Jim praises impeccable players and fans

By Elvin King

JIM Magilton called Ipswich Town players and supporters impeccable for the way they handled a hostile finish to Saturday's game at Leeds.

The Town boss said: “My main concern was the safety of my players.

“The Leeds fans had obviously heard the Hull result, and when they came on the pitch with so little time left, I really thought that was it.

“I didn't think it was a rational decision to go back out there and if one of my players had been hurt I'd have certainly been knocking on the referee's door. It was a shambolic end.

“I have every respect for our supporters, who were brilliant and behaved impeccably.

“Leeds are a massive club so of course it surprises me to see them in this predicament. It's a huge blow for everyone here, but they'll bounce back - I'm absolutely certain of that.”

Magilton had to watch the game from the stands because of a two-match touchline ban, and he said: “I don't think they will be inviting me back to the directors' box.

“It was a brave decision by the referee to restart the match and I knew there would be everybody in our box for the corner. Fabian Wilnis stood out again, although we conceded a sloppy goal. We controlled a large part of the game.”

Town coach Steve Foley said: “We had a lot of the ball, but did not have a killer instinct until the final stages.”

Leeds boss Dennis Wise said: “It is a sad day for the club and a sad day for me.

“Mathematically, we're not down yet but we're resigned to it and realise we face an impossible task on the last day.

“As manager, I take full responsibility. We gave it our best and I am not going to make excuses - we have not been good enough.

“I'm a big person and accept I haven't achieved what I set out to do, which was to keep Leeds in the Championship.

“I don't want to talk about the crowd trouble as it has been a sad enough day already.

“We sit down on Monday and start to build a way back for this big club.”