Ipswich v Middlesbrough: Blues boss Mick McCarthy heaped praise on David McGoldrick after the striker scored twice in his side’s come-from-behind 3-1 home win over Middlesbrough.

Town came into this game with just four points to their name, some good performances let down by a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal. That was not the case on this occasion though.

McGoldrick’s fine strike from the edge of the box and cool one-on-one finish, sandwiched either side of an excellent Luke Chambers header, meant the Suffolk side overturned Mustapha Carayol’s early opener and finally claimed the three points that their dominance deserved.

“I thought he (McGoldrick) was outstanding today – as he has been since he came here,” said McCarthy. “He just hasn’t been getting his goals.

“He puts in a real shift, he drops in, people can link off him, he’ll run the channels for you. He’s a proper player and we’re lucky that we’ve got him.”

Reflecting on the game, he said: “It was a deserved victory, no question of that, though they made us work hard for it.

“After the first 20 minutes, when I thought they were better than us, we did well. The goal seemed to kick-start us.

“Their keeper has made three good saves while Dean Gerken has not had a lot to do.

“We’ve been playing like that though. Sometimes managers come up and tell lies and have their rose-coloured spectacles on, but I don’t think I do that.

“I think I’ve been telling the truth in how we’ve been playing, we’ve just lacked the goals. Today we got them and I thought Didzy (McGoldrick) was magnificent.”

Meanwhile, McCarthy says that keeper Dean Gerken played the majority of the game with a cut to his knee.

“It’s a nasty one,” said the Blues boss. “It’s a one-inch slice, as if he’s fallen on a blade. It’s a deep cut and he’s had it stitched. I’m pleased with him, he’s been great.”

Middlesbrough boss Tony Mowbray said: “I thought for 20 minutes we played some decent football and deserved to be in front. Ipswich are a team that do the basics of the game pretty well, they close down, they play forward and they ask questions of you defensively.

“I thought we fell a bit short defennding today. I have to say that over the 90 minuets Ipswich deserved the victory because of their honesty and hard work.

“We like to have a lot of possession and create chances, but they closed us down, worked us very hard and got the rewards for doing that.”