Ipswich 4 Middlesbrough 0: Mowbray expects Boro to offer positive response after mauling

MIDDLESBROUGH manager Tony Mowbray will demand to see a reaction from his team in their coming derbies against Barnsley and Leeds United after this sorry display.

Mowbray lamented: “It was a poor performance from us and there are no excuses.

“We came here in a positive mood thinking we could get three points, hoping to push on and put pressure on the top two again. Now we’re looking for a reaction because that wasn’t good enough.

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“We’ve lost four on the bounce and we either curl up and die or come out fighting, to show our credentials for a top-six place.

“We’ve got a great chance to do that this week with matches against Barnsley and Leeds.

Ipswich are a hard and honest team to play against. We got frustrated that they weren’t letting us move the ball around, because our game is all about the fluency of our passing.

“But we’re better than we showed on Saturday.

“We have to roll our sleeves up, get back to working hard on the training pitch and get back to winning ways. You have to put these games behind you.”

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Ipswich’s stand-in manager Terry Connor believes Ipswich’s victory provided a welcome tonic for boss Mick McCarthy who was forced to miss the match because of a bug that also kept him away from the training ground all week.

However, Ipswich produced a sparkling performance to put a smile on his face, thanks to two goals from Tommy Smith and one apiece by strikers David McGoldrick and Aaron Mclean.

“Mick’s absolutely delighted with the result and performance,” said Connor. “I spoke to him straight after the game.

“He’s been really struggling for two or three days and he’s just beginning to get over it.

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“He wanted to get in but every time he stands up he feels weak and very tired. It’s the first game of his managerial career that he’s had to miss his team playing.”

Smith was the two-goal hero with two unstoppable headers, to open and close the scoring.

His first came seven minutes before the break, after connecting with a perfect corner from Aaron Cresswell.

The centre-half then put the cherry on the cake by heading Ipswich’s fourth, this time from a flag-kick by Carlos Edwards.

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Sandwiched in between, McGoldrick and Mclean were both on target with their first Town goals.

Ipswich Town: Loach, Stearman, Chambers, Smith, Cresswell, Edwards, N’Daw, Hyam (Drury 86), Murphy, McGoldrick (Wordsworth 77), Mclean (Nouble 66). Unused substitutes: Henderson, Hewitt, Kisnorbo, Chopra.

Middlesbrough: Steele, Bikey, Woodgate (Hines 65), Rhys Williams, Friend, Haroun, Dyer, Leadbitter, Ledesma (McEachran 46), Emnes (Reach 62), Jutkiewicz. Unused substitutes: Ripley, Bailey, Carayol, Parnaby.

Referee: C Pawson (South Yorkshire).

Man of the match: Tommy Smith.