Keane's Ipswich sit fourth in the Championship table

Ipswich Town's failure to score a goal in the first half of a Championship fixture this season is no major concern, insists boss Roy Keane.

Town continued their trend of improving in the second period in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Scunthorpe.

Keane told BBC Radio Suffolk: "In an ideal world I like to start a bit quicker but we're reacting well.

"As much as I was disappointed with the first half, if we keep getting results it's not the end of the world."

He added: "Sometimes we have to look at the players and make sure we're starting games a bit better.

"I'm not overly-worried about it. But we seem to be getting to half-time to get a response from the players."

After watching his side go 1-0 down on the half-hour mark at the weekend Keane was quick to make changes, hauling off young front man Connor Wickham a minute later.

606: DEBATE We took off Wickham and put Hyam on in front of the back four. It did work thankfully or it would've been a cricket score HampshireYorkshire

"It clearly wasn't happening, that's why we had to make the change. It was more of a tactical thing than anything Connor wasn't doing," the Ipswich manager added.

"The other players need to learn from it and Connor will learn from it.

"That's where I have to look at myself, whether I picked the wrong team. Hindsight's a wonderful thing but we went out with a starting XI that we thought could certainly get a result."

Tuesday's trip to Reading will be Town's sixth game in 18 days, something Keane admits is a challenge.

"I think it's a case of getting on with it, we can complain and moan all day but what difference would it make," he said.

"They're the demands of being a professional. That's the demands of being a footballer and you have to deal with it and manage your body of course."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version