Janoi Donacien was left cursing ‘one of the toughest defeats’ following Ipswich Town’s controversial exit to Portsmouth.

The two sides were locked at 2-2 heading into the final 10 minutes of extra-time, before defender Sean Raggett poked the ball home from a clear offside position as a free-kick caused trouble in the Town box.

Ipswich protests came to nothing, with the former Norwich defender’s goal ultimately proving the difference.

“That’s one of the toughest I’ve taken in football in a very long time,” said Donacien, who was making just his third appearance of the season.

“I think the ref said to us that Mark (McGuinness) has put it in, but he was five yards away from it and their player was stood behind Dai (Cornell) so it’s insane.

“The gaffer said after the game that it’s just not going for us at the moment but it’ll turn for us.”

Donacien was also convinced Ipswich should have had a first-half penalty following Rasmus Nicolaisen’s clear shirt pull on Oli Hawkins.

MORE: ‘There must be a voodoo doll!’ – Lambert’s reaction after Ipswich exit FA Cup following yet more bad officiating

He said: “That was a definite pen, you could see it and then hear him pull Oli down, but if you don’t get them then you can’t be surprised by what happens at the end.”

Town responded well in the second half having fallen behind to two early goals inside the first 15 minutes, with Jon Nolan and James Norwood levelling things up and taking the game to extra-time.

“It just shows what this group has got,” Donacien said of the squad’s character.

“We were in charge of the game when they scored their two goals but we kept playing and got our reward before the goal at the end.

“The spirit here is good and everyone backs each other up, so we know we’ll fight for each other until the end.

“We had last year in mind when we lost to them at their place (1-0 in December 2019) and we wanted to get one over on them.

“We have more than enough to be up there in the league but we maybe just need that bit of luck.”

Asked if he will be ready to play again, when Town take on Crawley in the Papa John’s Trophy on Tuesday, Donacien said:

“I’ll be fine to go again. “I’ll rest on Sunday and then I’ll be good for training on Monday.”