Michael Beale on Ipswich defeat and Sunderland striker decision

Clarke fired in a stunning opener at Portman Road to give Michael Beale's side the lead in a close encounter with the Championship's second-placed team. 

But the Black Cats were undone by a moment of misfortune less than 10 minutes later when Chaplin's attempted pass cannoned off Pierre Ekwah to find its way to Jackson who finished well beyond Anthony Patterson.

Beale's side had a number of big opportunities in the second half - particularly from substitute Adil Aouchiche before the home side took the lead through Chaplin's free header from Leif Davis' free kick. 

It's a result which sees Sunderland drop back out of the play-off places ahead of a double-header at the Stadium of Light to see out the month of January. 

And here is what head coach Beale had to say following defeat at Portman Road:

How do you assess the game?

It was a really even game. We came here seventh in the league [after results earlier in the day] against the team that’s second and were expecting a really competitive game and that’s what it was.

We had enough chances in that game to win it. We go 1-0 up with a really good goal, we had a couple of chances before that as well. They equalise and we get a big opportunity at the start of the second half to get our noses in front and then it’s ill-discipline from us. The boy is facing the stand, there’s no need to make a foul, it was a poor decision and then after that the smallest player on the pitch has got a free header in the middle of the box.

We respond again and had another big opportunity but it’s a bitterly disappointing night because I think the performance, for large parts, warranted more than what we got.

Do moments like this test the character of the team?

We’ve got to learn quickly. We’ve got 19 games to go. Coming here tonight we knew it was a tough game but I thought we would definitely come away with something because I could see the level of our team – we should be expecting to come away with something.

How the game panned out is fine margins, but it was of our own doing. That second goal should never happen. It’s lazy defending and then we’re not marking in the middle of our box. In games where they’re really tight you cannot concede like that.

We’ve had big opportunities at the other end and we’ve not taken them. There were moments in the game where we were doing well and there were moments where we can improve, but the game comes down to both boxes and I’m really disappointed with the second goal, not just me, the whole team are.

It was a set piece the undoing in the end

It was really naïve from us, it’s a poor free kick to give away because the boy is facing the stand and the smallest player on the pitch gets a free header at goal so we’re bitterly disappointed because you come away from home, you’re 1-0 up, you are playing well in the game causing Ipswich problems.

But they’re a good side – there’s a reason why they’ve got a good points total and they’re second in the league, but we more than matched them and had enough chances to win that game. Even in the second half we missed an open goal basically and then two players get in each other’s way for another opportunity. So I’m bitterly disappointed.

You can’t control the opponent for the whole game but I thought, for the large part, we gave as much problem as we got back. I’m really disappointed tonight. I’m disappointed for everyone where in one sloppy moment we’ve thrown the points away.

Sunderland don’t give leads away this season, that must be disappointing?

We came here tonight to try and cause them a lot of problems because we feel as though we could play through them and create issues. We thought they would create us one or two as well and that’s how it panned out.

But as an away manager, coming here against second in the league I thought in the first half we had three really big opportunities. We took one. In the second half we had three big opportunities and didn’t take any.

We’re not ruthless enough in the final third but if you can’t win it, don’t lose the game and don’t lose it like that. It’s so frustrating for us because it was a good performance tonight. I’m not going to say it’s a top performance from us, but it was a credible performance from our team tonight and we should be going home with points

Is there enough on the bench to change games?

Certainly losing Bradley and Patrick has not helped that, and not having Dennis and Niall Huggins who would give us some variety in the full-back positions as well, but in terms of the No.9 position we went with Jobe and Pritch because they had a very specific job and for the most part of the game we should be coming away saying we did the job fine, but it’s an ongoing thing.

It’s something we’re trying to add to. We have got four number nines in the building with a lack of experience in this league, both in age and number of games, so we’re working hard with them in the background. But in the meantime we’ve got to make the right decisions for the team.

What was the thinking behind not starting Nazariy?

We did play with a striker, we played with Jobe there. He can play there and he’s played there in games that we’ve won. We’ve got three young strikers who I think are adjusting to the league, I think it’s fair to say, and we’ve another guy that’s done well but I just felt the connection of the team was better with Pritch playing off of Jobe.

It’s a situation I’ve inherited and it’s something I’m working away with. Since I’ve come in, Naz has had more moments on the pitch, but you reward off the back of training and I thought Abdoullah had a good week and he deserved to play and he was influential in the first goal.

It’s a situation that I share some of the frustration with the fans, for sure, the team do as well because they’re looking for something up front that will help us. What I would say, if we find it, we’re in a good position in the league and we can kick on from there.

And the decision to take Abdoullah off?

Adil came on and gets a big moment and if he takes it, it’s the right decision. That’s why the game is fine margins. It’s disappointing. When you lose a game you can pick holes in everything. We’re sat here saying how did we lose the game? That’s the consensus. We had enough of the game to get something out of it, so it wasn’t all wrong. It was just very naïve in a big moment in the game and it’s fine margins.

You could see how much it meant to Ipswich at the end and how much the three points meant to them. That one moment in a set play has got to mean more to us.

Things must quickly move onto next week’s game with Hull

It's a big game. A team we’ve played recently and beat. It’s important we get back to winning ways at home. We’ve got two home games now. Our away form is an area we want to improve but it’s important we dust ourselves down and bounce back strongly.