Town manager Paul Jewell was delighted to get his first Blues win under his belt as goals from David Norris, Connor Wickham and Carlos Edwards saw his side to a 3-2 victory over Doncaster Rovers at Portman Road.

Jewell said: “I’m delighted with the result. Given the situation we’re in, we needed the three points. As for the performance, in the first half we were edgy, so I said to them at half-time to try and have that belief.

“It’s easy for me to say that, it’s easy for people to say ‘Have confidence’, but I think they showed great character - they came out for the second half and were on the front foot. We changed our system a little bit because they’re a good team Doncaster, they are as good a footballing side as there is in this division, terrifically coached by their manager.”

The Town manager felt his team reacted well to Doncaster’s second goal: “We went 2-1 up, created a few chances, but they’re always going to be a threat with the likes of Billy Sharp and James Coppinger and the kick in the teeth was when they equalised after 10 seconds.

“You could see the players’ character, heads might easily have gone down, but they took the bull by the horns, kicked on and got a great victory.”

Jewell said his players grew in confidence as the game wore on: “At half-time I said to then to have that belief in yourselves. We were having an extra touch in the first half, which happens when you’re down the bottom, every manager will say the same. The game looks difficult for you.

“Second half, they played with great freedom. It’s easy for me to say that, but I think it’s all down to the players.”

The Blues boss says getting the first win of his time at Portman Road is important: “It’s nice and you can feel the confidence within the club, not just the players but also the supporters.

“But it’s only one game, we’ve got to go to Arsenal on Tuesday and then Derby a week on Tuesday. It’s just a start, but I want the players to take the credit and take the positives from today and what we’ve learnt that we can do better into the game on Tuesday.”

Asked if and when there could be additions to his squad, Jewell said: “I would think so this week.”

Doncaster manager Sean O’Driscoll felt the result and performance was a microcosm of his side’s campaign so far: “It’s been the story of our season. If the season stopped at 45 minutes we’d be top of the league and on the second half we’d probably be near the bottom.

“Despite the [5-0] scoreline at Wolves [in the FA Cup in midweek], we thought we did OK, we just let poor goals in, but we continue to let poor goals in and it was the same pattern here today — we were OK until we conceded the goal.

“It wasn’t even a goal which put the opposition ahead, it was a goal which put Ipswich back in the contest, but from that moment on the control we had in the first half disappeared and then it was almost ‘flick of the coin football’; we might get into it, we might not.

“We’re not a physical team, so if we have to rely on thumping the ball forward or long throws or corners or freekicks, then we’re going to struggle. We need control, sometimes control of the football is a little bit different to passing it, it’s just being under pressure, being nice and organised and disciplined, which were in the first half.

“Second half, any ball forward it looked like they were going to score, which you can’t quite comprehend to be honest, although we’ve had defensive frailties all season.”

Story syndicated from TWTD.co.uk

Photo: Action Images

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