Jack Clarke joined Ipswich from Sunderland in the summer of 2024
Jack Clarke scored his third goal in four games as Ipswich Town fought back to earn a point against Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
Despite having the lion's share of first-half possession, the visitors fell behind to centre-back Rob Atkinson's header from a corner.
They were awarded a penalty soon after the break, though, when Chuba Akpom was tripped and Clarke made no mistake with his second successful spot-kick of the season, driven down the middle.
Ipswich's previous road trip to Blackburn ended with the game being abandoned 10 minutes from time because of heavy rain, but there were no such issues this time and they almost won it late on but sub George Hirst's header was just too high.
Robins boss Gerhard Struber brought in George Tanner and transfer-window signing Neto Borges, with captain Jason Knight out for a number of weeks because of a groin injury.
Ipswich made six changes to the team that beat Portsmouth on Saturday, with goalscorers Jaden Philogene and Hirst among those dropped to the bench.
Ivan Azon and Marcelino Nunez were given first starts for the Tractor Boys and the latter, who started the game with one white boot and one black before switching to pair of blue ones in the second half, was prominent in the early stages, making himself available to receive the ball at every opportunity and showing a good range of passing.
Clarke was crowded out as he dribbled into the area looking for space to shoot, but it was City who took the lead, though, as Ipswich failed to deal with Anis Mehmeti's corner and Atkinson headed past keeper Alex Palmer from point-blank range - his first goal for the club since 2023.
Relying on a patient passing game, Ipswich did not have the forward tempo to seriously disturb the Robins, often finding themselves confronted by two walls of four in front of the home area, and a slick counter-attack created a chance at the other end for Borges, who blazed over when he should have hit the target.
In a first half disrupted by knocks requiring treatment, City again showed their aerial threat as Rob Dickie's long throw was flicked on at the near post, but Ross McCrorie directed his header straight at the keeper.
Ipswich wasted no time in drawing level after the break as McCrorie tripped Chuba Akpom as he surged into the box and Clarke calmly fired past Radek Vitek.
Buoyed by the goal, Ipswich showed greater urgency in the opposition half with Leif Davis dangerous on the left-hand side, but he was shown a yellow card for hauling down Mark Sykes as the home side tried to break.
Kieran McKenna made five substitutions, with Nunez and the ineffective Azon two of those withdrawn, but the Robins almost regained the lead as the lively Mehmeti played Sinclair Armstrong through, only for Palmer to race off his line and smother.
Having conceded from a corner, Ipswich almost won it from one when Hirst was left unmarked, but he could not keep his header down and they have now only won once in 14 away games across last season and the current campaign.
Bristol City stay fourth in the table despite a third game without a victory and will be at home to QPR on Saturday, with 13th-placed Ipswich hosting Norwich City in the East Anglia derby at lunchtime on Sunday.
Bristol City's Rob Atkinson spent the second half of last season on loan at Portsmouth
Post-match reaction
Bristol City head coach Gerhard Struber told BBC Radio Bristol:
"It was a really good performance from the boys, we were super disciplined and they worked together so close.
"Our defence behaviour was really good, I cannot remember a really good chance against us and we should not forget this is a team with £200m transfer value.
"We invest a lot in the last few weeks in set-pieces and we know Rob Atkinson has outstanding aerial power.
"He has something in the ankle, and something in the knee right now but the game showed how important Rob Atkinson is for us, not only to score but how strong he is in defence moments in his personal duels."
Struber: "We executed the plan with discipline."
Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk:
"Across the balance of chances it probably was the right result. I thought we imposed ourselves really well at the start of the game, which was the big focus for the night - we looked like the team that were going to score.
"But then Bristol executed really well on a set play and we got one or two details wrong.
"We probably never got that level of control back that we had at the start of the game and we had to work really hard to get back into it.
"Conceding the first goal and finding a way to get something from the game is a step forward."
Kieran McKenna post Bristol City (BBC Radio Suffolk)
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