years really than when he arrived.He has tried his best but his best is average and no more . Let's move on at the end of the year and try something different for everyone's sake . When people say that he has had no money as an excuse for him , did Huddersfield have more money last year (or indeed Brighton ). The answer is obviously no but both sides played good passing football. The last side to get promoted by being physical that I can remember was Stoke under Pulis but that was 11 years or so , so maybe a change of direction is worth exploring

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Seasider added 17:03 - Jan 21 Honest assessment,but he is the Manager,and should take some,if not most of responsibility for what he describes first half as being worst he can recall for ages. Why pick Chambers on the left when we have Knudsen.Does he have to playCCV from outset to the exclusion of Kenlock ?
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