Ipswich v Leeds: Blues boss Mick McCarthy says keeper Scott Loach apologised to his team mates for conceding Leeds United’s winner.

Town dominated the opening exchanges and deservedly led through David McGoldrick’s crisp finish, but a Luke Varney goal against the run of play meant the score was 1-1 at the break.

Four minutes after the restart, Ross McCormack’s shot from the edge of the box took a small deflection on the way to goal, but Loach still should have done more to prevent the ball creeping under his body.

And that’s the way the match ended, 2-1 to Leeds, as Ipswich forced corner after corner but never really looked like a threat in open play.

“He came in and apologised and coughed it,” said McCarthy, when asked about Loach’s reaction to the winner. “If he’d have come in and blamed the deflection I might have had a different view.

“He knows he should have saved it. There’s no point dancing around it.

“We gave the ball away in the build-up, but that should have been repaired.”

Reflecting on his side’s third league defeat from the opening four games, all of those losses coming by just a single goal, McCarthy said: “I know we did good things in the game, the way we started, but it never feels like there are any pleasing aspects when you’ve just got beaten – especially at home.

“You’ve got to make the most of it when you’re playing as well as we were at the start.

“The got a fortuitous break, he (Varney) has got to finish it still, but I don’t think the initial shot was ever going to trouble Loachy. It bounces straight into his path and he scores.

“That changes the path of the game, it was a bit more even after that and the second goal we conceded is a real poor one. That gives them something to hang on to and changes the way people feel on the pitch.”

He continued: “They’ve got some good experienced players, they defended doggedly and fairly well, but we had our chances – even in the second half with all those corners,

“If that goal that they get from a lucky deflection leads to the match finishing 1-1, so be it, but don’t concede a second poor goal. Just don’t get beaten.”

– See Monday’s EADT and Ipswich Star for match analysis and more reaction.