Ipswich Town boss Roy Keane was today celebrating his best-ever result at the club – one which bagged him a Portman Road lifeline.

Just three days from the 4-1 humiliation at the hands of bitter rivals Norwich City, with Keano’s ITFC career in peril, a makeshift Blues side swept the formbook aside and beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 in the Carling Cup.

Town defied the odds to progress to the semi-finals of the competition – and a mouthwatering two-legged tie with mighty Arsenal.

That double battle with the Gunners will be in January. Town will be at home in the first match, a televised encounter at a sold-out Portman Road.

In another great football irony the tie will pitch Town against the Gunners twice, in the Carling Cup, and Chelsea in the FA Cup, in the same month.

The three matches will deliver a huge boost of many hundreds of thousand pounds into the Town coffers – but will also give Keane a chance to resurrect his Portman Road career after Sunday’s disaster and a rapid fall down the Championship table.

Morale will now soar and the Blues can look forward with more confidence after a dreadful series of defeats.

Up to 10,000 Town fans will get a taste of Emirates action in the second leg, in late January.

If the Blues overcome the North London giants – it will be the club’s first match at the new Wembley.

Simon Clegg, chief executive of ITFC, said he was “thrilled, delighted and excited for our loyal fans”.

See tonight’s Evening Star for full match reaction, pictures and reports.