Sickening to lose in stoppage time

By Elvin King

CLUB stalwart Richard Naylor added to his 300-plus Ipswich appearances and revealed that it was one of the biggest kicks in the stomach to be beaten by a stoppage time goal at Burnley on Saturday.

“It was sickening,” said Naylor, 29, who came in to take his place beside skipper Jason De Vos, with Alex Bruce switching to take Fabian Wilnis' right-back role.

“To be back in the side from the start was a boost and we will have to wait and see whether I stay in the team for the next game.

“I was pleased with the way I played, and we put in so much effort.

“We deserved something from the game, there is no doubt about that. But we could have done with a goal in the periods when we were dominating.”

Naylor, who headed straight from Turf Moor for a wedding reception in his native Leeds, was not the only player to get back into the side after a time out of the final squad of 16.

Sito Castro, not even on the bench for the previous last four matches, came on for Bruce for the final 32 minutes on Saturday.

The Spaniard, who acquitted himself well, said: “Of course it was great to be back, but to have gained three points - or even one - would have been more pleasing.

“We lost a bit of concentration at a crucial time after being the better side in the final part of the game.”

John McGreal, the linchpin of the Ipswich defence during their glorious 2000/01 campaign when they finished fifth in the Premiership, met up with some of his former colleagues.

Now a key figure in the Burnley squad the Liverpool-born player is two weeks away from recovering from injury.

He confirmed that he has now sold the house he owned in Ipswich, but that he is in the process of building a new one in a joint venture with former Ipswich speedway rider Savalas Clouting, who used to be his next door neighbour.

“The plan is to move back to Ipswich one day,” said McGreal.

He joined in with the other fringe Burnley players for a short training session after Saturday's game.