Town boss Joe Royle felt his side well and truly deserved their 2-1 win against Walsall on Tuesday night. The Blues' boss also had words of praise for Alan Mahon, Jim Magilton and the Portman Road crowd.

A clearly happy Royle said afterwards: "It was a great night for us and a tricky game. Walsall came to keep the ball and players like Paul Merson and Vinny Samways can hurt you if they are given time to play."

The manager was particularly pleased with the Blues' support which found its voice during the second half: "Our stars were the fans who were fantastic for us."

He also had words of encouragement for loanee Alan Mahon and skipper Jim Magilton: "Alan has been out of mainstream football for a while and we've only seen the tip of the iceberg from him.

"Jim is terrific. He always tries to play the right way. We pass the ball as well as any side when we are playing well. Now we hope we can roll on with another win against Wimbledon on Saturday.

"I don't think we played badly in the previous three games but tonight we certainly deserved our victory."

Royle's opposite number at Walsall, Colin Lee, was disappointed with the defending at both Town goals: "The penalty stemmed from an unnecessary back pass. Then they scored their winner when one of our lads was off the field having stitches in his head.

"We played with three centre-halves and I expected one of them to make contact.

"After that we were chasing the game. We played well in the first half. Although we did not create many openings we kept the ball and passed it around.

"I have no complaints if the players give me everything and play the way I want. I think they did that tonight but we must not get into the habit of losing matches."

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