Ipswich Town boss Mick McCarthy admits his team’s style of play is still a work in progress following last night’s 1-0 friendly win at Colchester United.

Brett Pitman scored the only goal of the game, in the 39th minute, after latching on to a Paul Digby long ball.

“It’s nice to win, it’s nice to get a clean sheet,” said McCarthy.

“I think our fans saw us play some decent football. We’re trying to develop that a bit better because towards the end of last season it was annoying me – I didn’t enjoy what I was watching either. And yet the goal we get was a ball stuck in behind, so we can’t stop doing that because that’s how you create space in the middle of the park.

“We’re learning a bit at the moment. We’ve got to mix it up. It can’t all be one way or the other.”

Asked about when he screamed at defenders Digby and Luke Chambers on separate occasions, he replied: “I wanted them to stick it in behind them instead of switching across the back because we weren’t hurting them at all. The way you create that space in midfield is that if the defenders keep squeezing up, you stick it in behind and they all start dropping off and then you get a bit of room to play.

“That’s not Neanderthal football – that’s clever football.”

Asked if there was any progress on making new additions, McCarthy said: “Our irons are all still in the fire. We are just in discussions with people. There are a few big spenders in our league doing all the deals and few beneath that trying to manufacture deals with loans or swaps or free transfers. That’s where we are at.”

On his hour-long chat with owner Marcus Evans during the Sir Bobby Robson Golf Classic in Portugal last weekend, he added: “It was just a nice, good discussion in a relaxed atmosphere. There’s never been any tension between us.”

And on striker David McGoldrick again sitting out through injury, he said: “He’s having a week’s training this week and is doing really good, but I have no intention of rushing him back because that thing in the top of his thigh has been niggling for a while.

“He’s got to get that base to work from because if he doesn’t get that then he’ll keep having set-backs.”

Town travel to Cambridge on Saturday and then Charlton next Tuesday.