ARRAN Lee-Barrett has admitted he was surprised by referee Dean Whitestone’s decision to abandon Town’s match at Middlesbrough after 37 minutes.

The current Ipswich number one cut a frustrated figure on Saturday when fans’ disappointment was matched by Town players following a decent start from the home side.

And Lee-Barrett admitted he didn’t expect proceedings to be cut short – even when skipper Ibrahima Sonko went down with a rib injury close to his goal.

The keeper said: “I didn’t even think about it at that point. It was a bit of a shock when he blew up. We were on top and happy to go on.

“I only saw the goal area and it was quite soft there. But apparently, it was quite hard along the sidelines. I think the linesman was struggling to keep his balance – so it was the referee’s decision.”

Lee-Barrett continued the praise for Town grounds-staff who not only performed wonders in getting a game on in the first place, but have also ensured training has been largely uninterrupted by the wintry weather.

He said: “There hasn’t been too much disruption. We’ve had the indoor training facilities maybe one or two days, but the grounds-staff at the training ground have done really well to keep us a pitch.”