Blues boss Paul Jewell said his side was indebted to keeper Arran Lee-Barrett during their ground out 1-0 victory over his former club Derby at Portman Road. Lee-Barrett, back in the team after David Stockdale’s return to Fulham, recorded Town’s first clean sheet in nine matches.

Jewell said: “It was a scrappy game. I think Derby edged it in the first half, they had the better chances and we were indebted to Arran to keep us in the game.

“In the second half, it was a battle, a scrappy game that we were delighted to get the three points from.”

The Town manager said he hadn’t had another look at his side’s goal but had been told the video evidence showed it was over the line: “We don’t get a great view but I actually thought it looked quite deep over the line and the players tell me it was over the line.

“How long it took to give the goal is probably what Derby are annoyed about, and I can understand that.

“Apparently the linesman ran to the halfway line, but if he’d just stuck his flag up there would have been no confusion. People who have seen the DVD tell me it was over the line.”

Jewell was pleased to see his side net immediately after the break for the second week running: “We started well in the second half last week and did the same this week. After that it was a scrap, as it was in the Portsmouth game.

“There weren’t a plethora of chances in the second half, there were one or two, but other than that it was just a hard-fought 1-0.”

The Blues boss was pleased to see Keith Andrews score again and says Town are due to hold talks regarding the 31-year-old staying at Portman Road beyond his loan which is up after the Nottingham Forest game: “He’s scored nine goals, which is a terrific contribution from a midfield player.

“We’re delighted with him and we’ll be trying to keep him here beyond his loan period, but the more goals he scores, the more difficult it’s getting for us.

“He wants to stay and we’re going to try to keep him. His agent is meeting the owner on Monday.”

Jewell says Richard Wright is fit after his strained pec but didn’t want to take any risks with him: “Richard is fit but there was no way I could take a chance. Cody Cropper had a cartilage operation on Friday, so we needed Richard to be fit. Cody’s out for six weeks.”

Keeper Arran Lee-Barrett was pleased not to concede on his return to the side: "It's great to win the game and to keep a clean sheet is always an added bonus.

"I didn't have a great view of Keith's goal, but having seen the replay in the dressing room I think it was a definite goal.

"All the lads thought it was over the line and Keith and Michael [Chopra] certainly thought it was.

"We want to build on the confidence of the last two games and try and put a run together to push on up the league."

Derby manager Nigel Clough wasn’t sure whether the ball crossed the line but felt the officials should have made it clear it was a goal much more quickly: “I don’t know, we can’t see from where we are.

“Traditionally, if it goes over the line the linesman puts his flag up, that’s what we’ve always seen in 30-odd years of football.

“But there’s nothing we can do about it now, we’re disappointed with the way we defended it straight after half-time.

“All we can do is put it in the report, how poor we thought the officials were. That’s our only act of recourse.”

Clough was generally pleased with the way his team performed and felt they deserved a point: “We’re happy with the way we played, certainly the first half.

“We created some good chances away from home. Very similar to how we’ve been playing lately — good level of performance just not enough to keep a clean sheet and not enough for someone to get us a goal.”

Photo: Action Images

michaeldownunder added 19:49 - Dec 17 Well done to all the players today, a win is a win maybe a few close hard fought 1-0 is what the team needs to build up mental some much needed strength Please forget about Rhodes he will not sign for Ipswich, prob a lower prem side will take a punt on him eg Bolton in the January transfer window
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bluearmy4life added 19:51 - Dec 17 Well played ALB, Very scrappy win today. Defensivly very good today. A win is a win!!!
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Keaneish added 20:01 - Dec 17 Have to agree entirely Bluelady. If Andrews wants to be on the plane to the Euros he needs to be playing games regularly and impressing. Some clubs just work out for you, others don't. If he leaves he's risking not playing regularly, losing form or momentum and requiring to Pit himself against some top class midfielders in the prem. Here he's skipper, scoring for fun and leading a team up the table (contentious!) and playing week in week out! Guarantee a place in the euros or take the money in the prem which he struggled in last time around. Very tough Mr.Andrews. The purists cry Ipswich. The realists cry prem...

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warksonwater added 20:03 - Dec 17 After the goal bonanza last week, the 1-0 was almost a disappointment today! But three points is three points, and as we've (still?) got the worst defensive record in the entire Championship, nice to keep a clean sheet. Nine points from sixth spot with a game in hand. Plenty of time to go......
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Michael11 added 20:08 - Dec 17 Forget Jordan Rhodes hes gone, even if we wanted him back we probably can't afford what Huddersfield would want. Sell Leadbitter in january we're a better without him then use the money towards getting keith andrews! P.s well done ALB coped with the pressure really well!!
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irishtim added 20:15 - Dec 17 Keaneish andrews will sign for ipswich & take a significant pay cut. trust me on this
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Tractamatt added 20:20 - Dec 17 Happy christmas to everyone and here's hoping for a blue new year,Algarvefan the only way we could get rhodes back would be to get promoted,if he leaves huddersfield it will only be to go to the premiership.It just makes sense to sell Leadbitter and Priskin and use their wages to bring collins and Andrews here permanently.Well done to ALB keep it up and we may not need to buy Scott loach

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Tractastic added 20:40 - Dec 17 Well played ALB. We have you and Andrews to thank for the 3 points today. I agree with the posts above.Andrews is 31 but has 3 good years ahead of him and he is a natural leader. If we can get him to stay (please ) lets build a team around him and Bullard plus a major defence rebuild.Also with Chopra hopefully through the worst of his illness and a bit of pace added to the wide area's we should have a team worthy of challenging for the premiership in 2012. Happy Xmas to all you forum posters.Here's to great 2012.COYB.

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broomfield123 added 21:07 - Dec 17 Always thought alb was not genually bad keeper . Sn average championship keeper who only has had couple of bad games. Most of the others he was fine and deserves to be starting the next game on merit no matter who else is fit. If your playing well names mean nothing
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roytheboy added 21:09 - Dec 17 I would hope that every possible effort will be made to keep Andrews, Barrett deserves his place in the starting line up and Bullard is looking like the old Jimmy we love to see, well done Paul and all the team for giving us some pleasure and optimism going into Christmas.
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IvorFeeling added 21:50 - Dec 17 Great result and important 3points. We are now in for an interesting 4-6 weeks with loan deals expiring and the opening of the transfer window. Immediately we should sign two centre backs, I would sign one experienced and one younger from the lower leagues, a right back is also a must. Pace and width is also required and I would sign a fast, young winger. Contracts also need to be sorted, else come May we will be in the same situation as this year. Anyone knocking Andrews for just scoring goals and not doing much else is wide of the mark IMO. Any midfielder with that return in this league will be wanted be all teams, without his goals, just counting the last two games would see us 6 points worse off. We are in for an enlightening 6 weeks - comon Santa I believe!

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sixtouchfootball added 21:51 - Dec 17 Proper goal keeping display from ALB today. Those who say he wasn't tested set piece etc should maybe look at how he organised his defence in front of him. Very good shot stopping and didnt look out of position all game. A+!! keep up th egood work! As for Andrews, if we keeep him it will keep us in the fight for a play off posotion. Without, it's gonna be also rans for us again. simples.

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Blue041273 added 22:04 - Dec 17 Come on. We were rubbish today; got a result by the skin of our teeth. OK there were some positives but we can't expect to meet a team as ineffective as Derby every week. Spirit is not enough when individual performance levels do not match expectations. As much as we support the players it matters little if they don't perform collectively or individually. Too many today did not come up to scratch. PJ has a huge task on his hands to get a collective together. He's not there yet. In football the taste of the pudding is all important. Win a few games ( especially the crucial ones) and you are a hero; Lose a few and you become a zero. Don't get me wrong I thought we were ok today but that says more about the general state of where we are than where we want to be.

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Hereford_Blue added 09:43 - Dec 18 'Come on. We were rubbish today; got a result by the skin of our teeth' 'Don't get me wrong I thought we were ok today' Which is it fella? We were rubbish but we were OK? We can't expect 5 goals every week and it's just as important grinding out the 1-0 results. Too often this year the problem has been conceding the late goals and not closing out games.
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tellitasiseeit added 09:54 - Dec 18 We should beat teams like Derby who are having a dreadful run at the moment? If we could not beat Derby we would certainly be in trouble. The fact that we only just scraped a win against them proves that we still have a long way to go.ALB played well and kept us in the game.He deserves our praise .We need to keep Keith Andrews if a deal can be found? Build a team around him,A good performance once again.We need players of his stature in the Ipswich team. Well done to all of the players. Keep the spirit in the team going. COYB

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Michael11 added 09:58 - Dec 18 Forget Jordan Rhodes hes gone, even if we wanted him back we probably can't afford what Huddersfield would want. Sell Leadbitter in january we're a better without him then use the money towards getting keith andrews! P.s well done ALB coped with the pressure really well!!
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statto added 10:03 - Dec 18 RadlettBlue is spot on - well done the AR for running back up the line. Not enough of the pros in the game(not too mention fans) know the intracies of the officials roles. How many times has Crosswell been the source of goals for us - we got to hang on to Andrews (or bring back Warky). Glad for ALB, proves a few of the distractors wrong!! Enjoy Xmas.
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alfromcol added 12:05 - Dec 18 Well done ALB, I've always been a supporter. Should justifiably be ahead of RW now? Even ALB's kicking has improved (if 2 kicks in the second half are ignored) I thought Bowyer had a poor game and should have been subbed. Apart from that a great 3 points hard earned.
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h32 added 13:09 - Dec 18 One up the ALB knockers - this lad is a good keeper, he has faults, yes - but IF this Club has the wisdom to keep Malcolm Webster as Goalkeeping Coach, he will develop this lad into a TOP CLASS KEEPER. He has what it takes to be one - with good coaching. Remember my prediction - but I do not have confidence in Jewell giving Webster a sensible contract for him to stay here. Probably be a friend somewhere who will need a job.

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h32 added 13:21 - Dec 18 bluelady - you're right about Andrews - this team cannot do without him, if he leaves there will be a massive void to fill. He needs to be offered an exceptional deal to stay - my money is on 'he doesn't get one' though, from this Club. As for RW - only going one way now - no other use other than back up to a decent keeper heading in the right direction.
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h32 added 13:27 - Dec 18 algarvefan - ABSOLUTELY NO CHANCE - of Jordan Rhodes coming back to this Club. Therefore it has to be forgotten - unfortunate as it is.
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jas0999 added 13:32 - Dec 18 Agreed - not a fan of ALB - very few Championship clubs would want him - be he won us the game yesterday. Terrible performance will little entertainment (dull and boring at times) - but a massive three points! we usually judge the team/manager at Christmas. IMO it's been a poor season to date. Good results and performances at Barnsley, West Ham and a very impressive showing at home to Brighton. Other than that I am struggling for positives. A dreadful run of results, many thrashings and disappointing performances. I think it's fair to say we have to expect better and PJ will be under pressure to deliver from Boxing Day onwards. Two wins does not make up for the embarrassing 7 straight loses. Happy Christmas to all!

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Garv added 13:42 - Dec 18 Can all the idiots stop lambasting ALB now? He's never been a bad keeper!
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h32 added 14:00 - Dec 18 jason0999 - yes, Xmas is normally assessment point for Team / Manager, and it has been pretty dire to date for us, except for the odd 'bright spell' which most clubs would have had anyway. Let's hope for MUCH, MUCH BETTER in the New Year - although (much to the disgust of some no doubt) I have to be honest and say that there doesn't appear to be too much light on the horizon for us - looking at the full picture of course, which some will fail to do, or chose to. My head is always above the sand ......... unlike some. MERRY XMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR One and All - here's to many pints / points - whichever you prefer - both if you must.

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oldbri added 17:39 - Dec 18 With regard to Mr Cloughs comments regarding the perfectly good goal,and the linesmans use of the flag,could someone refer him to Football Referee.org in order that he might read the rules of the game.ie :- Goal Scored: To confirm a valid goal has been scored, an Assistant Referee should display clear movement down the touchline towards the centre line. In borderline cases, this movement should be clear (sprint) to be recognised by the Referee. To confirm a goal, the Assistant Referee should not raise his flag. If in his opinion a goal has not been scored correctly, the Assistant Referee should stand still, retaining any signal already given. The Referee may then choose to consult further if he needs additional guidance.

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