Blackpool v Ipswich: Ian Holloway insists that Ipswich Town fans should still feel positive about the season ahead – despite the fact his side handed the Blues a major reality check in the form of a 6-0 defeat at Bloomfield Road on Saturday.

There was a major sense of deja-vu as Paul Jewell’s men – virtually a year to the day on from suffering an infamous 7-1 thrashing at Peterborough – once again proved to be the creators of their own downfall.

The Suffolk visitors gifted their in-form hosts two goals in an otherwise even first-half and then capitulated after the break as hot property Tom Ince ran riot, finishing the game with two goals and three assists.

Jewell admits the result was a ‘rude awakening’ following encouraging performances against Blackburn and Watford, but Holloway believes those associated with Ipswich shouldn’t be getting too down.

“Paul Jewell didn’t deserve that and his lads didn’t deserve that,” said the charismatic Bristolian, whose side maintained their 100% start following victories over Millwall and Leeds. “That’s as sharp a team as I’ve seen for quite a while and Paul Jewell is going to have a really good season I think.

“Ipswich look fresh, they look young, they passed it well and looked dangerous in the first half. It certainly flattered us to go in at half-time 2-0 in front.

“Goals change games, it’s all about swings in confidence, and sometimes when a third goal goes in it’s very difficult to get your momentum back.

“That was never, ever the scoreline it should have been. You get the odd freak result at this time of year and I think that was one of them.

“Obviously I’ll take it, but you can’t be false about things – I think that’s as good as anyone has played against us so far.

“There’s not much more I can say. Were we that much better than them? If they’d have scored the third goal in the game it might have been us in trouble. It’s that close at this time of year.”