Ipswich Town’s 5-2 defeat by Bolton Wanderers highlighted one of the Blues’ biggest weaknesses, according to winger Sone Aluko.
It all started so well for the Blues, when Macauley Bonne tapped Paul Cook’s men into a fifth-minute lead. But, for the third successive game, Ipswich conceded within five minutes of scoring themselves, as Dapo Afolayan equalised for the visitors.
It was all downhill from there as the Ipswich defence crumbled before ultimately falling to a miserable home loss.
And Aluko, who himself was one of Town’s better performers on a difficult afternoon, knows exactly where his side need to improve.
Andy-and-Stu-react-Ipswich-Town-2-5-Bolton-Wandere-ffffffffe57cf819
“It’s a bitter one, a tough one,” he said. “I don’t know what to say.
“We got off to a good start and our big weakness is when we score a goal. The next five minutes for us is crucial and we keep getting it wrong. We need to fix it and we will.
“The only way out of it is by continuing to work hard and get better.
“It’s maybe a bit of naivety. We’re making mistakes and they’re getting punished – from every mistake we make they seem to score.
“The level of mistakes we’re making, individually and as a team, have to stop because we’re shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Defeat leaves Ipswich 22nd in League One, 10 points off Wigan in second and 12 behind early leaders Sunderland.
“We’re a long, long way of panicking because it’s such a long season,” Aluko said.
“When you build a whole new team like this it’s going to be a bit of a roller coaster, especially in the early days, so we need people to be patient.
GAMEDAY-Ipswich-Town-2-5-Bolton-Wanderers-25a12fce
“But it’s tough. It will change, everyone is working hard to grind away at it.
“We have experience in the team and some good young players, a good blend, so I have no doubt it will get better.
“We have to take it on the chin.”
The fifth Bolton goal was greeted by a loud chorus of boos from the Portman Road stands, which were repeated at the final whistle.
“It’s understandable,” Aluko said of the fans’ reaction “We can’t give them that, get beat 5-2 at home and expect fans to give anything else other than the reaction they gave us at the end.”
“But we will give them some happy times as well. We can still feel the fans behind us in the games and we are as disappointed as they are.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here