Boss Joe Royle was angered after referee Lee Mason appeared to change his mind regarding a first half penalty decision in the Blues' 1-0 defeat at Luton. Jimmy Juan seemed to be fouled by Markus Heikkinen as he tried to hit a 38th minute shot.

Royle said: "The referee gave it, but then changed his mind - he must have been the only one in the ground who didn't think it was a penalty.”

It's not the first time the Blues have been on the end of a poor decision by Mason this season, in the East Anglian derby he red-carded Sito, a sending off which was eventually rescinded, however, the Town manager is a fan of the Lancashire referee: "He's an excellent official normally, but he made a mistake and he struggled to keep hold of the game after that.

"We should have been 1-0 up, but it changed the complexion of the game. Mind you, that doesn't disguise the fact that in the first half we were very poor.

"It's an atrocious pitch here, corrugated is the best word for it. It's atrocious for both sides, but it probably suited Luton more with their direct style.

"It certainly wasn't conducive to playing passing football, but we had too many players who were under par and were making the same mistakes which have already cost us this season."

Royle picked out his goalkeeper and one of his central defenders as his side's top performers: "Shane Supple and Fabian Wilnis were our two best players and that says a lot about our performance.

"Shane's an outstanding prospect and has a long international career ahead of him.

"The only thing that is holding him back is that Shay Given is not yet 30, but Shane's only 18 himself and has plenty of time."

Even Luton manager Mike Newell felt that Town should have had the penalty: "They had a bit of pressure at times and had a penalty that wasn't given, but these things happen to you on occasions and we had the same thing at Leeds the other week.

"But we created chances and could have had more goals. I know the supporters would like to see more goals - but it's difficult sometimes.

"Ipswich are a side in transition, but they were not long in the Premiership and it's still another scalp for us."

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