Leicester 1 Ipswich 1:ROY KEANE remains bullish about his Ipswich side's chances of making the Championship play-offs despite admitting disappointment at yet another draw .
His side took the lead after just 18 seconds against hosts Leicester when Jack Colback crossed and Ryan McGivern, under pressure from David Norris, turned the ball into his own net.
But for the 13th time this season, the Tractor Boys were forced to settle for a point when Steve Howard levelled for the home side eight minutes before the half-time whistle.
Lloyd Dyer was the creator, cutting in from the right before teeing up the veteran striker to poke the ball beyond Arran Lee-Barrett.
Keane, whose side lie 20th after the match, said afterwards: “It was probably a fair result. We did have some good chances but our keeper pulled off the best save of the game. It was not a classic but to draw the game with an element of disappointment is a mark of our progress because Leicester are having a good season.
“I’m disappointed we didn’t build on our great start to the game but I know we can do a lot better than today.”
Keane admitted his side needs to score more goals if they are to catapult themselves up the table.
He said: “What we lack at the moment is that we don’t score enough goals and that’s an area that needs improving.
“Draws won’t get you too far up the table but I still think we are capable of having a good season, and that would include getting into the play-offs.”
Keane revealed that new goalkeeper Brian Murphy could be sidelined for several weeks after the 26-year-old former Bohemians player was injured in the pre-match warm up.
Keane said: “Murphy damaged ankle ligaments in the warm-up. He looked like he was in a lot of pain in the dressingroom. He could be out for a number of weeks.”
Pretty it wasn’t, but entertaining this most certainly was, a litany of blood, thunder, effort and incident which demonstrated why the Championship remains eminently watchable. Or perhaps that is an old-fashioned view, because both Ipswich Town’s manager Roy Keane and opposite number Nigel Pearson found the manner in which their respective teams used possession disappointing.
“Today wasn’t great, I think our passing was well below our best,” said Keane, having seen his side take the lead after just 20 seconds.
Pearson agreed. “It wasn’t a very good game. We tried hard, but struggled to match the standards we’ve set ourselves. We just weren’t at our game,” he said.
LEICESTER CITY: Weale, McGivern, Morrison, Brown, Neilson, Dyer (Waghorn 71), King, Wellens (Gallagher 70), Oakley, Howard (Kermorgant 83), Fryatt. Subs not used: Logan, Adams, N’Guessan, Hobbs.
IPSWICH TOWN: Lee-Barrett, Balkenstein, Delaney, McAuley, Bruce (Rosenior 57), Colback (John 83), Norris, Leadbitter, Peters, Wickham (Garvan 73), Walters. Subs not used: Murphy, David Wright, Edwards, Quinn. Booked: Bruce.
Referee: M Haywood (W Yorkshire).
