IPSWICH Town caretaker boss Ian “Charlie” McParland had feared that his team might be on the wrong end of a drubbing this afternoon.

Almost certainly in charge of Town for just one game, following Roy Keane’s dismissal on Thursday night, McParland watched Town crash to a 7-0 defeat at Chelsea in a terribly one-sided FA Cup third round tie at Stamford Bridge.

“To be honest, I live in the real world,” said McParland.

“I knew what was going to happen today. We had a few lads out, and the players were a bit shell-shocked with the manager (Keane) going on Thursday or Friday. We had also been huffing and puffing in the Championship, so we were always going to struggle.

“I don’t know if it would have been any different, if Roy had still been here, but I’d like to think that he would have made a difference.

“We were in the game for the first half-hour, but we then gave away three bad goals, especially the own goal (by Carlos Edwards).

“I haven’t been told when the new manager will be coming in, but I hope he’s in by Wednesday!”

Town entertain Arsenal in the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final on Wednesday evening.