After the rather sobering home defeat by Reading on Tuesday evening, Town fans were perhaps looking towards this trip to Elland Road with some trepidation.
With talisman Jimmy Bullard struggling with a thigh injury and David Norris suspended, Towns engine room seemed ill-equipped to cope with the goalscoring form of Leeds United.
And so, as if sensing the mood of the fans, Paul Jewell turned to a former Blues hero to breathe new life into his side. The re-appearance of Kieron Dyer in a Town shirt, after a twelve year absence, had many fans making the journey to Yorkshire in expectation and, in particular, excitement.
The midfielder, seeking to recover fitness ahead of West Hams relegation battle, exceeded the managers expectations. Speaking to the BBC, Jewell said "He did far better for 70 minutes or so than I expected”
"I didn't plan to play him that long but he showed class and quality and, whilst it was a tough game, it will put him in good stead for this week."
Perhaps slightly less surprising than Dyers return, Jimmy Bullards re-appearance in a blue shirt was nonetheless a welcome boost to the Town side. With the two experienced performers joined by Grant Leadbitter, Lee Martin and Connor Wickham, it represented the most talented midfield line-up available to a Town manager in some years.
Town made a breezy start and enjoyed their best chance of the match within 10 seconds of play. Tamas Priskin, getting a start in place of Jason Scotland, made a good run in behind the Leeds defence and ought to have done better, his profligacy perhaps only being excused by the time at which the chance had presented itself.
With chances at either end, Priskin went close again as his shot flew through a crowd of legs and wide of the post. The Hungarian was finding Kieron Dyer providing support, operating in a role ahead of his other midfielders.
Max Gradel continued to offer the greatest threat for Leeds, but with Marton Fulop largely untroubled. The half ended with Leeds, and their vociferous fans, demanding a penalty for a McAuley handball, however the referee remained unmoved.
The match was to continue as the first half had ended, with Leeds increasingly on top, but with the majority of the efforts flying wide of Fulops net. Dyer and Bullard struggled to provide an impact and eventually Dyer was substituted for Andy Drury.
Gradel again found Fulop thwarting him as the home side showed little indication of breaking through Towns defensive line.
Two clean sheets from successive away games against sides in the top six, gives plenty of encouragement for Towns backline. The centreback pairing of McAuley and Delaney once again looked assured and demonstrated that they represent a combination that could prove pivotal in any Town success over the next year.
In particular, Carlos Edwards produced perhaps his best performance in his new right-back role. Up against the tricky and in-form Gradel, Edwards passed the test with credit. Whilst his sojourns into the opposition half were curtailed, he successfully managed to nullify Leeds most attacking threat.
Ahead of the defence, however, there are still obvious concerns. After managing to win the match against Cardiff having been reliant on the brilliance of Bullard to find two goals, Town have had two further performances in which they have troubled the opposition goal very little. The change of striker didn’t manage to add anything to proceedings, with Priskin, like Scotland before him, putting together a solid performance as a lone-frontman, with very little to feed from.
It is an area which Jewell again felt Town should be doing better. “Obviously, Leeds score loads of goals, but it was at the back where we tried to get at them. I thought early on we were doing that, but we couldn’t get the finishing touch.”
“It was a scrappy game on a very difficult pitch. There wasn’t an awful lot of football played and I was disappointed with our attacking play in the second half”.
However, the addition of Dyer to the midfield gives optimism for improvement. Clearly, the former Newcastle man is short of match fitness, since it is on that basis which West Ham have agreed to loan him out. It is simply a matter of how quickly that fitness returns, as the abilities of the player are well-known to more than just Ipswich Town fans.
Jimmy Bullard falls into the same category, missing the Reading match was perhaps something of a minor setback in his own attempts to regain match sharpness. It is an inevitable consequence of employing both players.
With a game at home to Watford on Tuesday night, both get another opportunity to recover that match fitness. Dyer may recall his last match against Watford at Portman Road with mixed emotions. Just over twelve years ago, Dyer scored against the hornets, only to leave the field with a broken leg later in the match. Later hope part of that repeats.
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