BLUES boss Jim Magilton last night quite rightly preferred to praise the performance of his side in the 1-0 defeat at Preston than the referee who banished him to the stands.

By Derek Davis

BLUES boss Jim Magilton last night quite rightly preferred to praise the performance of his side in the 1-0 defeat at Preston than the referee who banished him to the stands.

Magilton was livid that Premiership official Mark Clattenburg only allowed three minutes of time added on as Ipswich pressed for a deserved equaliser.

Michael Ricketts secured the win, which pushed Preston back into the top six despite Town going close to scoring in the opening stages.

Magilton said: “Performance-wise was grand. The goal went against the run of play but it was a fantastic header.

“We controlled possession and played very well although we didn't really work the keeper enough or get in enough crosses.

“For all our possession we didn't have enough belief that we were going to score. If Francis Jeffers had played then with the amount of ball we had we would have had more cutting edge.”

Magilton was dismissed in the dying stages of the 1-0 defeat and said: “How did he only get three minutes when there were so many substitutions and injury stoppages?

“He is supposed to be the rising star among referees. But I'm not going to dwell on that when we have come to Deepdale and dominated the game the way we did.

Ipswich now face relegation-threatened Luton on Saturday but Magilton has reasons to be confident.

He added: “Had we played like that against Southend we would have won the game comfortably. I hope we play in the same manner as this against Luton and if we do then we will more than we will lose over the rest of the season.”