Mick McCarthy admitted his Ipswich Town side were beaten by ‘a considerably better team’ following their 2-1 home defeat by Derby County this afternoon.

Two Sam Winnall goals condemned the Blues to defeat, with the visitors having plenty of chances to put the game beyond the hosts before Joe Garner sparked hope with a headed goal, midway through the second half.

But while McCarthy was pleased to see his side battle until the end, the Town boss had no complaints over the outcome of their final game of 2017.

“My verdict is we were beaten by the better team, a considerably better team,” he said.

“I felt sorry for them that he had to make so many changes and still had such a strong bench, I was breaking my heart for Gary (Rowett), but they’re a good side. Very expensively assembled prior to Gary getting there, but he’s certainly getting the best out of them.

“He’s a good manager, as he proved at Burton and Birmingham and they had too much for us in the first half – they could have been out of sight.

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“If you give away from a corner as simply as we did then it’s paramount that you don’t do that against a good team. For the first 12 minutes nothing really happened but that was a real body blow.

“All of a sudden they clicked into a good passing team and they could have been out of sight because they should have scored immediately after the goal.

East Anglian Daily Times: Luke Chambers tries to lift the team as Sam Winnall celebrates his second goal to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. Picture: STEVE WALLER WWW.STEPHENWALLER.COMLuke Chambers tries to lift the team as Sam Winnall celebrates his second goal to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. Picture: STEVE WALLER WWW.STEPHENWALLER.COM (Image: © Copyright Stephen Waller)

“They, to my team’s eternal credit, like they always do, fought back and we had them on the back foot. I know they’ve had other chances but we made it at least exciting and it looked like we had had a go. We had, and we never do anything other.”

McCarthy looked to change his approach after the break, moving Bersant Celina from a wide position into the middle of the field, but Winnall’s stunning second just four minutes into the second half meant the Blues boss never got to see if his alterations would have worked.

“It’s never been in doubt and nobody ever comes off saying ‘they downed tools’ or ‘they didn’t work hard’ and team spirit is never in question,” McCarthy continued.

“I thought we passed it better in the second half and we changed the way we were playing, but I have no idea if it was ever going to work or not because we were 2-0 down after four minutes of the second half after an unbelievable strike.

East Anglian Daily Times: Joe Garner, partly hidden by George Thorne (34) rises high to head a goal back for Town. Picture: STEVE WALLER WWW.STEPHENWALLER.COMJoe Garner, partly hidden by George Thorne (34) rises high to head a goal back for Town. Picture: STEVE WALLER WWW.STEPHENWALLER.COM (Image: � Copyright Stephen Waller)

“But we did much, much better in the second half.”

With eight midfield players currently out injured, there was added concern when defender Adam Webster limped off in the second half with an Achilles injury.

McCarthy insisted the full extent of the problem will not be known until tomorrow.

“Adam Webster is struggling with his Achilles,” the Town boss said.

East Anglian Daily Times: Adam Webster suffered an Achilles injury Picture: STEVE WALLERAdam Webster suffered an Achilles injury Picture: STEVE WALLER (Image: � Copyright Stephen Waller)

“We won’t know until tomorrow. He’s come off, put it in a bucket of ice and he’ll let it cool down.

“We’ll assess it tomorrow and we’ll find out more then.”

When McCarthy was asked about his feelings heading into the January transfer window, the Blues boss replied: “Not with any great delight.

“I won’t be going out and buying players (for big money). Adam Webster’s injury might grumble on and I’ve lost pretty much all my midfield players, so we might need to get some recruits unless we get some injured players back.

“We’re going to be looking for loan players so it’s going to be a difficult January.”