Some might say it is a poor result to go down to a side that almost dropped out of League One last term but I am not inclined to agree.
Yes, Town lost narrowly but this was after they subbed nine players and only after a very dubious penalty was awarded to the home side, when former Blues winger Lee Martin went down cheaply in the box.
If there is one element of real concern then it must revolve around our strike force. We had a number of chances in the first half at the Priestfield Stadium but failed to convert any of them.
We are still a striker short, with just two weeks to go before the season starts and we entertain Birmingham City at Portman Road so the sooner this is addressed the better.
I sincerely hope that the club is doing everything in their power to bolster our attacking options and not just resting on their laurels, as of course they did last season when Daryl Murphy departed and we struggled throughout.
We need another striker badly and someone who can adapt quickly to our style of play. Getting someone from a lower league would not necessarily be a bad thing but as we found with Kieffer Moore, if we go too far down the pyramid, then success won’t come overnight.
Bartosz Bialkowski returned to the Town starting lineup, having been ill for Tuesday`s game at Peterborough and seeing him back behind the sticks must have come as a bit of a relief to Town’s 250 plus travelling army, who witnessed a senior squad in action.
The notable exception was midfielder Flynn Downes, who has just signed a new three year deal with the Tractor Boys and could play some part early in the new campaign because manager Mick McCarthy has been very impressed with his more recent progress.
McCarthy explained why he rates this 18 year old so highly.
‘Flynn came back in pre-season as fit as anybody and I was really impressed with the way he was training and playing, so I said to Marcus (owner) sign him up and get him on a long-term deal. He`ll play in the first team now, no question.’
He may just have to because our midfield looks a little depleted at the moment with Emyr Huws, Teddy Bishop, Tom Adeyemi and Cole Skuse all unable to play this afternoon for a number of reasons.
The result is not very important but the performance is and given the wholesale changes made by the manager halfway through the second half and the injuries we have incurred – particularly in midfield department, this was a satisfactory display by the away side, who will feel they were a tad unlucky to lose.
Frank Weston – Editor of Vital Ipswich
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