Boss Paul Jewell had praise for his youthful Town side after Saturday's 2-2 draw with Blackpool Portman Road. Luke Hyam made his first league start of the Jewell era in the centre of the midfield with Josh Carson and Tommy Smith also in a side with an average age of average age of 24.5.

Jewell said: “It’s gone from Dad’s Army to the Spotty Army! It was one of my younger teams. We had a couple of teenagers or 20-year-olds.

“We played well and I don’t think the crowd would have had anything to moan about whoever was playing today, certainly not in the first half.

“We were right in their faces, we got amongst them. We stopped them playing and played some good stuff ourselves.

“They fought hard and were disappointed at the end. We had a lot of injuries - Grant wasn’t fit or Lee Bowyer, Jimmy Bullard’s not 100%. From the midfield we had when we were doing well, we haven’t got one of them in the team at the moment.

“But that’s life, we’re not making excuses, everyone gets injuries. I think you could see by the way the fans stayed with the players they appreciated their efforts.”

The Blues boss had praise for those fans: “I thought the crowd were terrific today. The most important thing is that they support the team. They’ll be here long after we’ve all gone, they’re the heartbeat of the football club.

“I thought they were great today and I’m really gutted for them that we couldn’t send them home with three points.”

Kevin Phillips, who scored his usual goal against Town, revealed afterwards that he was close to joining the Blues in the summer, the third time Town have shown interest in the striker during his career: "I spoke to manager Paul Jewell last year but he might have thought it was too big a risk to sign a 38-year-old. But I've now got eight goals from 13 starts since going to Blackpool.

“Portman Road has always been a lucky ground for me though, and I’ve scored here for all my clubs. I badly needed to start scoring again, and had a feeling it might be here.”

Jim Magilton also made overtures to the former England man during his time in charge but the player’s wages prevented a deal being done at that time. It was earlier in his career that Phillips says he was nearest to becoming a Blue: "I was close to signing for Ipswich back in 1997.

“I was keen to join them. I spoke to the chairman and agreed personal terms but they couldn't agree a fee with Watford. I rang Peter Reid at Sunderland and signed for them the next day."

Town were unable to agree that fee as they were waiting on a transfer tribunal to settle the terms on which Tony Vaughan would join Manchester City. The £1.35 million the Blues received for the central defender was more than enough to afford the £450,000 the Hornets wanted for Phillips.

Photo: Action Images

backinbeige added 09:13 - Jan 16 A step in the right direction. Using some of the younger kids who are hungrier and keener to impress and we were 2-0 up (until the final minutes) against a Premiership team last year.
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Karlosfandangal added 09:15 - Jan 16 There you go then Mr Jewell Play Smith Hyam and Carson get the 2 from Swindon jet up front and Martin and you could have a side for years to come. Or will you only offer 1 year contracts Never should have let Wickham go he would have scored twice the ammount of Chopra
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cobbolds added 09:15 - Jan 16 I hope it's not back to Dad's Army at Leeds. I fear it will be.
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village_blue added 09:18 - Jan 16 I'm sure that the biggest percentage of the supporters would rather see a young keen hungry team giving 100% rather than the Dads Army brigade who at times don't seem bothered about whats happening and are not committed long term to the club. Just one other point we have only got points out of 4 of the last 15 games and in those 4 captain Leadboots was not playing is this just coincidence?

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Bergholtblue added 09:18 - Jan 16 I think the 4-4-2 worked well. It was when Scotland got injured and we reverted back to 4-5-1. things went pear shaped.
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Karlosfandangal added 09:27 - Jan 16 Bergholblue 4-4-2 works well some of the time, the team need to be able to be flexible, agree with you it was working well and was surprised when we changed to 4-5-1 Would have kept 4-4-2 and replaced Scotland with Chopra, still have no idea why we brought Priskin on
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footyblue added 09:31 - Jan 16 And so he should that is some of the best football I have seen this year Shame ALB wasn't in goal I think we would have won had he been
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newboy added 09:34 - Jan 16 Its taken you a year and 25 defeats to realise youth pays - and the diamond did not work you waste of space. You could drag anyone off the street and they would have come up with this formula months ago. I have given up hoping you will be sacked obviously ME is as clueless as you or cant afford your severence pay heaven help ITFC
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PunchNoHopers added 09:44 - Jan 16 Trouble is, as soon as the other players are fit again, these youngsters will be dropped, so what does that do to their morale!
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jas0999 added 09:50 - Jan 16 But has the penny dropped? Or will PJ revert back to his injury prone golden oldies when fit? Time will tell. PJ must do much better than 2 wins in 15. PJ OUT!
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itfc1981 added 10:03 - Jan 16 Martin is looking good, never thought I would say that.
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icetruckiller added 10:17 - Jan 16 These comments make me feel he's going to praise them today, and then drop them all for the old guard at Elland Road.
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DiamondGezzer added 11:01 - Jan 16 Why not wait and see, then have a pop if you are right ?
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casanovacrow added 11:03 - Jan 16 agree with most comments, fearing jewell will praise them and drop them making rubbish excuses for the change when we get beaten
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llewej_tuo added 11:16 - Jan 16 LOOK AT OUR RECORD THIS SEASON ... PAUL JEWELL( HATE HIM ), HE A CLUB DESTROYER ... TIME HE GO, YA NOW, NEW CLUB RECORD LOW ... WAY TOO SLOW .. AND TO THINK WE CHASED RK OUT FOR 6 DEFEATS IN 19 ? WHY OH WHY WE GIVE THIS MUPPET THE TIME HE NEEDS TO TAKE US TO LEAGUE 1 !!! JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT JEWELL OUT

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northstand78 added 11:31 - Jan 16 If it's true that we're going to have a go at getting these two and they do sign, I think we'll have the makings of a reasonable side. Hopefully the penny has dropped with PJ that the way forward is the youth and not the journeymen, then not this season but next there's no reason that we can't go onwards and upwards.. Keep the faith. ME seems very positve and he's made a pretty good job at building successful businesses. SC definately not the best, but ME knows the man far better than us and he still believes in him. Oh and by the way llewej_tuo, your a knob..

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righty added 11:35 - Jan 16 northstand 78 SO are YOU if you ME doing a good job !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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northstand78 added 11:40 - Jan 16 No club without him
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PauloJulio added 11:50 - Jan 16 I think PJ should stick with the youngsters as they show more commitment/energy than the dad's army lot. Having watched the match highlights though i thought the goalie was at fault for both goals, didnt come to punch for the cross and then juggled with the ball for the first goal and then got beaten on his inside post from 20+ yards. Phillips would have been a better option this summer than Ellington despite his age.

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algarvefan added 12:49 - Jan 16 Leeds will be a big test for PJ, will he stick with a side that performed reasonably well on Saturday and continue to develop the younger players, or will it be Dad's Army back again? We need to sign at least a CB and RB b4 the transfer window closes, this leaky defence of ours is a joke!!
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dubblue added 12:56 - Jan 16 Agree with Algarvefan unless we sort out our defence it is going to be very hard win any matches.
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Garv added 13:20 - Jan 16 PJ is generally not a manager that makes changes willy nilly, only when things are going horribly wrong. Our best run of the season was based on consistent team selections. Things are not horribly wrong right now so I trust him to see that sticking with the same team is the best option, although it sounds like Scotland will be out so Chopra to come in.
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JewellintheTown added 13:25 - Jan 16 @llewej_tuo - Calm down lad, take your pills and keep off the CAPS LOCK - theres no need to shout on here, we hear you.
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tractorboyturner added 13:26 - Jan 16 To my eyes it was a 4-2-3-1, with martin playing in the hole behind the striker and then dropping slightly deeper when we were under pressure. And I have to say I am a fan of the formation. Every time we've played a straight 4-4-2 this year Town have lost, theres a reason why none of the best teams in the world don't play 4-4-2, it doesn't work. Also I'm a big fan of Hyam, not only is he hungry and energetic but he is also good on the ball and plays it simple. I think that he could be a very good cm/cdm for us in the next few years.

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Surco72 added 14:23 - Jan 16 Whenever you bring Priskin on its like playing with a man down anyway ,I blame Keane for signing him but Jewell for playing him . I wonder if Holloway recieves the same amount of abuse for signing 30 + premier has beens like Phillips and Ferguson ?
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