JOE Royle admitted that his Ipswich Town side were "toothless" at Wolves until he sent on Richard Naylor for the last nine minutes.After Town snatched a 1-1 draw with Naylor's late leveller, Royle said: "The Molineux pitch was heavier than it looked and we were not able to offer any penetration in attack.

By Elvin King

JOE Royle admitted that his Ipswich Town side were "toothless" at Wolves until he sent on Richard Naylor for the last nine minutes.

After Town snatched a 1-1 draw with Naylor's late leveller, Royle said: "The Molineux pitch was heavier than it looked and we were not able to offer any penetration in attack.

"We got away with it on a harder surface at Carrow Road, but it was hard work tonight.

"We passed the ball around well, but we were toothless and I could not see in all honesty a goal coming until Richard Naylor scored.

"Richard to my mind is a good player at the back and this is where his future most probably lies. But he can take a chance and he showed that tonight with an excellent finish.

"Darren Ambrose was not right and not fully fit. I virtually had to press-gang him into

playing after his the knock he received on his knee on Sunday.

"He did well and gave us time before I could bring on the kid.

"Sixteen-year-old Dean Bowditch is not strong enough to start games right now, but we needed him after the interval to give us a better chance of scoring a goal.

"Jim Magilton was not injured but I wanted us to go forward more.

"I think we deserved the draw but the traumas of the local derby looked to have taken something out of us and our young lads had not fully recovered.

"But we have kept in touch with Wolves and still have the opportunity to make an impact on the play-offs. We had that late chance, but it would have been a bit unfair on Wolves if they had lost.

"Their young keeper is a fine player and he made an exceptional save from the free kick at the death."

Wolves manger David Jones confirmed his frustration at seeing two points lost following Ipswich's late equaliser.

He said: "I knew they would have a lot of the ball, but they did not hurt us.

"Two lapses that led to a silly free kick and not picking up the goalscorer saw us drop vital points.

"We played at a fast tempo and showed quality against what I believe is one of the best sides in this division.

"To take four points off Ipswich is a good return. Paul Ince was awesome tonight and the match must have been a good spectacle for the neutral."

Jones was unhappy that Thomas Gaardsoe was not penalised when he held back Kenny Miller in the first half.

The Wolves manager said: "This was a big match and it needed a big decision from the referee. It did not come, but having said that, we had enough chances to have won the game."