Ipswich Town fan Karl Fuller shares his thoughts on the Blues after the dramatic late draw with Sheffield Wednesday and ahead of the visit of Doncaster tomorrow night...

He’s behind you Bailey! And it is a good job Macauley Bonne showed mettle so late in the game to rob Peacock-Farrell and play such an instrumental part in setting up our equaliser against Sheffield Wednesday.

Otherwise, my 50th birthday would have had a touch of disappointment to it.

However, as much as it felt good to get a point, it became exactly 20 months to the day since I last walked out of Portman Road on the back of a win (a 1-0 win v Lincoln City on January 25, 2020), and not since February 15 2020, after a 4-1 win over Burton Albion has any of us left the ground with a winning feeling.

It is also just 10 wins for yours truly in the last 56 games that I have been to. It is getting a bit tiring now.

East Anglian Daily Times: Macauley Bonne (centre) is congratulated by George Edmundson (right) and Janoi Donacien (left) after setting up Conor Chaplin's late leveller against Sheffield Wednesday.Macauley Bonne (centre) is congratulated by George Edmundson (right) and Janoi Donacien (left) after setting up Conor Chaplin's late leveller against Sheffield Wednesday. (Image: PAGEPIX LTD 07976935738)

Casting those stats aside, I’m still prepared to play the waiting game on Paul Cook. There seems to be a real parting of opinion between those of us that can see improvements as opposed to those who see mostly only results.

But I grant those in the latter camp that it is a results business and if time goes on much longer, more fans will defect and it will be difficult to keep positive.

The most important opinions will be those of our new owners and how much longer they are prepared to see us at the wrong end of the division before taking action.

Another concern ahead of Saturday’s game was that with a crowd of over 20,000 expected, our record with such crowd numbers rarely stands up well and so it proved again.

Of the last 30 home games which have attracted a crowd of this figure and above, we have won on only five occasions.

And given Saturday’s figure topped 21k, we have won just three times out the last 20 when we have had a crowd of this size. The last such time was in April 2017 when we beat Newcastle 3-1.

Why do we struggle on such occasions? Managers have changed, players have changed and yet the fans have mostly been the same. We have played our part in the main, but for very little reward.

Back to our late leveller, we need to thank Sheffield Wednesday’s goalkeeper for more than just his clanger that gifted us our goal.

I hate seeing goalkeepers collect a cross late on and with nobody within five yards of them, throw themselves to the ground when protecting a single goal lead to waste time.

They then lay there for anything up to five seconds, looking around to see how long they can get away with it. This is a pure act of time wasting and for the life of me I’ve no idea why referees do not clamp down on this kind of behaviour.

To his credit, Peacock-Farell, having shoved his colleague out of the way to claim Bonne’s attempt at pulling the ball back, forgot to throw himself down and trotted off oblivious to Bonne’s presence behind him. Good lad, Bailey.

East Anglian Daily Times: Sheffield Wednesday keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell asks his defenders why nobody told him that Macauley Bonne was behind him?Sheffield Wednesday keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell asks his defenders why nobody told him that Macauley Bonne was behind him? (Image: PAGEPIX LTD 07976935738)

Moving on to our game with Doncaster tomorrow, for so many reasons, we simply have to win this one. Their league form away from home this season is appalling. No points and only two goals scored. We have to take advantage.

Another worry now comes to mind in that we are used to the fact that when a team is in such form, it is often ourselves that help to end these runs.

That’s not me being negative, but purely highlighting another example of bad habits that our owners have inherited. It’s a culture that we need to get away from.

If we can gain three home points at last, that will be a decent return of points from the last three fixtures. I know, we should expect more but it’s something to build on.

I am the superstitious type and the last time we played on September 28 was just two years ago which ended in a 4-1 win at home to Tranmere Rovers.

For that reason alone, I’m calling it now - our first home win of the season will arrive tomorrow night and we can all finally walk out of Portman Road feeling happy.