Rotherham manager Ronnie Moore was predictably angry with referee Andy D'Urso after seeing two of his players sent off, Town awarded a penalty and a spotkick claim of the Millers' own turned down as his side were beaten 2-1 by the Blues.

Moore said he was particularly displeased at the award of the Town penalty for a foul on Chris Bart-Williams and a later incident when Georges Santos clashed with Darren Byfield in the Blues' penalty area: "I was gutted with the penalty decisions the referee made.

"We got back into the game and the pressure was on Ipswich. Then two major decisions cost us two goals.

"I'd like to see the assessor's report on the referee. Managers are not allowed to see these reports but I think it is about time we did."

Moore does admit that both Martin McIntosh and Julien Baudet deserved their red cards: "The sending off of our two lads was right. They both had to go. McIntosh was so incensed about their diving and had a previous yellow card.

"Julian Baudet's shin was in a right mess after a foul by Alan Mahon but you can't put your hands around anyone's throat. It's asking to be sent off."

The Millers' boss was not unhappy with his side's character and was particularly impressed with midfielder Chris Sedgwick: "I was pleased with our attitude and commitment.

"Chris Sedgwick has come back into a little bit of form and we're certainly playing better although we could do with a bit of luck."

According to Town manager Joe Royle, video evidence suggests that there was no contact between Santos and Byfield, although he concedes that on initial viewing it looked like a penalty: "When I first saw the Santos challenge on Byfield I thought it was a penalty, but I understand the video shows there was no contact. The referee was a lot closer than I was."

Royle felt that the earlier foul on Pablo Couñago by Chris Swailes was more worthy of a penalty than the one awarded for a challenge on Chris Bart-Williams.

The Blues' boss felt his side's win was not undeserved: "I don't think anyone can argue with the result. We deserved to beat them.

"They are a hard side to play against and were a bogey team to us last season. But we passed the ball better, created more chances and our goalkeeper was largely redundant.

"We've won four of our last five matches and there's still more to come. Ten or 11 games is not a lot of time for new players to settle in. A better style will come when we hold a better position in the table."

Photo: Action Images

Ipswich Town Polls