IT proved not to be enough in the end but Alex Bruce was as delighted for the Town fans as himself after scoring an equaliser at Chelsea.

Derek Davis

IT proved not to be enough in the end but Alex Bruce was as delighted for the Town fans as himself after scoring an equaliser at Chelsea.

Bruce swept in an Owen Garvan free kick to give Ipswich hope at Stamford Bridge and he showed what it meant to him as he celebrated in front of the Blues followers in the Shed End.

He said: “I'm pleased with the goal, great feeling. Best feeling you can ever have, and nice to score in front of our supporters.

“They were fantastic and it was great to give them something to shout about.

“They got right behind us throughout the game, made a terrific noise and I don't think we let them down.”

With dad Steve there to witness the goal it was an extra special moment for the young Bruce who got his first goal in the loss at Birmingham, which his dad missed after leaving a few minutes early.

The defender has put his contract dispute with the club behind him to put in a number of good displays and felt the whole team produced at Chelsea.

He said: “We played with a lot of heart. When you come to places like Stamford Bridge you want to give a good account of yourself and we did that.

“Two moments of class from Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard were the deciding moments in the game.”

Although Bruce is out of contract in the summer and has yet to agree terms to stay at Portman Road it is unlikely Ipswich will sell him in January and the 25-year-old Republic of Ireland international is looking to be involved in big matches more often.

He said: “You want to play in games like that every week but the reason they are Chelsea is because they do perform like that every week.

“We've got to show the consistency and try and match that level of performance every week. If we do that, we will win more than we lose.

“The manager said after the game we need to use this now as an incentive, and how we react at Barnsley, a less glamorous surrounding - no disrespect to them - will tell us about the squad and hopefully we can go there and get a result.”

Town go looking for their fourth unbeaten Championship match at Oakwell tomorrow, and Bruce feels the performance against Chelsea will hold them in good stead.

He said: “We can take plenty of positives from the game and then move on. Hopefully we can get a League run going now, put a few good performances together and get up the table and into the top six. If we can do that and get in the Play-Offs, it will be a good season for us.”