BLUES boss Joe Royle was angry at the way his side capitulated to a physically powerful Plymouth side and slammed his players for letting down 1,002 travelling Town supporters.

By Derek Davis

BLUES boss Joe Royle was angry at the way his side capitulated to a physically powerful Plymouth side and slammed his players for letting down 1,002 travelling Town supporters.

Although Nicky Forster gave Ipswich the lead they were steamrollered by the Pilgrims and sloppy defending cost them a point.

Royle said: “It was simply not good enough. Too many players didn't produce. Rather than being relieved that the season is finished I'm angry. I'm angry with the performance because even with the players we having missing we should still be better than that.

“That was not good enough. People travelled an awful long way and expected, and deserved, better than that. The problem is I can't offer them any more at the moment because we are weak. We allowed their two strikers to bully us. They dominated us, not always fairly, but they were physically too strong for us.”

And Royle gave the players an ominous warning as they prepared for their summer break. He said: “There will be people coming in because we have got to improve dramatically. I'm confident we will if we can get a full complement of players playing.”

Royle revealed that a blow to Richard Naylor's head in the opening minutes left him dazed and that may have contributed to a below-par performance.

He praised Nicky Forster for snatching his seventh goal of an injury-ravaged season but was unhappy that the ball did not stick up front better.

He said: “We got off to a great start and it was a terrific goal from Nicky but we were too weak in too many areas. I would have liked to have given Sam Parkin longer but he is not ready and we needed Alan Lee in the side.”

The defeat leaves Town in 15th spot, with the same number of points as Plymouth, which is Town's worst final league position in 40 years.

Liam Trotter made his debut for the Blues, making him the seventh player from the FA Youth Cup-winning squad to step up into the first team this season.