Bolton Wanderers boss Neil Lennon admitted his side were second best as they lost 2-0 at Portman Road this evening, but did insist Ipswich should have been down to 10 men in the first half.

Goals from Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Brett Pitman secured a 2-0 win for the Blues, but they were perhaps lucky to still have 11 men on the field after Dane Jonas Knudsen appeared to be the last man when he dragged down Max Clayton on the edge of the box on 25 minutes.

The left back escaped with a yellow card and, although Lennon believes he should have been dismissed, the Trotters manager had no complaints over the eventual scoreline.

“If you don’t compete in this division, particularly against a team like Mick McCarthy’s, then you’re going to get beaten,” he said.

“We looked a bit flimsy in defence at times and I thought we had some good chances in the first half but I thought Knudsen should have been sent off. He’s taken him out on the edge of the box and he’s the last man, that was an important part of the game.

“The goals we conceded were poor, it’s not a great strike and Ben (Amos) should be over it.

“The problem is if you’re not scoring goals and you’re not keeping clean sheets then mentally and psychologically it damages you and weakens you.

“I’ve no complaints over the result tonight, Ipswich were the better team over the piece.”