Taylor: Draw Would Have Been a Fair Result Tuesday, 9th Feb 2021 21:58 Assistant manager Stuart Taylor felt a draw would have been a fairer result from the Blues' 2-1 defeat to Peterborough United at London Road. Taylor, again standing in for manager Paul Lambert whose relationship with the local media has deteriorated over recent months, said the Blues looked to take the match to the home side. “Obviously we’re disappointed we didn’t come away with the win that we were looking for,” he said. “The way we set out in the game was to go an be aggressive and be positive and go and attack them, not to come here and sit off against them and give them too much respect in terms of that. “We know they’re one of the best attacking teams in the league, so it was important that we tried to flip it around the other way and try and attack them. We also knew it was going to be a second ball game, it was going to be back to front. “Our start was what we were looking for, we went a goal ahead and everything was fine in that sense, but obviously late on in the first half, one cross too many went into the box and we didn’t deal with the cross that came in and we lost the goal. Really disappointed with that. “Second goal, disappointed that we gave away a free-kick at the edge of the box, a fantastic finish and disappointed not to come out of anything from the game.” Asked whether he felt Peterborough grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck by starting the second half very much on the front foot, Taylor said: “I think it’s just the way the game started in terms of they obviously had the kick-off, they’ve lumped it on top of us, so we’ve then got to go and win the ball back. “They were in possession, hence the reason they went on the attack. So we’d just got to go and deal with that and try and defend it.” Troy Parrott and Josh Harrop had shots stopped by Posh keeper Christy Pym in the penultimate minute and Taylor thought the draw a late goal would have brought would have been a fair result. “I think so,” he reflected. “I don’t think there was much in the game at all. We had a good chance at the end, Troy Parrott, what an unbelievable save from the goalkeeper, just unfortunate it didn’t go in the back of the net for us, but I think a draw would have been a fair result.” Town made four changes which Taylor says was due to the state of the London Road surface: “I think it was being sensible in terms of the type of pitch that it was. “We knew it was going to come back to front and we knew it was going to be lumped right on top of us. We knew they weren’t going to try and play because of the conditions. We went for a big, tall and experienced back four. “Also on top of that, young Luke [Matheson] hasn’t played too much, so to ask him to play Saturday-Tuesday would have been too much for him. “We went for a big, experienced back four to go and deal with it, which they did do for he majority of the game. “Bringing [James] Norwood in as well to go two up front to try and turn it around the other way, rather than come here as an away performance and sit off them, we tried to go after them. “That worked, in the first couple of minutes we got our goal, we started the game well, they got back into the game as the first half ended but certainly we still had chances in the first half. “Second half, after they scored, I thought we turned the game around again and we finished the game off strongly.” Norwood was subbed at half-time having suffered a knock earlier in the half but Taylor says the striker’s withdrawal was precautionary as he continues to work his way back to full match fitness following his recent hamstring problems. “He’s probably where he is at this moment in time is 45 minutes or 60 minutes in a game,” he said. “In those conditions, that comes down to 45. “We didn’t want to take the chance. We’ve not taken a chance previously but he has broken down, so we’re in a situation where we really want to be careful and build him. “We’ve got just under half a season left, so there are loads and loads of games left, we just really need to make sure that we keep him fit for the remainder of the games.” Town once again fell short against one of the division’s top sides. Against the current top seven, the Blues have now lost all nine of their fixtures. “Of course you need to win games, it doesn’t matter if it’s against the top of the league or the bottom of the league, you need to win games to finish in one of the top spots, no doubt about that,” Taylor said when asked about that record and the need for Town to start beating teams in the upper reaches of the division if they’re to be in the running for promotion. “But they’re one of the best attacking line-ups and I thought for the majority of the game we did well against them, but obviously a ball in the box, it’s a good finish for the first goal and a good quality finish for the second goal. “There are positives in the game, I’m disappointed we didn’t win the game, disappointed we didn’t get a draw out of the game, which would have been a fair enough result. “But I thought Troy did fantastically again and he nearly got himself a goal at the end, if it hadn’t been for that great save.” Posh boss Darren Ferguson felt his side thoroughly deserved their victory. “We were very good tonight,” Ferguson told the Peterborough Telegraph. “I don’t think anyone from Ipswich would deny we deserved to win. “We started slowly and conceded a sloppy goal and it took us 15 minutes to get going, but once we started getting the ball out wide we really dominated the game. “We actually prepared for a different formation than the one they used, but they played a diamond and I know how to hurt that. “We wanted to exploit them by switching the play and using width. We did it very well in the first half and eventually equalised from an excellent cross and a very good header back across the goalkeeper from Jonno [Jonson Clarke-Harris]. “We started the second half well even though they changed their shape. Joe [Ward] scored a brilliant goal and we had other chances to score. We should have had a penalty for a blatant handball, but we failed to kill them off which was disappointing. “You’re never over-comfortable at 2-1 and Christy Pym has pulled out a big save to stop them equalising late on from the only chance I can remember them mustering. “We should have won by more, but it’s a thoroughly deserved three points and full credit to the lads.”
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