Managers reaction after Ipswich v City

Last updated : 23 August 2004 By Michael Morris
Joe Royle

“I was delighted with our defensive performance, it was the best we have played at the back for a long time.

“They have got million pound strikers in attack and we hardly gave them a look in. I think apart from the goal, which we gave them, Kelvin Davis didn't have a shot to save.

“Jason De Vos was superb for us at the back and came through the game okay. We will rest him on Tuesday, though. Darren Bent had the best 45 minutes of the season and Pablo did well when he came on, again the brightest he has looked so far.

“The two goals we scored in the second-half were excellent and rounded off a performance that we needed.


Lennie Lawrence

"There's no point disputing it, Ipswich were better than us. They had a little bit more than us today. We were second best.

"I made changes for this match but they didn't make any significant difference. The feeling in the camp isn't particularly good at the moment because we're not winning. We've got to roll our sleeves up and get out of the situation we're in at the moment - and we need to do it quickly. Ipswich's first goal was disappointing. To be fair to Tony, he held his hands up and said he should have stopped it.

"We then pulled it back to 1-1 and it looked like we were going to get a result. But once again we made the wrong decisions defensively and Ipswich scored a second. We lost the game when they scored that goal."