Town boss Mick McCarthy says 17-year-old right-back Josh Emmanuel's debut performance deserved the win the Blues looked on course to achieve at Brentford on Saturday.

McCarthy’s side were well on top and looked to be cruising to the three points until they conceded twice in injury time and the game ended in a 2-2 draw.

The Blues manager was delighted with the academy product’s debut display: “Outstanding. I said to him, I’m disappointed for me, all of us, for the club, for the fans, but for him, he should have been on the winning team today, Josh Emmanuel. He deserved that, a great debut against a good player [Alan Judge], I might add.”

McCarthy said he had had no qualms about starting with two 17-year-olds in his side with on-loan Arsenal man Ainsley Maitland-Niles also making his debut on the right of midfield.

“I didn’t think it was a risk playing two 17-year-olds,” he said. “I know them both, they’re both physically capable of playing.

“Josh Emmanuel has really stepped up to it this summer, he came back after pre-season and he came back a man. He’s trained with us every day and he’s really done well.

“Ainsley Maitland-Niles, from walking in the door, he’s just been an outstanding player. I wasn’t worried about them, and neither of them have caused me any problems [which led to the late goals], have they?”

McCarthy has even handed Maitland-Niles the responsibility of taking freekicks on the edge of the area: “He’s a confident lad, he can play. He’s a talented boy.”

He added: “When you sign players [such as Maitland-Niles] you want them to produce performances, and the pair of them did.”

Meanwhile, Town’s U21s start their season with an away game against Leeds at Elland Road this evening (7pm).

Photo: Action Images

BlueMachines added 06:08 - Aug 10 I was there Sat. Josh did okay but got done a couple of times in the first half. He stuck with it though and looked okay, nothing more. I am not forgetting his age and the fact it was his debut but I will be surprised if he is the number one right back until a couple more years have passed. A decent start though AMN was simply outstanding. On that performance he will be a fans favourite in no time. A joy to watch and he worked hard.

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alexsmith111 added 06:11 - Aug 10 good lads, keep it up, take your chances, at their age if they can be consistant, which will most likely be their largest challenge. They can be only get better and move on up, emmanuel hopefully with us!!
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braveblue added 06:15 - Aug 10 Usual hype. He did ok but we will not win promotion relying on a makeshift defence. Not with bringing on strikers and playing them in a 5 man midfield to park the bus!!
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planetblue_2011 added 06:26 - Aug 10 I was at the game too, think Emmanuel grew into the game and so did AMN. They both played very well but one man is missing the motm performance from Ryan Fraser. Superb little player he really is what we need down the left hand side & AMN on the right. Defence is gonna be our only problem I'm afraid!!
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bluefeast added 07:20 - Aug 10 You can't judge anything until 10 league games are played. That includes player performance ,management performance , results and management performance. If we have 20 points after 10 games then happy days. We should of won ,simple as that. However we will sort defence out as that oddly is the weak link.
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raycrawfordswig added 07:46 - Aug 10 The players did ok .That result was down to MM with his subs.
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taximan added 07:48 - Aug 10 Smith was rubbish for the first goal, long ball over the top and he couldn't defend it, not good enough - even then he had the chance to foul Gray well outside the area, take a red for the team but at least they don't score !!!!!!
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muccletonjoe added 08:07 - Aug 10 Delighted for emmanuel. A good lad who has come through the youth team. Hope he gets more chances to shine
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Len_Brennan added 08:15 - Aug 10 @ArnieM : The comments were fair & reasonable a counts of the game. Both were acknowledging & praising the players, while being realistic. I am delighted with the emergence of Josh Emmanuel & see him having a great future with the club. The fact that he is only 17 makes his ability & physique all the more impressive. However, I also want Ipswich Town FC to win promotion THIS season & think we can certainly make the top 6 at least, but for that to happen we have to have the defence sorted ASAP so that we don't throw away more unnecessary points. Josh should definitely be in our squad learning this season, but he is not yet ready to carry to responsibility of being our first choice RB for the entirety of such an important season. I don't think saying that makes me, or anyone else, less of a fan.

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1RWR added 08:52 - Aug 10 Another "I woz there". Fraser was outstanding along with Niles, Josh was nervous quite understandably but had an amazing second half. Smithy gets some stick on here, but, he made a couple of great tackles in the box first half, however..............for me he has to be dropped for a couple of games & see how we perform, people may not like that comment either, sorry if you disagree.

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Azzuromark added 09:07 - Aug 10 Good luck to Josh, it's nice to know that in him, we have fairly decent back up. I am sure nerves would have played a part, and in Alan Judge he was up against a player of quality. I am sure he will grow into the role (as and when required), but have good & bad days. People's opinion of him "doing Ok" is still a good indicator, in that at least he didn't look out of his depth, so I'll take those comments as a positive too. In truth MM was right to comment the way he did. I see that as good man-management! If you, as a 17 year old in your first day in a new job are told by your management that "yeah, you did OK" it could affect your confidence. MM & TC (and probably JE himself) will know where he did struggle and will work on ironing those issues out! Can remember Ming's performance in the opening game against Fulham last season and having my concerns about his positioning at times and whether he would make a decent replacement for AC. He went on to earn us a cool £8 million, despite many poorer performances (based on comments I have read).

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ArnieM added 09:16 - Aug 10 Sorry to all concerned , if my above post was OTT. It was the first thing I read this morning , and on the back of the knee jerk stuff following the result Saturday , I suppose I just felt tetchy about it all....and did a knee jerk response myself !! Sorry again. COYB's
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ChateauWines added 09:16 - Aug 10 I was there and the two lads grew into the game and learnt very quickly. Fraser MOM wae excellent. Give MM a break. The wide boys had run themselves into the ground and Bru was injured. Closing the game down was correct thing to do. Cannot legislate for Tommy being done yet again by a ball over the top and then Bart not commanding his area. Thats Football! An excellent performance al round. Yes we should have had all 3 points . Felt sorry for Douglas coming on when in lead

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BackTheBlues added 09:23 - Aug 10 Well aren't we all a bit uptight hey... Looking at this post and the match reports.... 2 - 2 away from home first game of the season - we'd all of taken it! Gutted we conceded late on but bar that... Sounds like we played well and were cruising. Bad subs ? Some were forced, as for the last goal - 22 players in the box usually results in one of 2 things.. A goal or a freekick - unfortunately not the latter this time. Bugger me it hit the bar and fell on the line! Midfield look good, strikers will obviously get going! Bit of positivity needed!

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warktheline added 09:40 - Aug 10 If McCarthy picks the correct personnel in defence, there won't be a problem. Let's not forget, Parr will return, as will Berra. Sorry for me, Smith is the weak link....Parr, Chambers, Berra,Knudson, please Mick. JE will gain valuable experience this season, a potential gem.
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topguy added 09:56 - Aug 10 He got done a couple of times by a very exp championship player come on, I saw boro yesterday and friend he was done a few times by a championship player, and also saw Liverpool and clyne got done a few times, so if we got one of them two and they got done you would complain, look to go a whole game at 17 against exp players and not as you say get done wont happen at any level, he was assured and no he wont be playing every game, be too much in his first season but to slate him for getting done is ridiculous, or can you do better. the changes were forced due to cramp of bru's hamstring, so they were not done just for the fun of it, and for a makeshift def yeah it was we had again no choice, berra suspended, I hope on sat josh get another go when berras back that will show true confidence, as from what I saw I have it in all of them.

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1RWR added 10:07 - Aug 10 Forgot to say how Knudson played, very very impressed!
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RaymondovicBlue added 10:20 - Aug 10 The you tube clip of highlights clearly shows the player who "did Smith" coming straight past a very stationary Luke Chambers. At least Smith got close too him to be in the spotlight. Cleverer players get nowhere near! Here come the down votes...... But watch the clip first please!!!
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Wickets added 10:44 - Aug 10 Anyone who has anything other than praise for this 17 year olds debut should think again. He has never played anywhere near this level before and not only did he grow into the match, he managed to get foward and provide the cross for our first goal. Second half he was just great.
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Wickets added 10:50 - Aug 10 Many are blaming Micks changes for the two late goals but i see it different, We stopped pressing from the front, twice Mick was up on his feet shouting for our front men to keep working, sorry we all love Murth but he packed up early!!
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ArnieM added 11:07 - Aug 10 For me the wrong striker was puit on. Didsey cant run, so was hardly likely to be able ( and didnt), close down quick enough . Therefore Brentford came out of their defence largely unopposed. Id have put the quicker Pitman on...he would have been a greater threat to them in the closing stages and made them a tad more wary about throwing caution to the wind. For me McGoldricks days as an out and out stirker are limited : hes far more effective sitting behind two main strikers, or working his magic forward of midfield.

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HarryfromBath added 11:15 - Aug 10 Josh - I don't know if you stumble in to this forum and see what people are saying, but if you do you can hold your head up high. I was in the main stand and watched your first-half performance up close and you did so well in what was one hell of a baptism. Judge, Pritchard and Gogia will cause teams problems all season, but you and Ainsley were more than capable of handling them. It was great to see that you weren't just keeping it simple and playing within yourself, but that you felt confident to take the game to Brentford. If you hadn't, we wouldn't have taken the lead before the break. You are in a brilliant defending school. You will learn so much from Mick, and you will learn so much from the experience of Christoph Berra and Luke Chambers - I could see Chambo chatting to you as the half went on. Take great heart from Saturday - it was a terrific debut against experienced and wily opponents.

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brian_a_mul added 11:25 - Aug 10 We missed Berra during the closing stages of the game. Hi influence and direction may have made a difference, who knows! No point going on about it now. Dont mind getting this type of result early days, it will be a wake up call to the team to keep concentrating till the final whistle. Josh did well for his debut and diddnt look out of place at this level, especially away to a play off rival & on a terrible pitch. Decent first day at the office!

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RRanger added 11:44 - Aug 10 Great post Harryfrombath - as usual. I was also in the main stand and ,as you said, Josh grew into the game and got better and better. For my money ,every bit as good a prospect as Mings was last season. I really hope MM gives him his home league debut next Saturday so that the home only fans can see him for themselves. He deserves it.
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mikeybloo88 added 12:13 - Aug 10 " You are in a brilliant defending school" Hmmm, not sure on that one. Disappointing that MM (who lets not forget was only an average defender and not good enough for a decent team in the top league) has still not sorted out the issue which has been present the whole time he's been in charge...and it starts with sorting out a keeper.
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