IPSWICH Town goalkeeper Richard Wright, who produced his third wonder save in five games at St Andrews last night, says the Blues must learn to play for 90 minutes.

Elvin King

IPSWICH Town goalkeeper Richard Wright, who produced his third wonder save in five games at St Andrews last night, says the Blues must learn to play for 90 minutes.

The 31-year-old keeper somehow tipped a second half Franck Queudrue screamer on to the bar to follow his memorable saves at home to QPR and away to Doncaster Rovers.

But by then the damage had been done as Birmingham City were two goals ahead.

Ipswich slipped down the Coca-Cola Championship to 11th place and Wright admitted: “Those two early goals killed us.

“When you play the top teams, the bigger teams, you have to compete for 90 minutes.

“You know the going will be tough and you have to keep in the game.

“We were slow to get going and this is a lesson we have to take out of the game.

“When you have players like Kevin Phillips you expect them to take the opportunities when they come along.

“We want to play in the top division but to do so we must learn to perform right from the start.”

Wright drew satisfaction from the fact that Ipswich came back into the match after the interval after conceding twice in the opening 14 minutes.

“We won the second half,” he said: “After the Phillips goal I only had one save to make.

“Our defensive record is up there with the best in the division and we have kept as many clean sheets as most.

“And we have failed to score just three times all season. We needed to dig in last night more and deal with their expected early onslaught, but we had a chance just after the interval and if that had gone in it could have been a different story.”

Birmingham's first goalscorer Liam Ridgewell dedicated his goal to a family friend who passed away.

“I don't want to name the person but I was pleased the ball went in.

“It was one of my best ever goals, and I struck the ball sweetly.

“This was a big win as it keeps us ahead of the teams just below and in good heart for our match at Wolverhampton on Saturday.”