Town manager Paul Jewell says lone striker Jason Scotland’s contribution in recent weeks shouldn’t be underestimated. The Trinidad and Tobago international’s battling led to Jimmy Bullard’s opening goal at Cardiff on Saturday in what Jewell says was a typical performance from the former Swansea man.

Jewell says Scotland worked hard at the weekend and also in Town’s other recent matches: “I think he’s done that well for the last few games, in fairness to him.

“Sometimes it’s a tough job up front on your own, certainly away from home and certainly the way we played in the first half [at Cardiff].

“If you look at Jimmy’s goal, Jason has battled. He went up for the header, it came down, he went in for the tackle and it broke to Jimmy.

“He did that exceptionally well. He worked hard in the first half without a lot of support and in the second half he was the fulcrum of our attacks.

“I was pleased with Jason. It would have been nice for him to score but his contribution is not to be underestimated.”

The Blues boss says thoughts quickly turned to tonight’s home game with Reading: “We’ve put Saturday’s match behind us now. Win, lose or draw you’ve got to look forward to the next game, which is going to be a tough one but one that we’re looking forward to, given the result we had against Cardiff.

“The result was a great result. The players deserve a lot of credit for the second half performance, but as always we’re looking to improve and the first half performance wasn’t very good to say the least.

“We got away with it, our keeper kept us in the game - that’s what he’s there for - and in the second half we responded really well and were the better team.”

Jewell confirmed that he felt his side should have been given a spotkick prior to going in front: “It was a penalty. The referee bottled it completely. What he thinks got him out of jail is that because the lad was down with a head injury.

“He let play go on, Lee was tripped up, he blew and then he looked and went ‘I’m at Cardiff here, I better give a drop ball’. It was a penalty, no doubt about it.

Overall though, Jewell appreciates that it’s difficult for officials: “It’s a tough job. I don’t think FIFA help them with linesmen not being supposed to put their flag up and everyone gets upset that the flag gets raised when it’s too late. One of these days someone’s going to get injured because of that.

“I think the referees have got their hands tied a little bit. It’s a difficult job, but we’ve all got a difficult job.

“All we want to do is have a fair crack of the whip, it doesn’t matter which club it is or what manager it is. If we’re all treated in the same way by the FA, I don’t think we’ve got any arguments. I’ll leave you to decide whether we’re all treated the same.”

Town are without Mark Kennedy (hamstring) and Colin Healy (stomach) for tonight’s game against the Royals with a couple of unnamed players facing fitness tests.

Photo: Action Images

peterleeblue added 08:50 - Mar 8 Totally agree with that. I thought he was outstanding at Cardiff. Possibly a better away player than at home based on work rate and therefore may not get the credit he deserves.
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TheHazster added 09:17 - Mar 8 im with peterleeblue, but i think he is better away because he doesnt get the stick from the stupid, idiotic town fans ! and is allowed to play him game
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dirtyboy added 09:31 - Mar 8 Seeing him on Saturday (second half in particular) I was very impressed, probably one of his best 45min performances, which is good to see. Hope he continues, as sometimes it's a thankless task in that role, and not good when the crowd get on to him.
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WeWereZombies added 10:05 - Mar 8 "I'll leave you to decide whether we're all treated the same.” Not quite as restrained as Mick McCarthy after Wolves / Spurs (and I don't normally have any time for his South Yorks buzzsaw monotone) but perhaps you have to leave a marker out to let refs know they cannot expect to see decisions go unchallenged after the game.
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SouperJim added 10:41 - Mar 8 Jason certainly puts the effort in, the trouble is because he's not very mobile he has to pick his battles... some short sighted fans simply think he is lazy as a result. I can't fault Scotland, he does his best and has certainly learnt to pull the trigger whenever he gets an opportunity, which is while he is still a goal threat at 32. I can understand the frustration with him though and would much rather we had him as he was 5 years ago than how he is now.

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Karlosfandangal added 11:26 - Mar 8 See one of our so called loan targets (Delfouneso Aston Villa) has signed for Burnley on loan
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underthesun666 added 11:34 - Mar 8 I agree porno paul! its priskin u shud be underrating!
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Worcester added 11:46 - Mar 8 He made Jimmy's goal by chasing down that lose ball. He needs the midfield to push up and help him or dare I say it 442 BFJ?
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DiamondGezzer added 12:59 - Mar 8 He's due a goal, let's hope it comes tonight. What about the winner ?
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GeorgiDoundarov added 13:02 - Mar 8 Jason Scotland currently is our BEST striker! Whether he is good enough to push us through to the Premiership that is another story but from what we have right now he is the best so we should give him a credit. I always see his ratings from the fans are low in the rating section here and to be honest I use three or more PCs to mark him "10" in order to partially restore the truth and ive him what he deserves.

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siralfstrackie added 13:15 - Mar 8 Will we see two up front tonight? Not sure that lone striker role is his forte, needs someone like Wickham to play off. I like the formation away from home but we need goals and 4-4-2 makes a lot of sense at PR. COYB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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SammyT added 13:45 - Mar 8 Peterlee Blue / TheHazter.... seriously..... 8 Home goals, 1 away goal.....surely that speaks for itself. I Like Scotland and support him as I believe most Town fans do, but away from home he forgets his shooting boots. IF he can address that he might be close to what we need.
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Ipswich24 added 16:01 - Mar 8 He is not a lone striker a lone striker is designed to hold the ball up for others, to chase lost causes to be an out ball when there is no other option if people on here think Scotland is that you need your head tested. He may be more productive playing as part of a partnership.
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taylor15 added 16:26 - Mar 8 Would rather Priskin playing that role though!
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underthesun666 added 17:20 - Mar 8 Id rather watch 90 mins of scotland trying and snatching goals than priskin standing offside all game falling over like a pansy
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legoman added 18:14 - Mar 8 Priskin every time for me. Total class, young, fit, fast and a good eye for an assist.
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dirtydingusmagee added 18:14 - Mar 8 underthesun666 your reference to PJ is not neccesary, not remotely amusing,and shows you to be ,well just a tad stupid.As for Scotland he has always been underated by many ,but he has not been given the right service for most of his time.His effort to get the ball resulted in Bullard scoring Saturday.
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underthesun666 added 14:20 - Mar 9 dirtyd*ck are u completely retarded? I never did once day Scotland is a bad player! infact hes my first choice, he gets goals thats all we can ask... I can call paul jewel whatever the hell i like. and priskin is sh*te.
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