Phil Parkinson impressed by Wrexham resolve in draw at Ipswich

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson hailed his side’s discipline as they battled to a 0-0 draw with Championship play-off hopefuls Ipswich at Portman Road.

The Welsh side extended their unbeaten run to six games after having defended resolutely in Suffolk.

Ipswich carried the greater threat throughout with Chuba Akpom and Jaden Philogene having gilt-edged chances, and substitute Kasey McAteer had a wonderful opportunity to grab the winner but fired wide from an acute angle, while Wrexham failed to register a shot on target.

Parkinson said: “We stuck to our task really well in the game and there were some colossus performances out there for us.

“We had to be really disciplined and committed and had to have their organisation, togetherness out on the pitch because obviously Ipswich have a lot of talent and have got themselves going in the past few weeks and we stuck to our task really well in the game.

“First half we had a couple of moments where we needed to take the sting out of the game with the ball and the same in the second period but I don’t want that to detract from the effort that the lads have given us today.

“The detail of the pressing, when to press and when to stay in our shape was really good and once Ipswich got through that there was some important blocks.

“You come to Portman Road with the talent that Ipswich have got you’re going to expect to be in defensive situations and have to stand strong as a team and we did that so well today.

“All in all we go back up the road with another kind of performance which is a statement for ourselves that we really belong at this level. I’m very pleased with the point.”

Ipswich sit one point adrift of the Championship’s top six in eighth having extended their unbeaten run to five matches, but McKenna was frustrated not to have come away with more.

McKenna said: “It was a game we felt we should have won, there was some positives in the performance and we’ve given away very, very  little against a team that have been dangerous all season but ultimately we haven’t managed to get the goal and turn it into the victory we wanted and we’re frustrated by that.

“If we score on the chances we had later in the second half then we have created enough and the margin to score one of those isn’t very big.

“Of course you always want to create more, you have to give Wrexham credit as well.

“When we were in the final third they were very, very deep and they defended with their big centre halves inside the frame of the goal with their midfield line really, really deep so it was really hard to get chances close to the goal.

“It’s not easy to create big chances, so we need to keep working on our final third play but also on our set plays. You win that game on a set play.”