Sheffield United fell apart after Ipswich’s second goal – Ruben Selles

Ruben Selles admitted his slumping Sheffield United team fell apart in the second half as they were thrashed 5-0 by Ipswich.

Jaden Philogene scored a hat-trick as the hosts picked up their first win of the campaign, with George Hirst and Jack Clarke also on the scoresheet.

The Blades are yet to pick up a point after five Championship games under Selles and the manner of their defeat at Portman Road will lead to more questions about their manager’s future.

But the former Hull boss insists there were positives to take from the first-half display before the Blades shipped four times in the second period.

“It’s very tough evening,” Selles said.

“We came here with the intention to be dominant and to go after the game and I think we saw in the first half the type of game we want it to be.

“We put them under pressure, we win some balls.

“The first goal is coming from a deflection 70 metres away from the goal and with this situation that has been against us and some of the situations that have been happening to us the last couple of games, but I think we were competitive.

“We started the second half without being competitive and the second goal was the thing that changed the game, that second goal after conceding transitions all over the pitch I think we fall apart.

“I think we were competitive in the first half. I think we were the team we wanted to be, we were intense, we were front footed.”

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna was delighted with his side’s demolition of the Blades as they finally recorded their first win since being relegated from the Premier League – and their first in the league at Portman Road since beating Chelsea in December.

McKenna said: “It was a good night for us, lots of things went for us how you want them to go, a good night for the group, a good night for the supporters.

“It’s always important to get that first victory it took a little bit longer but we have spoken plenty about what this summer has been.

“It’s a good start, loads to work on and loads that we can get better, but a good game to come through.

“There’s some good signs there but let’s not forget that was a really tough game. The first half was really tough.

“Their pressure in the first half was really, really good, it was really difficult to break the pressure and get out and we had to battle really hard.

“There was a lot of duels a lot of man-to-man so it was a really tough game, but we got our rewards in the end and that was important for us.

“It was good to come through that type of game tonight but that challenge tonight was tough.”