Cole Skuse was relieved his Ipswich teammates got him off the hook, as the Blues recorded a 16th straight Tuesday night victory against Reading.

After Ryan Fraser had given the hosts the lead with a 57th-minute goal, which brought a scrappy game to life, Skuse was penalised for a trip on Hal Robson-Kanu which allowed Garath McCleary to level from the spot.

While Skuse could understand why referee Tim Robinson pointed to the spot, he believes he got the ball, but was more pleased his error didn’t cost his side as Brett Pitman fired home the winner with a minute to go.

“It’s not the first time this season we’ve left it late, but the three subs who came on all made the difference and they dug us and myself out of a hole,” he said.

“I thought I took the ball but then again it was a silly tackle, I didn’t need to go to ground to make the tackle. I don’t think it was a pen but I can understand why the ref gave it and I have no arguments.

“Pits came on and did his hardest to miss as he crashed it off the post, but it meant we got three points.”

In a game which struggled to ever spring into life, Skuse insisted his side deserved the win on balance.

He said: “It was a typical Championship game really, they are a decent side maybe in a false position for the squad they’ve got, but on the balance of things I think we edged it and deserved the three points.”