'Ipswich plagued by narrow losses and missed opportunities'

Ipswich Town's defeat by Crystal Palace on Saturday was a microcosm of how the 2024-25 Premier League season has played out so far.

From my perspective (albeit restricted by the gantry affixed to the roof of Selhurst Park's Arthur Wait Stand) Kieran McKenna's side were highly competitive throughout. There was some concern that 120 hard-fought minutes against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup on Monday might have taken a toll, but Town attacked the game with vigour.

McKenna's Blues certainly do not lack courage in taking on their opponents. What they are missing, though, is that bit of quality to take complete control of matches they are in - something that once again surfaced at Palace.

Dean Henderson leapt to the rescue several times, not least from Julio Enciso and Liam Delap's fiercely struck efforts, but a late home winner (admittedly a classy dink over Alex Palmer by Ismaila Sarr) once again extinguished the hopes of the Town faithful of a point or three.

Despite showing promise and competitiveness in most matches this campaign, Ipswich have been plagued by narrow losses and missed opportunities. McKenna described Saturday's defeat as "sickening", but it is not the first time that his side has been competing in matches only to drop points either late on or to a "fine margin" scoreline.

Once again, it highlights that promoted sides without recent Premier League experience need to undertake a steep learning curve or "bet the farm" and risk PSR compliance to recruit a new XI of seasoned top-flight players.

The compounding cruelty of the present situation for the Portman Road hierarchy is not only do the Blues look to be on that learning curve (despite the gap to safety increasing), but if the season does time out on their survival bid, the increasing top flight know-how of players such as Omari Hutchinson risks them being poached by others in the summer.

Find more from Richard Woodward at the Blue Monday Podcast