Blues top scorer Conor Chaplin felt last night’s 2-2 draw at Portsmouth was two points dropped on the overall balance of the game.

Chaplin netted his 12th goal of the season - his 10th in the league - with three scheduled minutes remaining to claim the point, but the ex-Pompey forward thought Town’s display deserved more.

“I think it’s a tough one,” he told iFollow Ipswich. “We came from behind twice, so you could say there was good resilience, a good point, but on the balance of the game I think it was two points dropped really, that’s my overriding feeling, probably.

“I thought we were clearly the better team. A worldy for their first goal [Marlon Pack’s free-kick] and then a set piece for the second and they didn’t create anything other than that.

“Probably in terms of the goals we’ve conceded against them this year, they’ve all been set pieces in the league, so that’s something that we need to try and eradicate in terms of giving fouls away etc.

“I didn’t think we were at our best but I thought we controlled the game, I thought we worked the ball well at times. We didn’t have enough chances but we’ve got a big game coming up, so all eyes on that straight away.”

The 25-year-old admitted Portsmouth’s second goal scored completely against the run of play by Colby Bishop was a blow.

“It was, especially because of the manner of it, I think it was a poor goal to concede from our point of view,” he said.

“We take pride in defending set pieces, we’ve been very good at it, so that’s disappointing, especially because they didn’t create anything in free play.

“That’s probably the most frustrating thing, gifting them a chance to put the ball in the box. I thought we showed some resilience, which is obviously a positive.”

Regarding his late equaliser, he recalled: “I saw Samy [Morsy] lining up and found myself on the edge of the box and it’s a striker’s instinct just to follow the ball in.

“I made sure that I stayed onside and it fell to me. Sometimes it does, sometimes it’s parried out the other way. Thankfully it fell straight to me. It’s a nice one to get a tap-in like that and ultimately get a point.”

Chaplin believes that the draw will feel a better result if Town win at Lincoln City on Monday.

“If we go and follow that up away at Lincoln, which is going to be a very, very tough game, I think we know that from the first game we played against them in the league at our place,” he said.

“If you follow that up with a win, it’s a great Christmas period and no one can say otherwise.

“That’s on us now, that’s our responsibility and something that we’ll look to go and do.”

Chaplin, who joined the Blues in the summer of 2021 from Barnsley, had praise for the 1,600 Town fans who sold out the away end at Fratton Park.

“Incredible travelling support,” he enthused. “This time of the year it’s not easy to rally money together and get down the road, it’s probably a 300-mile round trip, so fair play to them, I thought they were brilliant.

“They helped us at the end when we were trying to probe and trying to put the balls in the box and find spaces, and I felt that on the last goal they sucked the ball in a little bit, which is exactly what we need from them.”

Photo: Matchday Images

Saxonblue74 added 11:31 - Dec 30 Divides opinion among players and supporters alike! Morsy, "a good point". Chaplin, "2 points dropped".
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Bazza8564 added 12:51 - Dec 30 A win at Lincoln and yes its been a good xmas but we have the execute that. Its seems to me that at times we want to pass the other team into oblivion, our intensity to score is at its highest when we are behind, we need to translate that into getting leads and building on them. Clearly we are vulnerable at the back at the moment, Chis W has been a shadow i=of his old self since the Charlton game, im intrigued to learn how we will strengthen

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Linkboy13 added 10:12 - Dec 31 Spot on assessment by Conner not at our best against a very ordinary Portsmouth team but still did enough to win.
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dirtydingusmagee added 10:30 - Dec 31 we are in a good position, but in danger of it slipping and cant shake off Plymouth or the owls, With others closing the gap we need to sharpen up ,must convert these games where we outplay the opposition into WINS . COYB .
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