Boss Joe Royle was fuming with referee Matt Messias's decision not to red card Paul Furlong for his fourth minute stamp on Lewis Price's head. The Town manager was ultimately pleased with a point but felt the Blues should have won.

Royle said: "If we'd lost I'd have been devastated. In the end I was happy with a point but we deserved more than that.

"Their second goal was scored by someone who shouldn't have been on the pitch. If you stamp on someone's head you've got top go. The video is very clear. He was jumping over Lewis Price but dropped his foot."

Royle had praise for the role of two of his subs in the equaliser: "You can't doubt our honesty and fitness. It was a fantastic ball from Jim Magilton and a fairytale goal for young Danny Haynes."

Jason De Vos, who led the Town protests at Furlong's fourth minute assault on Price, said that Furlong claimed it was inadvertent: "I wasn't happy. It looked to me like an intentional stamp but Paul was adamant that he caught him by mistake as he tried to jump over him. I have to accept that.

"If the referee had thought it intentional he would have sent him off. I thought the referee did OK and handled the situation well."

Haynes was chuffed to open his goals account on his first senior appearance at Portman Road: "It was fantastic and a dream debut at home for me but the most important thing was that the goal gave us a point.

"It was a special pass from Jim and I knew that it was my chance and I grabbed it. When I saw the ball in the back of the net my heart was in my mouth, I just couldn't believe it.

"It was a wonderful feeling and, hopefully, now I can push on from here and try and become a regular in the first team squad.

"The young players are coming through and the manager has proved that he will give us a chance if we are playing well enough, so it's up to me to take it when I'm handed a first team opportunity."

QPR boss Ian Holloway perhaps predictably defended Furlong: "Paul is very aggressive but certainly not a cheat. If someone's head is there he will try to avoid it.

"It was a cracking game but too end to end for my liking. Every time Ipswich crossed into our box I felt I might have to go through a new pair of strides.

"I always felt that Ipswich were dangerous with their headers and both their goals came that way.

"We had two breakaway chances in the second half that could have finished off the game and in the end it was disappointing for us to lose a goal so late."

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