Boss Kieran McKenna felt his side’s display against Cheltenham was one of the best of his time at Portman Road, despite the Blues having been held to a 1-1 draw by the Robins.

Town managed 29 shots and 74 per cent of the possession as they dominated the visitors but had only Luke Woolfenden’s goal to show for their efforts. Cheltenham scored via Ryan Broom, their only shot on target all afternoon.

Asked how his side hadn’t won, McKenna reflected: “There’s probably a short answer and a long answer. The short answer is that we only scored one of the many, many, many, many chances and big chances that we had, and we conceded from the only shot of the game. That was a goal of team and especially individual errors, so that’s the short answer.

“But the flow of the game and the performance, there were so many positives in it. I thought it was one of the best performances since I’ve been here, to be honest.

“I thought the first 30 minutes was probably the best performance since I’ve been here, especially in the type of game where the team come to set a low block and frustrate, I thought the way that we created the energy and the atmosphere.

“Everything that we spoke about that we wanted to do before the game we managed to do, so there’s some things to look at in terms of the performance and positives to take, but there’s no getting away from the overriding feeling which is the disappointment of the two points dropped.”"
Ahead of the game, the Blues breaking the deadlock looked to be crucial, which Town managed to do in the eighth minute.

“When you get the one-goal lead, you should go on and win the game,” McKenna said. “We had more than enough chances to get the second goal.

“I don’t think it changed the flow of the game because it wasn’t like Cheltenham came out and defended their box with fewer bodies, they still had a lot of bodies in front of the goal at 1-0, but we had more than enough chances to score.

“Of course, luck comes into it, we had a great build and chance when Marcus [Harness] hit the underside of the bar and you’re talking about millimetres from being 2-0 up and similar at the end with Panutche [Camara]’s shot which hits the inside of the post and you’re millimetres from winning the game.

“We got the early goal, the first 30 minutes was very, very, very good, should have scored the second goal and very importantly, as a team, allow them to score with their first shot in the game.”

Town had a number of penalty appeals over the course of the game but with referee Geoff Eltringham waving away their protests.

“I thought the handball at the end [was a penalty],” McKenna said. “I’ve not seen any of it back, but I thought the handball at the end looked clear from where we were.

“There are a few things I could say about the referee’s performance but I’d rather focus on us and what we need to do better. I thought the time added on was out of context with what we’ve seen this year with us having eight and nine minutes at times in games. But I’d rather focus on ourselves and the things that we need to do better.”

Having lost 1-0 to Lincoln as they took a similar approach to Cheltenham last month and been similarly frustrated by the Robins last season, McKenna knows that plenty of other teams will come with the same game plan.

“They’re great challenges, there’s no doubt about it,” McKenna admitted. “I’m eyes wide open about how difficult it is here. There’s no getting away from it.

“I believed that we would score, I think that’s a real positive, I’ve got belief in the players, right the way through I felt like we were going to score.

“It’s not easy, I said it yesterday, it’s as difficult a game to get a result in as people perceive the bigger games are because of the nature and the flow of the game and it’s not easy to score in that second half when you’ve that many bodies throwing themselves in front of the ball.

“But when we create as many chances as we did, we should score and the players know that.

“That’s the challenge, it’s a great challenge. I’d certainly rather be in charge of the blue team than the red team. I was proud of a lot of the things that we did, we did so many good things, 26,000, I thought the atmosphere was fantastic.

“It’s a great challenge for us as a team and a great challenge for us as a club to be successful because it’s certainly not easy and we’re doing a lot of good things.

“I feel there is a part that it’s fair to say that we haven’t had the rub of the green lately and that will change over the course of the season and I still have a lot of belief in these players to keep improving and putting in performances and to be getting big results.”

With Dominic Ball joining Lee Evans on the sidelines and Camara not yet fully up to speed, youngster Cameron Humphreys looks set to play a big part in the next few months.

The academy product made only his second league start against the Robins but his display belied his years and his inexperience.

“I thought he was excellent, really enjoyed watching him,” McKenna said. “I thought both midfielders [were], to be fair, Samy [Morsy]’s now had to adjust without Lee and without Dominic to playing in a different role and more of a controlling role in midfield, and I thought he adapted to that really, really well.

“And I thought Cameron did very, very well. There are very few 19-year-olds playing for the bigger teams in this league, who have come through academies.

“Of course, you get some players who come in from the major academies and come on loan but for a 19-year-old homegrown kid performing how he has in the two games that he’s played at just turned 19 at a big club like Ipswich Town is a credit to him.

“So, happy for him on a personal perspective, but I’m sure he’d rather have the three points.”

Cheltenham boss Wade Elliott was unsurprisingly delighted with the point and his team's performance, particularly so after last week's 2-1 FA Cup defeat to non-league Alvechurch.

“I thought we were brilliant, excellent,” he said. “We spoke in the week and before the game about whether we wanted the Alvechurch result to define our season.

“Football is where you can go out and express your personality and we had our chance to show what we think we’re about and I thought they were top drawer, to a man.”

Quizzed on what pleased him most, he added: “The togetherness, the fight, the spirit. In the first half, it took us 10 minutes to settle into the game, then we had some good moments.

“We scored a really good goal and had one or two other opportunities. You come here, they are a really good side so you know you are going to be under the cosh.

“You have to show a completely different side of you and from one to 11, we defended brilliantly.

“It's not luck. We worked in the week on when they get into positions in the final third, how we populate the box, the positions we take up for crosses and people were throwing themselves in the way of shots and blocks, putting their head on things and the goalie making saves, it isn't luck, it's hard work, committed people and a good performance.”

Cheltenham recorded 17 blocks, which Elliott says was how he anticipated the game progressing.

“We expected at some point, we'd come under some pressure here,” he reflected. “They are a really good side, with 25,000 people, so you do plan in the week that you are going to come under a bit of pressure.”

Photo: TWTD

AlanG296 added 19:48 - Nov 12 Away results and points brilliant but home results and points are holding us back, forget the stats for possession, goal attempts, corners etc the most significant stat is only won 5 out of 9 at home. Not good enough yet McKenna.
9

Letchworth_Blue added 19:56 - Nov 12 You cannot expect to dominate games in the way we do, not take our chances, and concede with the very first chance the opposition have and then expect to be promoted. It won't happen, end of. Need to think again or sign someone that knows how to create goals and finish. 70 odd percent possession every game and not winning will mean diddly-squat at the end of the season.

13

SickParrot added 20:06 - Nov 12 For the first time I can't agree with KM's assessment. How can it be one of our best performances under his management when we give away yet another soft goal and only get 5 of 28 attempts at goal on target? Whilst we dominated possession as usual and could have scored a second with a bit more luck, our failures in both boxes indicate that our overall performance wasn't good enough.

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Churchman added 20:10 - Nov 12 We are losing momentum. Mid table home form - we might well make the play offs, but if we want to be challenging for top two, the excuses need to stop and teams like this put to the sword. Work to be done.
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del45 added 20:22 - Nov 12 McK but we did not win because we have very poor front players this will cost us promotion also poor late subs decisions when looking for the winner.
2

pennblue added 20:40 - Nov 12 On another day we win this game 5-1. However, the stats don't lie, in our last few games, we are not quite doing enough to guarantee promotion, and with us in 2nd position we need to make this season count. There are positions that need to be strengthened, I hope this is in hand.
3

clbalaam added 20:56 - Nov 12 Went to the game for the first time this season, but have watched when I can. I agree with what McK said. I know people are saying we need a better Striker, but the number of clear chances today were very slim picking, and just takes some luck to get ones which weren't so clear to go in. I don't think I've seen a team sit soo deeply as Cheltenham. 2nd half especially Woolfy and Fridge were playing up near their D. Yes we had more than enough chances, including 2 off the crossbar, but I think we were unlucky to have not taken all 3 points against a team that clearly had no intention of trying to win with the amount of time wasting and once they got a goal.

2

TimmyH added 20:56 - Nov 12 Whether we play well or not we're struggling of late to get 'comfortable' wins...every game seems to have a mistake or some poor decision making by players and it's costing us points presently. I worry for the New Year when the pressure starts to mount, we might have to add in the window in key positions.
4

Bert added 21:00 - Nov 12 I can understand Cheltenham's manager being delighted with his teams's defending but does his team not have a role in taking the game to better opposition and at least look as if they may want to win ? Brentford did it to Man. City. I cannot remember a poor Ipswich team ever reverting to a total brick wall. It's not football. I do wonder if some on here have played football and tried to penetrate an 11 man defence. Sometimes you need a bit of luck and today we had none.

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KMcBlue added 21:13 - Nov 12 But we did penetrate.....over and over....creating free headers, easy shots etc.
2

Dab added 21:42 - Nov 12 Thing is we are too one dimensional now and need to change it. We feel the compulsion to get the ball out wide and cross it along the 6 yard box... Thats where all our goals came from in midweek and was all we were about today. Both Lincoln and Cheltenham flooded the 6 yard box with defenders when we had it wide, so put Lineker in his prime in our front line and he will ALWAYS be outnumbered and struggle to get on the end of a cross. He wouldn't get the fabled 20 goals a season playing this way. Mix it up, cross it quicker so the defenders cant get back, take a shot from outside the box, Morsy did it early season but wont shoot now, dont put Burgess up front unless you are prepared to swing balls in the air that he can attack, he didn't have a header to compete for. You know far better that us Kieron so over to you! Maybe your first test of hopefully many as a manager..

4

hyperbrit added 21:54 - Nov 12 I meant to say more excuses than results
2

warfarinman69 added 22:02 - Nov 12 My impression of his interview is he is not happy with defending/goalkeeper. He mentions individual mistakes, and collectively. Walton should not have let that shot go in, and he made a couple of mistakes at Charlton. You can't keep clean sheets if this happens. Woolfie has errors in him too. If we stop conceding silly goals and get wasteful 1-0 results I'll be happy. Ladapo is poor, the ball doesn't stick with him, he's not fast and never gets in front of his man We desperately need a striker, but tighten up at the back and we should score enough up to January to win games. Maybe a rest for Walton?

1

herfie added 22:09 - Nov 12 Some very sensible, measured, comments in response to Kmck's post match assessment. The one area that hasn't been mentioned, however, is mental toughness. I detect that, when things don't go our way - eg conceding sloppy goals - we seem to become diminished, and lose momentum and energy. Also, perhaps KMcK needs to recognise that applying Premiership principles in this very physical and basic league, although admirable in intent, might not always be the best way of securing results. We have a good squad at this level, but perhaps not all of the quality required to deliver what he's aiming at.

3

Carberry added 22:53 - Nov 12 I think there's an element of naivety from McK. The last thing we want to here is how well we played getting a draw against moderate opposition at Portman road. There may be a stack of positives for the video analyst to compile but they don't win matches, goals do. He's a very young manager who has been having a wonderful honeymoon but what happens when he's faced with a pile of dirty dishes. They are beginning to mount up, injuries to key players, some long term, players losing form and this growing problem of not finishing teams off. Man management, motivational ability and the strength to front up with players who aren't performing are all skills he needs when the going gets tough. He may be learning on the job. And maybe we can go forward with a settled team now injuries are forcing selection decisions? I just cannot understand how rotating forwards can help grow understanding, familiarity and wins.

3

blueboy1981 added 23:36 - Nov 12 Honestly - How can that be a Good Performance, at Home, against such opposition who managed one shot on Goal over 90 plus minutes ?
2

Westy added 00:12 - Nov 13 We over complicated everything.
3

FramlinghamBlue added 04:48 - Nov 13 People on here posting over the top negative rubbish punctuated with ‘I hope I'm wrong' - you don't hope you're wrong you like your negative world. The board didnt support KMc in the Summer with good enough striker replacements for what we lost. However, when they've got 22 legs in the box and we've got maybe another 12 it's very very hard to get the ball in the goal.

0

tractorboybig added 06:46 - Nov 13 pretty football does not win games goals do. as a strike force we are poor.
1

pherabella added 07:40 - Nov 13 There does seem to be a view from some that because we are in league one and we are ITFC we should win every game and if we don't we are awful. I've watch the club decline over the last decade and now we are really putting lot of things right and we are moving forward. Yes we should have beaten Cheltenham and there will be many other that come to Portman rd and play like they did. I thought we played well, moved the ball quickly, Humphreys was excellent I though and if we continue with our 2+ point plus game average we will get promoted. Comments liking MMK to lambert are just stupid. We will be fine but have to accept games like these and move on. COYB

1

muhrensleftfoot added 08:15 - Nov 13 Agree with the manager. Some of our football was superb, exquisite. I can't remember a more one sided match. Frustrating, disappointing without doubt but we created lots of chances and can't quite believe we didn't score a second or third. I'm not worried, I haven't seen a better side than us this season. Come May, if we continue playing like this, we'll go up as champions

0

Steelmonkey added 08:32 - Nov 13 I agree with many on here about needing an out and out striker, however we may have one in Ahadme, so unfortunate he got that injury to his foot, so I'll hold fire on that one. Another game I came away from thinking how on earth have we not won that one.
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tractorboybig added 08:35 - Nov 13 murhrensleftfoot if we keep playing and getting results like this come may we wont even be in the playoffs. and plymouth are a class above us.
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senduntd added 09:09 - Nov 13 Taking into consideration the number of excellent corners we had and the good crosses we must find a strong striker. Another Murphy perhaps.
0

Runner added 09:55 - Nov 13 I hope...Ahadme is fit to play soon.
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