Town boss Kieran McKenna felt the Blues were the better team for most of the game as they drew 2-2 with fellow promotion challengers Middlesbrough at Portman Road, despite admitting that the Teessiders had a strong spell in the second half when his side were hanging on.

Jack Clarke’s 87th-minute penalty claimed a point for the Blues, who had gone behind in the first half against the run of play to David Strelec’s opener on 25 before Kasey McAteer levelled with his second goal in two home matches five minutes later.

After the break, Boro retook the lead via Tommy Conway in the 64th minute, prior to top scorer Clarke netting his sixth penalty of the season and 15th goal overall after George Hirst had been hauled back by Adilson Malanda.

The result sees the Blues, who still have a game in hand on all their rivals, return to second, ahead of Millwall on goal difference, a point in front of Southampton in fourth and three above the Teessiders in fifth, whose chances of automatic promotion look to be over after a winless run of seven matches.

“I thought it was a really good game,” McKenna said. “The first half was probably the game we were hoping for but not expecting because I thought we were really dominant.

“It was a really top performance on most aspects against a very good team, who have been dominant in pretty much every game they’ve played this side of Christmas.

“We were really happy with the general level of that performance and to do it at this time of the year, I think shows a lot of good things of where we’re at.

“We were disappointed not to be ahead at half-time, so, of course, we’re frustrated that we need to do a bit better in both boxes.

“We didn’t have much to defend in our box but didn’t defend the moment that we needed to well enough, and then we weren’t clinical enough in their box on a our moments or on our set plays to have a lead at half-time that I think we would have deserved.

“The start of the second half was OK and I still thought we were the team in the ascendency and then the game and the momentum really changed with their second goal.

“We’re disappointed with the goal and they were excellent for 15 to 20 minutes after that and we went from being really strong in the game to probably hanging on in the game.

“And then, of course, it changed again after the second goal and we were the team that were really pushing to win it at the end.

“A really good game, two good teams. I think we were, in my opinion, the better team for a lot more of the game, but Middlesbrough certainly had that big spell where they showed their quality and we had to hang in. We take the point and we go to the next game.”

Asked whether the draw was about right, McKenna smiled: “No, I’m never going to concede that because I think at half-time we should be in the lead if we do a little bit better, so I don’t think it was a draw in the first half.

“I think in the second half, we were better until their goal, they were certainly better for the 15-20 minutes and then at the end we had big moments breaking through to go and score.

“The draw’s what we both get, so whether either team is happy with it, it’s what we get, so there’s no point in philosophising any further on that.”

Regarding the penalty which grabbed the late point, McKenna said: “I’ve not watched it back. I’ve been asked about it a few times already. I watched it on the iPad on the side of the pitch and to me it looked pretty clear in terms that George had run through for the cross and Malanda pulls him from the wrong side.

“It’s looks pretty clear to me, it looks similar to the one Darnell [Furlong conceded] at Watford where you’re at the back post and you’re pulling from the wrong side, the one we should have had here against Leicester with Ceddy [Cedric Kipre].

“I’ve not watched through all the different angles if somebody says different, but I didn’t see anything overly contentious with it on the first glance that I had.”

McKenna felt summer signing Kasey McAteer, scorer of the Blues’ excellent first equaliser, put in his best display for the club and eased any concerns after the Irish international came off limping in the second half.

“He was cramping, so it was just that, but he worked pretty hard and it was probably an adrenaline-fuelled game as well,” the Blues manager said.

“I thought he was excellent, I thought it was his best performance. I thought it was much better than his performance in the Birmingham game where he rightly got some credit.

“I think he’s improving all the time. I think there are some clear lessons there about how hard it can be to settle into a new club, the patience you need to give a player and we can see now the qualities that he has starting to come through. We’re really happy with what he’s given us and hopefully he’ll recover well.”

Reflecting on the very tight battle for second spot with a point separating three teams and Boro a further two points back, McKenna said: “It is, so let’s enjoy it. I like the way that we went about the game today. That’s how you want to go about it, come out and try and deliver the best performance you can.

“We know we’ve got a really tough week now, six days, three away games [Charlton on Wednesday, West Brom next Saturday and Southampton the following Tuesday] in a league to finish a season and there’s probably been some problems with the scheduling if that’s how you finish up the season.

“So it’s going to take an incredible effort, we’re under no illusions. We’re in a good position but it’s going to take an incredible effort from everyone over the next six days to see if we can bring it back here on the last day [when QPR visit] and hopefully be in a good position.

“That’s the focus now, we have to recover well and get ready for the next game. It’s going to come round quick and we go to Charlton on Wednesday when we know we’re going to have to stand up to it and deliver a performance.”

Photo: TWTD