I prefer Henerson to Loach but Loach is available for selection and Hendo isn't. Loach did little wrong today and a fair bit of good stuff especially his excellent save from Stearman's first half chest-back !! Back 4 looked very solid again against 2nd best side in the division. Back 4 are well protected by a formation that includes 2 defensive midfielders and defensively Luke and N'Daw looked as solid as they normally do. Neither has a lot of attacking flair but I'm a Luke fan and hope to see him partnered with a creative player next season. Tabb looks better than Martin but today at least Wordsworth looked better than Tabb (particularly in the air). Edwards looks a shadow of the early season player who picked up a good few MOM awards (was great away to Brighton) and looks like he needs a rest. Chopra was rubbish (as he mostly is) and Murphy is a big nuisance but hardly carries a goal threat. The 4411 formation looked badly thought through in the first half with Loach kicking past Murphy towards Chopra who isn't famed for his aerial prowess. The pitch doesn't encourage passing football but in the first half at least that seemed to be to our advantage and stopped Hull completely dominating. The home support were "soft" on some questionable first half decisions from the ref who would have been given a roasting at many other grounds. To the credit of Mick and the lads the 2nd half was a pretty good performance and Wordsworth had alreadyn won his Adnams MOM before passing the ball back to Hull for their winner when for once a lack of marking let us down. Overall a draw would of been a fair result after a game of 2 halves. Hopefully Mick will shuffle the pack ahead of Tuesday. Nouble, Wordsworth, JET and McLean will start with Chopra, Tabb, Edwards and Murphy dropping to the bench. Fingers crossed the ref will behave himself and we'll leave with 3 points in the bag, our place in the divsion secure and a chance for a more relaxed fairwell against Brum in the final home game of the season.

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The milder weather certainly was a welcome feeling at Portman Road this afternoon; Hull fans were in fine voice and Ipswich also made a good noise - there was a feeling of excitement back at Portman Road following a great run of late.

21988 fans were here to see the excitement of a promotion pushing Hull managed by the ever animated Steve Bruce vs A newly invigorated Tractor boys fighting for survival and possibly a mid table finish. The crowd soon let their love for McCarthy known with an immediate "Super MickMcCarthy" chorus.

The game kicked off and Ipswich playing with a slightly different formation seemed to start poorly; sloppy and pinging the ball about in the air. Early on N'Daw was making some good blocks and really chasing the ball; however his enthusiasm sadly crumbled into clumsy play in the box which lead to a soft penalty. From my view his arms were at a reasonable level and his tackle wasn't at the legs and some referees would not have given it; some would and ultimately out of a string of bad calls, the referee probably got it right.

1-0 Down after a surgical penalty Hull really looked content; rarely threatening and town followed suit. After what seemed like a half of headers, volleys and sideways passing; Ipswich went into half time looking flat but not defeated.

Jay Tabb being clattered took its toll and McCarthy bought Wordsworth back for what felt like his 2nd debut; probably earlier than he would have originally planned. Also Mick switched back to the familiar 4-4-2. Ipswich looked to start the second half off much like the first ended; lots of air time under the ball and uninspired. Suddonely out of nowhere though Murphy came into the game really stroking some great passes about and the team looked refreshed and up for it. Despite having few shots on goal the atmosphere felt like there was something in it for town. After some remarkable positioning and through balls; hard work into the box the goal came- Wordsworth's short range shot zipped right past Stockdale and the Hull fans were silenced; and we were animated. After the goal we played some really decent football; clever passes; beating Hull who looked almost baffled. There were problems however; one big problem who seems to be frustraitng even the most patient of fans; Chopra. Chopra rarely ran into good positions and often gave the ball away- despite some of the best passing and service we've had in to the attacking third in months. He seemed lazy; disinterested and sadly his head and heart weren't In it- more and more fans were chiming in "We want frank" although the chant never came.

Sadly however Hull managed to claw one back at an unlikely time. It was a disappointing goal and one that made our rock solid defence look a bit silly but a well worked goal none the less. I could say Hull didn't deserve the goal based on their second half performance until now however they really came back into the game after this. McCarthy bought on JET and Nouble but sadly it was too late as hull began to dictate the flow of the game and the best of our attacking play was over.

When the game ended the fans of Ipswich were still behind the team and I believe from what I saw it was due to the fact there were moments of entertaining football. Murphy started poorly but like wine got better and better as the game progressed an actually looked pretty quality in the second half. Wordsworth worked so very hard and it pleased us to see him score and build up play to the goal. Some said he had a reputation for being lazy before arriving at Portman Road; however he looked anything but today. He does need to work on his off the ball awareness a litte more as he did have to chase the ball here and there; otherwise solid and become a fast favourite. Even though it was a loss when we need much sought after points; there were a number of positives from the game. The team never dropped their head after either of the goals which is refreshing. A couple of negatives too- McCarthy probably regretted tinkering with the formation and I think most of the fans wish he had not have done so; but that is a light critique. The major one was Chopra- if he continues to play like that he will surely lose what little support he has left at Ipswich; N'Daw was a mixed bag- he did get a silly yellow and he did give away a soft penalty however he did make some good tackles and blocks too.

Unfortunate result; but all in all a much more positive display.

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Thanks to both contributors from someone who cannot often get to matches. Interesting to read your views.

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We gave Hull far too much respect in the first half in my view, once we got stuck into them in the second they began to look very ordinary. In fact once we equalised I thought we would go on to win the game and it was a shame some sloppy defending handed the match to Hull on a plate. Having said that our defence has been magnificent of late so its hard to be too critical.

We also missed McGoldrick's hold up play badly. He doesnt have much pace but he holds the ball up well and brings others into the play and we dont have anyone else capable of doing that currently. Chopra was getting a lot of stick from some fans but lobbing high balls up to him from the back is not his game, a fact I thought we had established whilst Jewell was here! Midfield wise I'm still not convinced about N'Daw. To me he is a shadow of the player he was when first joining us and I dont think playing him with Hyam really works because they are very similar in style.

On balance a draw would have been a fairer result but we got away with daylight robbery at Derby last week so these things even out over a season.

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