Hurst frustrated as Ipswich are held by 10-man Bolton

Posted Sunday, September 23, 2018 by PA

Ipswich manager Paul Hurst was frustrated not to have picked up his first win of the season after their 0-0 draw with 10-man Bolton at Portman Road.

It was their fifth draw of the campaign but it did lift them off the foot of the table on goal difference and they remain unbeaten at home despite playing with a man advantage after Bolton defender Marc Wilson was sent off in the 34th minute.

Hurst said: “It was a frustrating afternoon, that’s the overriding emotion.

“We didn’t work their keeper enough and Dean Gerkin didn’t have a save to make.

“There was little goalmouth action, lots of probing and pressing but certainly that lack of quality whether it’s that final ball, an attempt at goal, a cross, I’m not sure how many real balls we put in the box and then some of the passing was okay.

“Things are occurring, you can only put it down to confidence.

“It’s not a difficult place to play at in terms of our own fans getting onto our players but it’s the most obvious thing I can point to: confidence. That’s the magic formula for everyone and unfortunately there’s not a definite way of restoring that.

“We need that victory and hopefully that will restore confidence.”

Town now face tricky away matches against Birmingham and Swansea with a home game against Middlesborough sandwiched between them before the international break in October.

The Suffolk side can thank former striker David McGoldrick, who moved to Championship rivals Sheffield United, as he scored the winner against Preston, who dropped to the bottom of the league.

The nearest Ipswich came to a goal was when Bolton keeper Ben Alnwick superbly saved from Luke Chambers in the 86th minute following a free-kick while at the other end David Wheater’s shot was blocked by Toto Nsiala moments earlier.

Bolton manager Phil Parkinson was delighted to come away with a point and praised Alnwick for making a “magnificent” save to deny Town a winner.

Parkinson said: “I’m very pleased with the point. I thought the sending-off was harsh and I’ve seen it back again and there’s minimal, in any contact.

“If you take everything into consideration, a day less rest than Ipswich, a long trip down yesterday and down to 10 men, if you add all those things together it’s a performance of real character for us.

“The stand-out moment of the game was Ben Alnwick’s magnificent save and it was one of those moments when both sets of supporters clapped to spontaneous applause. It was a brilliant save.”