Town manager Joe Royle felt his side should have had their game with Brighton won by half-time such was their first half display. However, the Town boss felt nervousness crept into his side's play in the second period.

The frustrated Blues' manager said: "We should have been out of sight in the first half. We had the chances to win the game three times over. Credit to Brighton, they deserved their equaliser when they got it. We became a bit nervous and missed a penalty.

"We have had only two defeats in 19 which is not a bad run really. We are certainly not going to give up on the play-offs with 21 points to play for."

Royle is likely to lose Darren Ambrose and Hermann Hreidarsson early this week as the club's financial situation continues to bite: "In our situation someone had to go. It is out of the club's hands when the administrators need money."

Brighton boss Steve Coppell was understandably pleased with the point: "The result is everything at the moment. Ipswich are a very, very good side but we held it together. Earlier in the season we might have capsized.

Captain Danny Cullip was at fault on the first Town goal but Coppell wasn't too hard on him: "People make mistakes but we have a no-blame policy at the club. It was a genuine error.

"We had a few wounded soldiers who perhaps should not have been playing. Tony Rougier was one of those and now that he is leaving [his loan spell ends] we will be down to the bare bones. In an ideal world Tony would have been able to stay with us on an immediate recall but a month was agreed at the outset."

Coppell felt that referee Paul Danson got it wrong when he awarded the Blues the second half penalty missed by Darren Bent: "Perhaps it was poetic justice. Carpenter pulled his leg away but it all happened so quickly that you cannot blame the referee for an instinctive decision.

"Had he been able to see it again on television from different angles his verdict might not have been the same."

Photo: Action Images

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