Francis Jeffers heaped praise on young attacker Armando Dobra following his superb display in Ipswich Town’s 3-3 draw at Colchester United.

The youngster, who started on the right and finished the game on the left, looked positive throughout as he looked to beat Colchester defenders whenever he got on the ball.

The Ipswich goals came from Joe Pigott, Macauley Bonne and Wes Burns, but it was Dobra who was singled out by first-team coach Jeffers.

“It was a pleasure to watch young Dobra,” he said. “I’ll single him out.

Ipswich Star: Armando Dobra goes on a mazy run at Colchester UnitedArmando Dobra goes on a mazy run at Colchester United (Image: Pagepix Ltd 07976 935738)

“I thought he was special tonight. He’s got loads of ability. He has to get his numbers better with assists and goals, which I’ve spoken to him about and everyone gets on at him about, but if we can get him on the ball in those danger areas then he’s going to be some player.”

Jeffers was pleased with the attacking threat posed by his side, on a night where Pigott and Bonne both got on the scoresheet for the first time as Ipswich players.

“This was two local teams so you’re always going to get a feisty game, but we have to look at the bigger picture,” Jeffers said.

“There are lots of positives going forward, certainly attacking, and the lads looked a real threat all night.

“We have so many new players and a new way of playing, so for us it’s about seeing positives coming out and building every game. We’ve seen improvements from Dartford, to Fulham, to Crystal Palace and then tonight.

“We looked a real threat with penetration and players in the pockets, so that was pleasing.”

Colchester’s first two goals, from Tommy Smith and Frank Nouble, came from set-pieces, while Alan Judge’s third was the result of an error by goalkeeper Tomas Holy.

“The goals you concede are always disappointing and you don’t want to concede, even if it’s pre-season or in training, but it’s a load of new lads,” he said. “We’ll look at the set plays and tweak things and, if you are going to concede from set plays, you want it to be in pre-season so you can see where the problems are.

“We know we will come up against set plays and they have to take responsibility for all of that, even if we give them a set-up, it’s them on the pitch. But the time to make mistakes is in pre-season.”

Next up is a visit from Millwall on Saturday, in what is Town’s final pre-season game before the competitive action begins against Morecambe on August 7.