Could back to back defeats at Wrexham galvanised Ipswich into three match winning run?
The pre match pyrotechnics at Portman Road before the action between Ipswich Town and Hull City. Photo: Russell Cook,
Could a positive turning point be created from the dismal back to back defeats at Wrexham?
And have Ipswich found their true form at a crucial part of the Championship season?
Whichever way you look at things the Town are on the rise following another home win at Portman Road, this time against promotion rivals Hull City.
That’s three wins on the trot now for the Tractor Boys following victories against Watford at Vicarage Road (2-0), Swansea (3-0) on Saturday and last night’s 1-0 defeat of The Tigers.
Town manager Kieran McKenna, who chalked up his 100th in charge of Ipswich, was coming under pressure following the two losses at the Racecourse Ground, in North Wales.
But he and his backroom staff have helped to turn things around for the club who now sit in third spot, within three points of second placed Middlesbrough and with a game in hand.
Dutch midfielder Azor Matusiwa got the only goal of the game and his first for Ipswich despite a stubborn display from fellow promotion hopefuls Hull City who failed to register a shot on target.
Town dominated throughout but were kept at arm’s length by the well-organised and hardworking Tigers until Matusiwa broke through with 19 minutes remaining.
The midfielder smashed in a shot from just outside the penalty area that hit the underside of the crossbar on its way in, to illuminate a stodgy match.
Minutes later, Jack Clarke was somehow denied a second by Hull goalkeeper Ivor Pandur.
Hull came to frustrate and managed it well, restricting Ipswich to a Jack Taylor shot and a sharp chance at the near post for George Hirst in the first half.
A draw looked on the cards, though, until Matusiwa’s superb strike to clinch the 12th home win of the season at fortress Portman Road.
Speaking at the after match press conference McKenna said it was a “tough game” and keeping another “clean sheet was a positive.”
He added: “It was a tough game, a frustrating game. I think I had a fair idea the type of game it would be.
“It was so, so different to Saturday … the reality is that a team come with good players, good legs, experienced defenders and sit with 11 so deep and take their time every time the ball goes out of play, it’s very rarely going to be a fantastic game of football.
“We didn’t create the pressure that we would have wanted in the first half, didn’t create enough clear cut chances, probably one clear chance but didn’t create as much as we like.
“Really important not to concede and they had a counter threat and we defended some of those well.
“Keeping a clean sheet was a positive and I thought second half was better right up to the point of the goal and came when the pressure was building.”
And he had special praise for the goalscorer.
“What a brilliant moment for him, a brilliant moment for the team and for the club really because we’ve won a good amount of games this year but how many have we won off of a moment of a player stepping up with a big moment.
“That was definitely a brilliant moment tonight.
“He’s an outstanding person, player, leader. The leadership side of it he has certainly grown into over the course of the season.
“He’s a proper standard bearer; how he looks after himself, how he trains, you see how he is on the pitch, how he competes but a great human off of it and a great team mate and happy to have him here.”