Town fell to an embarrassing 2-1 defeat to Belgian second division side Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in their final pre-season friendly at Portman Road. The Blues had dominated but only went in front in the 61st minute through Daryl Murphy, but the Belgians hit back with two goals in three minutes on 72 and 75 via Mathias Fixelles and Nicolas Rajsel.

Trialist Roland Lamah made his second start for the Blues, having previously impressed in Tuesday’s 0-0 draw at Charlton Athletic.

Also starting was summer addition Adam Webster at centre-half alongside Christophe Berra, while Daryl Murphy was partnered by Freddie Sears up front.

David McGoldrick was on the bench, while Brett Pitman (toe) and Luke Hyam (knee) missed out but are expected to be fit for next week. Dean Gerken was again not included, due to his hamstring injury.

Town dominated the early stages against the Belgian second tier side - who had brought an 122-strong but noisy following - and Sears forced visiting keeper Anthony Sadin into a save in the fifth minute, the Royale Union captain blocking from the striker at a tight angle on the left following a corner, however, the linesman’s flag had been raised.

Two minutes later a subsequent corner, also on the left, led to another chance. Trialist Lamah cleverly played in Berra on the left of the box but Murphy couldn’t reach the Scotland international’s cross.

As the game moved past the 10-minute mark Lamah unleashed a powerful strike from distance which flew just over Sadin’s bar.

The visitors’ first chance came in the 14th minute when a cross from the right reached Rajsel deep on the left but skipper Luke Chambers got across to block.

Kevin Bru curled a 19th-minute freekick just past Sadin’s left post with the Blues continuing to have most of the game but so far without providing a test for Royale Union keeper Sadin.

The Blues twice went close to going in front in the 23rd minute when Murphy flicked a near-post header from Sears’s left-wing cross against the bar. The loose bouncing ball fell to Bishop on the edge of the six-yard box but Royale Union keeper Sadin somehow kept out his header at point-blank.

The Belgians’ rare forays forward had largely been snuffed out by the Town defence with Bartosz Bialkowski untroubled. On the half hour Charles Morren struck a low shot from 20 yards but well wide of Bialkowski’s post.

Three minutes later, Murphy saw a shot blocked, then Bru looped a dipping effort from distance which went over.

On 36 Jonas Knudsen crossed from the left and Murphy headed straight at the Belgian keeper.

Two minutes later, the Blues went closer, Chambers flicking on a Berra header from a Bru corner but Tracy Mpati Bibuangu cleared off the line.

Lamah shot wide from 25 years in the 42nd minute with the Blues continuing to have chances but so far without taking any of them.

And that was the way the game remained at the break. A largely one-sided game in which the Blues had created a number of opportunities but without converting any of them.

Tommy Smith replaced Berra - who had required treatment during the first half - ahead of the start of the second period.

Four minutes after the restart Lamah made a powerful run from deep and looked to feed Sears but the striker had strayed offside. The break prompted shouts of ‘Sign him up!’ from the Sir Bobby Robson Stand.

The second half substitutions began in the 53rd minute when David McGoldrick replaced Bishop.

On 57 Jordan Massengo was yellow-carded for pulling back McGoldrick and while the Blues prepared to take the freekick Andre Dozzell took over from Lamah, who was warmly applauded off again having made an impression.

Freddy Mombongo Dues looped an overhead kick to Bialkowski, before the Blues finally went in front in the 61st minute. Bru sent over a corner from the left and Murphy rose highest to head home his first goal of pre-season.

Two minutes later, Bru stabbed wide after a loose ball fell to him just inside the penalty area.

As Town looked to add to their lead McGoldrick headed against a defender from a Knudsen cross from the left.

But on 72 the visitors equalised. From a Blues corner, Rajsel brought the ball forward at pace with Cole Skuse the only Town man back. He fed Fixelles breaking to his left, who beat the advancing Bialkowski.

And three minutes later, the Belgians were in front. Skipper Chambers was caught in possession by Rajsel, who took the ball inside before smashing a shot past Bialkowski.

As the game moved into its final 10 minutes McGoldrick hit a freekick into the Royale Union wall, then Dozzell volleyed through to the keeper. Moments later, McGoldrick skipped into the area on the left but stabbed wide.

In the closing stages, their goals having given them confidence, the visitors began to pass the ball around more confidently with the Blues rarely threatening to get back on terms.

In the one minute of injury time McGoldrick saw a shot blocked and then from the resultant corner a number of players, including Chambers and Webster, had efforts cleared off the line by the keeper or his defenders. That was the last action with the visitors celebrating their victory at the final whistle.

It was a win which should never have been theirs with Town having had the chances to have had the game sealed before their quick-fire second-half goals, prior to which they had presented little if any threat.

Having been angered by the defending which had led to Cambridge’s equaliser last week, manager Mick McCarthy is likely to have been even less impressed with the way his side conceded the two Royale Union goals and fell to a defeat to such comparatively lowly opposition.

Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Webster, Berra (T Smith 46), Knudsen, Skuse, Bru, Bishop (McGoldrick 53), Lamah (Dozzell 58), Sears, Murphy. Unused: Crowe, Emmanuel, Kenlock, Douglas, Digby, Malarczyk, McDonnell, Stewart, McLoughlin.

RUSG: Sadin (c), Morren, Mpati Bibuangu, Cabeke, Vandiepenbeeck, Wallaert (Fixelles 67), Aguemon (Zitte 83), Martens, Mombongo Dues, Rajsel, Massengo. Unused: Salah, Kaminiaris, Neels, Palmeri, Saussez. Referee: Nicholas Kingsley. Att: 3,713 (RUSG: 122).

Photo: Action Images

prebsa added 17:54 - Jul 30 Just because pre season dosent matter does not mean we should loose to teams like this and also the previous pre season results we have had as well!
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thebeat added 17:55 - Jul 30 Get used to it people. Its gona be a long hard season of struggle. Only so long you can get away with playing favourites over better players,round pegs in square holes, hoofball and sitting still while everyone around strengthens and leaves you behind. Mark my words, by bank holiday weekend the atmosphere at Portman Rd will be poisonous on match day.
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algarvefan added 17:58 - Jul 30 harmitfc I'm with you on that mate, can't believe the negativity on here, maybe a beer next week eh??!!
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DirtyOldNodger added 18:02 - Jul 30 Token moan!
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Cotton_eyed_joe added 18:06 - Jul 30 Sorry but I really cant see why anyone would be happy with this result. Come to think about it how can u be happy with any of the pre-season. This is an indication of the season to come as its not going to suddenly get better.
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jas0999 added 18:06 - Jul 30 Blues1 - I'm blaming the entire management team. I'm not convinced that Mick does have money to spend, he has eluded to the fact he has little budget. He has also spoken about having a list of targets and back ups, yet the deals haven't been done for a number of reasons. That's likely to include Evans failing to do the deals. I don't think Mick would do a particularly good job at bringing in the players we need even if he did have the money, but for a while it seems there is a lot of spin coming out of Portman road. Evans has to share in the blame in my opinion.

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runaround added 18:07 - Jul 30 Whilst results in preseason don't particularly matter you still want to win the matches & this a truly embarrassing result. This needs to act as a massive wake up call to everyone at the club. Improvements are needed & if the chosen players under perform then they should not be in the team. The club has been complacent & sleepwalking along & are in real danger of a downward spiral. There is no plan or direction it seems. A good win against Barnsley will paper over the cracks perhaps but things need to improve or we could end up in a relegation battle. Worrying times

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therein61 added 18:07 - Jul 30 Shown up by basically a middle of the table div 2 side why the hell did I put my key in the ignition this morning for another 400+ mile journey to witness senior pro's going through the motions(Webster and Lamah looked promising though) I retire in 2 weeks time and will no longer be able to afford to follow the Town home and away as I have done since 1958 this saddens me, but not as much as watching so called professionals in the shirt not giving a toss and just taking money each week most of us can only dream about I have witnessed lows over the years but at least those in the shirt tried and put in effort!!!!!! this is the lowest I have felt in all my years supporting the club I love, I've just had a meal and have the journey home to Bath to endure feeling really peed off, I wish all of you and your families the best of health, I will still have a look on the site and comment but without seeing the match.

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mrmorisato added 18:09 - Jul 30 Is it just me who felt encouraged by the style of play today...? We created plenty of chances in the 1st half and unlucky not to be 1-0 up going in at the break when my mood was fairly upbeat. There were half a dozen times when I applauded the efforts of Sears, Bishop (who showed that we do have creativity in the team and looked like a new signing after a non-existant 2015/16 season) and trialist Lamah who went close to opening the deadlock in the 1st period. The down turn in our play was when Mick brought on Mcgoaldrick who looked unfit, and young Dozzell in the 2nd half when Mick adopted more of a 4-2-4 formation giving our Belgium counter-parts the space in midfield to capitalise twice. I guess this shows how important Bishop will be for us and Lamah who could fill the wide left hand birth if Mick takes him on board. As much as anyone on here I am disappointed with the result but we're not going to die of boredom this season, Mick just needs more recruits before September comes.

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Michael11 added 18:11 - Jul 30 Hopefully now McCarthy and Evans will realise that this squad is light years behind even challenging for a playoff place. Evans needs to start using that ridiculously massive wallet that we all know he has or he can just get lost!
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 18:14 - Jul 30 Whatever spin you put on it, pre-season looks worrying to say the least. Just hope we can pull things together next week and that these results won't signal a return to an ultra "don't lose" approach. But I'm not holding my breath.
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bluesi added 18:15 - Jul 30 We'll give Barnsley a good 3-0 thrashing, then things will look much happier 😃⚽
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Keaneish added 18:16 - Jul 30 Rather than get hysterical about the result, what's blatantly evident is that NOTHING has changed from the end of last season. We have changed nothing, learnt nothing and improved on nothing. The same formation, the same system, the same 'key' players in the first eleven, the same problems when countered, the same problems in front of goal and the same problems form players played out of position.... Its not the result thats embarrassing, its the audacity to tell us things will be different and better when nothing has evidently changed. In fact, in truth, there has been change...our squad is weaker. I'll be at Barnsley to cast a vary beady eye from some vantage point rather than my normal seat in the North Stand. If there really is no difference in playing style or tactical nouse from the last 6 months of last season, then i'll be on Mick's back from day 1 this year. The worst and dullest pre-season i can ever remember...

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Geoff added 18:17 - Jul 30 Not good enough, this club is going backwards at a rate of knots under this regime we perhaps should rename Portman Road Jurassic Park after MM and his followers.
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TractorBoy666 added 18:17 - Jul 30 From what was a promising first half to an absolute shocking second. Chambers is and never will be a right back and Knudsen also looked very poor today. Webster looks very good and although we've strengthened that area it's still so clear we need better attacking options. As much as Dozzell shows promise, he is too young to play 46 games in a highly competitive championship season. Oh and why didn't Cameron Stewart play? One of only 2 wingers currently only at the club, one being a trailist. Still, this game has got me super excited for next week as mick said it would!

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Knightsy added 18:18 - Jul 30 Respect to you therein61....400 + round journey to come watch a friendly. All the best for your retirement.
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tractorboybig added 18:23 - Jul 30 WERE WE ENTERTAINED??????????
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MicksZzzTactics added 18:32 - Jul 30 Blues1: No u are absolutely right Blues! I wasn't there today (I had more "EXCITING" things to attend to with my better half :-) LOL ) But don't you think for a sec that I am not very well aware we didn't "hoof" it today (Which BTW would have been BEYOND disgraceful if we did, meaning if you cannot EVEN attempt to play football, on the ground, against a side like R.U.S.G. .... well imho you might as well close up shop, and tear down PR!!! Period) Purely sarcastically I was however merely trying to quickly come up with a IN GENERAL fitting team nickname to Dinosaur Mick's favorite XI that matched Butcher's wonderfully ultra harsh "Dog & Duck" name for the opposition. PS: And while I have been pleased by MM' "seemingly" new line of thinking i.e. notably more implementation of Passing Football! here in the preseason (albeit again this should generally be sooooo muuuuuch easier against notable lower level opposition), I have a well-founded reason to believe that if we don't "nick" a lot of points at beginning of the regular season, The Dinosaur will simply all-out revert to his eon old ways i.e. "Hoof It" galore ..........which btw if you happened to ever have had been sitting/standing close to the area of the benches at a game you can LITERALLY hear both MM but particularly TC?! regularly shouting out as direct orders/instruction to certain of our players!

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NSL added 18:34 - Jul 30 That attendance is embarrassing but maybe it'll be the norm in a few years under ME's ownership
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blues1 added 18:35 - Jul 30 Jas0999. I'm not saying that maybe Evans shouldn't say to he'll with GDP and loosen the purse strings a bit but on here 2 days ago McCarthy clearly stated that fees may be paid to sign players. The problem is can he persuade ne decent players to play for him? Time will tell I guess. It's McCarthy who keeps telling us our squad is good enough. Are they? If they are is he the man to get the best out of them? Personally I don't think so, sure others do.

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prebbs007 added 18:36 - Jul 30 Ok so here we go. Time for the idiots essex57 Florida and bohslegend to downmark anyone who criticises anything said against the club. We are not 2 or 3 players from being a good side. We are 8 or 9 from being a squad who can succeed. We have the same lest 2 fullbacks in the division. Neither should be anywhere near a championship top 6 team. Skuse Douglas Hyam Coke Murphy Sears Smith Berra ALL back up at best. Webster, bishop, Bart, Didz & Dozzell are for me the only players worthy of being part of a promotion chasing team. We are miles away from that and although it's only pre season either Evans or McCarthy or both are to blame. We are around the same price on betfair for promotion and for relegation. There is no chance of the former and an increasingly bigger chance of the latter. Disgusting owner pointless MD dinosaur manager useless dross manager pets favourite players. We're in big big trouble There you go idiot rose tinted head in sand followers downmark to your hearts content !!!

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Penguinblue added 18:45 - Jul 30 You will come round to Penguinblue's thinking in the end. Hoofball McCarthy OUT. Don't you want a team, manager, captain, right back you can be proud of? By the way. Keane was always right about McCarthy - but he behaved badly
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jas0999 added 18:47 - Jul 30 Blues1 - fair point, but MM tows the corporate line and we have heard the fees statement before, last pre season and January window. Sadly, nothing happened in each window and it sounds like hot air and spin to me. Corporate Marcus Evans may have told MM to say that ... For me, both to blame.
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Tractorboy1985 added 18:50 - Jul 30 As stated before I love this club and hate slagging off any player or a member of the management team but this is a clear indication that we need to spend some cash on players who will provide an attacking threat! I believe in Sears mcgoldrick Murphy and pitman we have strikers who are more than capable at this level HOWEVER we need creativity from the flanks and midfield.. I love teddy and he needs someone around him to take the pressure off! Skuse Douglas and bru are not the answer! It has not got to be a team full of flair players.. I like mick and he is a straight talking guy (after speaking to him) but this owner either needs to back him or sell the club! Abiding by fair play rules??? B0||ocks!!!! Get ya cheque book out!! Yes we moan about the style of play but it won't change until we get players who are worth 'millions rather than hundreds of thousands at best! SORT IT EVANS OR SHIP OUT!!!!!!!

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wherescounago added 18:53 - Jul 30 This is the plan, we play rubbish pre-season then lose the first few league matches.....then take on The Budgies and thrash them seven nil!!! We go from strength to strength and win the Championship!!
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