Jim: We conceded three joke goals

By Elvin King

IPSWICH TOWN manager Jim Magilton said that his defence conceded three joke goals against Preston in the 3-2 Championship defeat at Portman Road last night.

The rookie Town boss said: “The first goal was awful, the second no better and the third no better than that.

“We were more than a match for them for 45 minutes when we were excellent. We showed guts and character and really didn't want the first half to end.

“At the interval I told the players that the next goal would be all-important and if we could score a third it would be game over.

“We passed the ball well in the first half but stopped doing it after the interval. Giving away free headers is a disease that has crept into our game. It has got to stop.

“We did enough in the first half to deserve a handsome lead but you cannot switch off at any level and we did that.”

Preston boss Paul Simpson, who travelled from Carlisle to train with Ipswich for three years in his early teens, said: “We had a shocking first half but made a great comeback.

“We gave Ipswich a lift and then had to pull out all the stops.

“At the interval I said that if we could get a goal back quickly we could still win the match. When we scored it gave us a massive lift and you could see Ipswich starting to wilt.

“A 2-0 scoreline is a funny one, as the team that scores the next goal takes control.

“There is expectancy at Preston, but there is at all Championship clubs including Ipswich who were in the top flight not so long ago.

“We perhaps thought that we just had to turn up and win this one. If so we had our fingers burned. We had a big drubbing at Norwich and learned a lot from that midweek match.”

Town, who have now lost their last three games, will be without Mark Noble for the home game against Luton on Sunday week after he picked up his fifth booking last night.

Midfield general Gavin Williams confirmed that he is four weeks away from playing again after an operation.