More woe for Town

ANOTHER formation that did not work.

More points dropped and another below-par performance.

To make matters worse man-of-the-match keeper Kelvin Davis appears to have injured a hand and will need treatment today.

Although Ipswich were a lot better after Wigan scored this was just not good enough again.

Newly-promoted Latics piled the pressure on a side that does not looked at all settled and took a long time to get going.

The midfield was over-run by eager Wigan who out-passed, out-ran and outplayed a flat-footed middle three.

It was inevitable that Ipswich's defence were not going to be able to hold out under such constant pressure and it was no surprise when Nathan 'The Duke' Ellington gave them a 57th-minute lead.

Impressive Andy Liddell headed back a Steve McMillan cross, no Town player reacted as Jason Jarrett miscued and Ellington hooked over his shoulder to deceive the unlucky Davis.

Although Marcus Bent and Pablo Counago were both unfortunate not to find a leveller at the death overall Wigan were just about worth the win.

They played above themselves but Ipswich should be used to teams raising their game against them and have to learn to deal with it.

Manager Joe Royle made changes, though not particularly sweeping as he went to a 3-5-2 employing Matt Richards on the right and allowing Fabian Wilnis to get forward more on the left, which he did to very good effect.

He put in a couple of dangerous crosses which needed to be hastily cleared before first Marcus Bent and then Tommy Miller reached them.

The Dutchman never neglected his defensive duties either, clearing off the line after Kelvin Davis made a brilliant save from Nathan Ellington and Ian Breckin followed up.

Georges Santos, who needed a couple of stitches in a chin wound on Saturday, started on the bench with Jermaine Wright going into midfield.

Ipswich never got to grips with the new look in the first half and when they did get the ball to pass too many went astray.

They never got hold of things and again the midfield struggled to gain any sort of control.

Darren Bent headed a well-delivered deep Jim Magilton free-kick wide when in a good position and played a good ball in from a Richards pass but John Filan gathered before Marcus Bent could get there.

The young striker was replaced at half-time by Pablo Counago and Ipswich were fortunate to go in at the break on level terms.

Wigan also made changes from Saturday with former Celtic striker Mark Burchill, who was on loan at Ipswich three seasons ago, dropped to the bench and Lee McCulloch out injured.

Nathan Ellington and Neil Roberts resumed their places up front, while Jason Jarrett was a surprise inclusion in midfield and Steve McMillan recovered from a head wound picked up at Burnley to play.

But they certainly adapted better, though they were probably more accustomed to the system.

They were a shade unfortunate to have an Andy Liddell effort ruled out for offside after Jermaine Wright lost the ball deep in the opposition half and the Latics swept forward.

A string of excellent saves by Kelvin Davis from Liddell, Breckin, Roberts and Ellington kept Town in the game.

Wright hit a volley askew after a nod back from Counago and the Spaniard almost levelled when he sprang the offside trap to get on to a terrific through ball and rounded the keeper but McMillan got back to clear a yard off the line.

It was a livelier second half as far as Ipswich were concerned with Magilton getting on the ball more, playing a bit deeper and putting in decent corners and free-kicks.

Counago sprang the offside trap but with the keeper beaten McMillan got back to clear. The Spaniard also got in behind the defence but John Filan brought off a good save.