Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson was delighted with his side’s disciplined and committed performance as they frustrated to the Blues to claim a 0-0 draw on their first ever visit to Portman Road.

The Red Dragons, who are 14th in the table, defended resolutely throughout to claim their third clean sheet in a row and stretch their unbeaten Championship run to six matches.

Asked whether he was happy with a point, Parkinson said: “Definitely. We had to be really disciplined today, committed and there had to be that organisation, togetherness out on the pitch because Ipswich have got a lot of talent and they’ve got themselves going in the last few weeks.

“I thought we stuck to our task really well in the game. There were times we know we could have done better on the ball ourselves.

“First half, we had a couple of moments where we needed to take the sting out of the game with the ball, and the same in the second period.

“But I don’t want that to detract from the effort the lads have given us today because we’ve come here with quite a few injury problems, players have come into the team and stood strong and I’m very pleased with the point.”

He added: “I think the detail of the pressing, when to press and when to stay in our shape was really good.

“And then once Ipswich got through that, there were some important blocks. There were a couple made in the second half and then [keeper] Arthur [Okonkwo] was really solid.

“When you come to Portman Road with the talent Ipswich have got, you can expect to be in defensive situations and have to stand strong as a team. And we did that so well today.”

One man absent was former Blues striker Kieffer Moore, who suffered a hamstring injury before the international break having started all Wrexham’s Championship games before today.

“For Kieffer, turning that injury into a slight positive, he’s had a breather because he’s played a lot of football,” Parkinson continued.

“He’d played nearly every minute for us, he’d been away with Wales and he’ll come back refreshed and strong, ready to build on an amazing start to the season that he’s had.”

Another ex-Town front player, Nathan Broadhead, came off the bench in the 70th minute and Parkinson was asked how he rates the 27-year-old’s first few months at the club following his move from the Blues for an initial £7.5 million in the summer.

“Broady’s a dangerous player, as all the Ipswich fans know, he can create something out of nothing,” the one-time Colchester boss said.

“He’s had some really good moments for us. We’ve got good competition at the top of the pitch, but you need that.

“I think if you look at Ipswich’s squad, the way they changed their team around in the wide areas and the 10 and nine, you have to do that in this division because there are so many midweek games.

“Broady’s been great, he’s fitted in well with the group. It didn’t quite fall for him today, the moment, but if there’s any player on the pitch, I’m sure a lot of the Ipswich fans were looking at each other and going ‘oh no!’ when he came on because they all know he’s capable of producing real magic.”

Photo: TWTD

billlm added 19:16 - Nov 22 No you were the worst side this season here, We weren't at the races a horror show from town,
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jas0999 added 19:44 - Nov 22 Great tactics. Injury hit and needed to defend and defend deep. The highest paid manager in the championship had no answer … again!
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armchaircritic59 added 19:59 - Nov 22 billlm, blaming the wrong person and the wrong side. It's not the job of the opposition to come to Portman Road and hand out early ( or late ) Christmas presents. It's our job with the millions of pounds worth of " talent " we've recruited to break them down, thus forcing them to come out and play more. Want a stat? Last 4 home games, shots on goal 81, goals scored 2. A goal for every 40 attempts. Now you know why teams come to Portman Road and nearly always with the odd exception, defend .

1

BeachBlue added 21:03 - Nov 22 The plan being to kill the game dead and bore everyone?
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blues1 added 22:43 - Nov 22 BillM. Were you actually at the game? A horror show? Typical town fan on this site, clearly know,sod all about football. Totally dominated the game, but as often happens when a,team have no intent to do anything but defend, it can be hard to break them down. Only have to look at Albania, who until england beat them last week, hadnt lost at home for 4 years, including gameszagainst Germany and Spain, playingcthe kind of football

4

Gforce added 23:58 - Nov 22 Fair play to them,they deserved their point, we had no cutting edge whatsoever and come the end of the season it may well cost us.
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armchaircritic59 added 00:06 - Nov 23 Gforce, absolutely. If a multi million outfit can't break down a defence put together with small change found down the back of a sofa, then something is wrong, especially when it keeps happening. I think what we are really pointing to in here in our different ways, is that the ability to defend has increased far more than the ability to create and score. Something so called "attacking coaches " if they actually exist, might care to mull over urgently.

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Dissboyitfc added 08:42 - Nov 23 Billm agree they were the worst side at portman road this season they looked very much like a non league outfit. awful! however that wasnt a horror show from ipswich, i can remember some real horror shows in recent years where we wouldnt have an attempt until 80+ minutes. However all that said we were'nt clinical and that cost us 2 points!
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churchmans added 10:45 - Nov 23 @billlm tbe horror show was charlton at home!
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churchmans added 10:46 - Nov 23 Still plenty of time! We will no by start of jan ifvwe will be in tbe running fir automatic(2nd spot) or playoffs
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Maltster added 13:31 - Nov 23 We clearly need a new decent striker in January
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SouperJim added 18:16 - Nov 23 Wrexham are a good side with good players, they've only lost once in 11 games, were very organised with 2 banks of 5, played very conservatively and slowed the game down when they needed to, pressed us as well as any side I've seen and made very few mistakes. It was always going to be a tight game with very few chances, we had 2 or 3 good opportunities to score and didn't execute well enough. Sometimes you've got to give the opposition credit rather than giving it out to McKenna and generally acting entitled. Akpom and McAteer both had good chances to score and failed. McKenna can't put it in the net for them.

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