Town boss Mick McCarthy was frustrated at conceding “two really poor goals” in injury time to allow Brentford to claim an unlikely 2-2, but prior to that he felt his side were “outstanding”.

“It’s an annoying one that,” the Blues manager said. “We should have won the game. We’ve conceded two really poor goals.

“There were chances at both ends, I think we had the majority of them, we scored two and should have put it beyond doubt. If you don’t do that, you don’t concede two goals like that.

“If you don’t score again and you don’t put it beyond all reasonable doubt, then make sure you lock the back door and we hadn’t done.

“The difficulty is that I’m really delighted with the way we played, I thought we were terrific and it’s a shame that three minutes just annoys you and pisses you off so much it can blight [that].

“It can do, but it won’t because I thought we were outstanding, as an away performance I thought that was excellent. We just can’t let that happen again. But I thought it was a really good performance.”

The Town boss had no complaints about the five minutes-plus of added on time: “There was a lot of time stopped for Kevin, there were enough substitutions, we had a goal.

“The stoppage time was fine. Nothing to do with that, we’ve just allowed them to score when we shouldn’t have done.”

Does he put the goals down to a lack of concentration? “I think it’s a bit simplistic just to say it’s one thing. When they get one goal, a team gets momentum.”

He continued: “Bart says he was impeded, I’m not so sure, not that much. I just think when you’ve got that you can almost smell it coming with that last corner kick but we should have defended it better. It was poor on our part.

“But it was good on theirs. They put it in and they had Johnny on the spot running in to score, so it takes two teams to create a game, doesn’t it?”

He added: “Forty-five [matches] to go and I’m sure I’ll be sitting here feeling the same again some time. I’m sure their coach has come in and they’re ecstatic, it’s like a win for them. But they’ll all know they’ve had a bit of a doing, except for the last three minutes.”

McCarthy says the disappointment of the result won’t be allowed to linger: “I’ve said to the players what I’ve said to you - for 90 minutes we’ve had an outstanding performance, I’m delighted with them. For three minutes we haven’t, so I’m not going to let that [dominate]. I don’t do that.

“I’ll be in tomorrow morning to watch the game and when the lads are in I’ll be fine. We’ve got to go and play on Tuesday and then on Saturday again. Roll on May!”

Kevin Bru went off injured after the break and McCarthy isn’t yet sure of the extent of his injury: “It looks like he’s damaged his hamstring, how severely I don’t know.

“I’ll find out tomorrow. I won’t know until it settles down. We’ll get him looked at and whether he goes and has a scan I don’t know.”

Teddy Bishop missed the trip with a similar problem: “He’s got a bit of a tight hamstring as well.”

Brentford head coach Marinus Dijkhuizen admitted his side were fortunate but felt they were knocking on the door towards the end of the match.

“We put a lot of pressure on and took a lot of risks, but I think we got better and better in the game, the chances were big, but we couldn’t get a goal,” the Dutchman said.

“And finally Andre Gray scored and then you think it’s too late, but there are three of four minutes because they added five minutes, which is normal.

“We were a little bit lucky of course, but finally we deserved the draw, but it was a good last few minutes.”

He felt his team tried to play too much like the Blues in the first half: “I was disappointed about our game. We created good chances but we were a bit restless on the ball, not enough patience on the ball.

"A little bit the same game as Ipswich, kick and rush and they are better at kick and rush because that’s the way they want to play and they’re physically stronger.

“I mentioned in the break that they should be more patient on the ball. But after the break it was 2-0 and it was difficult to play and you have to switch to Plan B and C and finally we’re very happy with the draw.”

Photo: Action Images

Currie10 added 10:09 - Aug 9 TWTD is so much more enjoyable to read these days. When we hired Mick, there were loads of nervous breakdowns. " We want Holloway " / other candidates. First season, despite Mick saving us from certain relegation, plenty stick. First full season, despite spending sod all, getting rid of loanees, building his side and flirting with the play offs, slated galore. Last season, think Mick won quite a few over. We've just thrown away a 2-0 but if you trawl through the comments here, it's sooo much better. I think people can see the McCarthy jigsaw coming together. Wish I was there yesterday, but from what I can see we'll be top 5 for definite this season. Improved the key areas 10 fold on last season. For the negative camp, try getting behind us you may enjoy it! And that isn't for one second to say I'm frustrated by the two ridiculous goals we gave away. We must stop conceding from corners, I'd love Chambers/ Berra CB from here on in that would have avoided goal 1. But the positives for me far outweigh the negatives, IMO our best squad in 10 years. COYB.

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toxtethblue added 10:15 - Aug 9 Top 5 no good. Need to be top 2. Last year showed that playoffs are a lottery. How many times have we gone up from playoffs in7-8 attempts? Once.
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marshallmania added 11:22 - Aug 9 Not good enough i'm afraid. These are the games that stop you getting into the top 6. Great day out yesterday though, best atmosphere i've seen with Town fans for some time:)
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Lombokblue added 12:22 - Aug 9 So many positves, two 17 year olds, goals from midfield. Sears still improving and an away point. Bish and Berra to come back. We're a step forward from last year
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blueherts added 12:47 - Aug 9 People on here make me laugh one game in and they are already doom merchants. Step away and of those that were there yesterday, as I was, there are more positives than negatives to come away with No one is saying conceding 2 in last 5 from a winning position is good but gotta look at the overall play especially from some of the new additions and Bru and Skuse in CM We need to realise as well Murph is a marked man now t with Sears Pittman and hopefully Dids, we have best 4 strikers in the divison Pitch was an embarrassment for first day of season Oh and watching Channel 5 FL show no thanks! Look at your cricket highlights and see how it should be done with 'professional' presenters who have some football credibility!

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Cheshire_Blue added 13:08 - Aug 9 How many of the knockers would have settled for the away point before the Kick off? Get real. A good positive start with better to come. Are you a supporter of Ipswich Town or are you one of the small proportion of supporters who just likes a good moan?
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Hatman added 16:28 - Aug 9 Exactly Cheshire Blue, I was gutted to throw the 3 pts away, but we'd have possibly taken a point at kick off, and the forward progress compared to 12 months ago is clear. More attacking options, Berra to come back in, money to spend, and when you get a kick in the teeth like that first game, it puts everyone on their guard from here on in. I think we'll be tougher when protecting a lead in future.

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Seasider added 16:54 - Aug 9 Mick as a Yorkshireman wont admit that he got it wrong,not with the starting 11 which was spot on;but later in game with subs;and talking about locking the back door to protect lead..With Bru Niles and Fraser we are going to see more exciting(proper)football I am sure which I hope in future matches we can keep up until final whistle. By comparison new boys Coke and Douglas seemed back in the Tabb Anderson Hunt sisters Nouble and Wordsworth class;ie not good enough for push to Prem.This is also true of Smithy and Bart I am afraid. To address right back issue JAS seems to think we should still try and get one;but I agree with Pablo that we should give Josh Emmanuel a chance bearing in mind that Jonny Parr can also play there.Think they played on Josh initially but he only took about 15 mins to settle which I think is admirable,think it took Tyrone longer than that.After all we need to get a few first teamers from Youth Scheme as otherwise why bother to have one. Douglas had a bit of an excuse as had only had 2x45min in pre-season having been frozen out by new Brentford manager,Coke and Toure probably also need more time but cannot see them becoming regulars unlike Knudsen,MaitlandNiles and Fraser. Seems like the wee Scot has taken the mantle of Jonny Williams and,Knudson from Mings comfortably;and I have said before that Bru looks a class player even though he wasn't played regularly last year. In my humble opinion we need to secure the Hearts defender,get a new 1st team gk goalkeeper,and don't try and protect leads so often which invites teams onto us.

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Bergholtblue added 09:38 - Aug 10 Ipswich = "kick and rush", glamour teams from Premier = counter attacking on the break. Thought we were excellent against a team known for their passing ability and being at home were likely to have much of the ball. How many of the moaners here would be praising the result had it been us that were 2 down with just minutes left. Also. What a disgrace of a pitch! What that will be like in January, God only knows.

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Razor added 10:10 - Aug 10 OK---hands up I was at Trent Bridge seeing the Ashes come home----wasnt it great to see a grown man in yellow and green crying!! Looks like Tommy got caught for pace on first goal and keeper not in control for second----we have had all summer to get a decent keeper, 2 average ones will not get us up and cost us points. Looks like we should have gone for 3rd goal to kill game and not sit back and we paid the price, but that is MM for you. Lets hope we put out a proper side tomorrow---I would like a bit of a run for a change,success breeds success etc.

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RaymondovicBlue added 10:11 - Aug 10 I didn't see the match so forgive me talking in ignorance. Just a thought in the "Smith isn't good enough" I accept that Chambers and Berra might well be our best central pairing but.... First I heard of the game was the TWTD match report. SMITH made vital blocks etc Then I watched the midlife on you tube. I'm sorry, but how can you blame Tommy Smith for letting a player "get behind him" and score.... without even mentioning that the player came from the side Luke CHAMBERS was covering???? If Tommy Smith simply isn't good enough.... Then value him as a squad player but DON'T blame him for every mistake anyone in the field makes. Sorry.... Just an observation based on clear evidence (I admit it is from a very short clip of film)

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Woodbridgian added 16:32 - Aug 10 Points for win 3 Points for Draw 1 Points for Outstanding performance 0
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dannyrr added 19:22 - Aug 10 I felt they deserved the three points as they played some good football for 90 minutes and should have sealed almost three points by scoring more goals. Micks changes did not help the game - we should be closing the gates being 2 0 up just before full time. Their heads were down when the second goal went in and like last season they didn't go for the jugular and finish the game off. Do we need to care if they were humiliated by winning 4 0 instead of being happy to win 2 0 instead. Goal difference at the end of the season needs to count and that's how we should be winning games. Let's hope there has been a lesson learned that isn't repeated again. COYB

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