LEWIS Price pushed Jason De Vos for the Town man-of-the-match honours at Hillsborough on Saturday.And the 21-year-old Ipswich Town goalkeeper gained his reward by achieving a welcome clean sheet.

By Elvin King

LEWIS Price pushed Jason De Vos for the Town man-of-the-match honours at Hillsborough on Saturday.

And the 21-year-old Ipswich Town goalkeeper gained his reward by achieving a welcome clean sheet.

“I haven't kept one for a while and, as a goalkeeper, it's obviously something you're striving for in every game,” said Price.

“I made a couple of saves in the first half and that was important.

“But the main thing, of course, was getting three points. It was a scrappy game and - if I were honest - a draw would have been fairer.

“We would have felt demoralised if they'd nicked it late on, so I can certainly understand their frustration.

“But we can't worry about that. I'd take a result like that every time.

“It might not have been pretty to watch but we showed our battling qualities and also our spirit, because we kept attacking until the very end.”

Price admitted the patchy, bumpy pitch made conditions difficult and added: “This result sets us up perfectly for Christmas.

“Now we've got a busy spell of four games over the festive period and we've got to make it our aim to climb higher and higher up the table.”

Danny Haynes was content with his first senior start for the Blues.

The 17-year-old scored after stepping off the substitutes' bench in last weekend's 2-2 draw at home to Queens Park Rangers.

This time he was given a starting role and, despite being withdrawn at half-time, he said: “It was a great feeling.

“I found out I was going to start a bit earlier in the week and felt fine about it - until the morning of the match. Then I had a few butterflies.

“But, overall, I was happy with the way it went and it is all part of the learning curve.”