Paul Jewell continued his outstanding record away from home since taking charge at Portman Road, as his side claimed their fifth victory in nine matches on their travels.
The result was more impressive in the context of the first half sending off of Lee Martin, which saw the Blues play out the majority of the match with ten men.
It represented a fourth win in five matches, moving Jewells side to an improbable six points from the play-offs. However, despite the obvious delight at the result, the manager was keen to play down any talk of a very late play-off push, as he spoke to the BBC after the match “We’re not even mentioning the play-offs. We’ve been on a decent run. When we got here it was about making sure we didn’t get relegated.”
“We’ve got four games left, that’s 12 points. If we win all those you never know, but it’s highly unlikely, let’s be honest”.
After the resurgence against Middlesbrough on Tuesday night, it was little surprise that Paul Jewell opted to start with the line-up which changed Towns fortunes, restoring Lee Martin to the starting line-up in place of Jason Scotland, allowing Connor Wickham to move into a striking role.
Elsewhere, injury to Mark Kennedy saw Darren O’Dea continue at left back, as he had also done at the culmination of the midweek game.
Despite a Connor Wickham volley straight at David James, Bristol City enjoyed the better of the opening half and their task was made significantly easier after a rash challenge from Lee Martin resulted in a straight red card for the player just returning to the starting line-up after suspension.
The half continued in the same manner, with The Robins largely dominating and Lee-Barrett being the busier of the two keepers.
However, with the Blues first shot of the second half, Josh Carson intercepted a misplaced pass before striking home from 30 yards. It was the youngsters third goal in a week as he once again demonstrated that there is more than one burgeoning talent in the Ipswich ranks.
The remainder of the game took on a familiar tale, with 10-man Town happy to sit on their lead and absorb pressure. Despite late chances for Wickham and Bullard, they were again reliant on the efforts of Arran Lee-Barrett, going some way towards earning the one year contract extension which has been promised.
The performance of the back line understandably came in for particular praise from the manager after the match, notable given that the three outstanding players are all within the last few months of their contracts, as Jewell acknowledged “I think Gareth and Damien have been outstanding since I’ve been here.”
“Gareth got a knock on the ankle early on but his attitude, as well as everyone else's, was absolutely terrific and he dug in there and won every header. Every time the ball came into our box, there was a blue shirt. If it went to a red shirt, they were getting harried and closed down.”
With both centrebacks having been offered new contracts, Jewell is confident that both will sign them, allowing a core platform to build on for next season.
Lee-Barrett has demonstrated that, not only does he have a role at the club next season, but that he might be a viable option to hold down the No. 1 spot. What began as an opportunity to win a contract, appears to be turning into an extended role in the first team, as Marton Fulop seems destined to spend further time on the bench.
Jimmy Bullard continues to provide invention and his run of successive matches go a long way towards demonstrating that fitness concerns are now happily sidelined. With each passing game that the fitness is maintained, so Bullards value edges upwards which threatens to upset Towns chances of keeping the player.
In the forward positions, whilst Jewell has openly favoured a two-man frontline, the paucity of options mean that Town are likely to continue with just one for the remainder of the season. With Jason Scotland once again falling out of the starting line-up, Connor Wickham is finally being given the opportunity to demonstrate whether his future position is also his current position.
All of which sees things developing nicely ahead of perhaps the most eagerly awaited fixture of the season- the return derby with Norwich City. With the Canaries edging ever closer towards promotion, the biggest test of Towns improved form over the previous months will be to see if they can avenge that 4-1 defeat at Carrow Road.....
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