Ipswich Town’s Conor Chaplin reacts to 1-0 Premier League defeat at Nottingham Forest

Forward Conor Chaplin felt Ipswich’s 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest was hard to accept due to the game lacking in quality from both sides.

Chris Wood’s penalty early in the second half condemned Town to their sixth defeat of the season, leaving them in the Premier League relegation zone on goal difference.

With few clear-cut chances in the game, particularly in the second half after both sides had opportunities cleared off the line in the first period, Chaplin felt the contest did not deserve a victor.

“Not a great game, a really tight game,” he reflected. “A game with not too much ball-in-play time and a lot of nitty-gritty fouls.

“It was probably a game where neither team deserved to win or showed enough quality to win. Really disappointing to come out on the wrong side of it when it’s so tight.

“After [the goal] we didn’t create as much as we would have liked. We probably put the squeeze on late with a lot of possession and territory but I didn’t think we ever really created anything to deserve scoring.

“There were times in the first half where we looked really dangerous when we went through the pitch quickly and had a lot of set pieces and moments that definitely could have resulted in a goal.

“But on reflection neither team did enough to score a goal, it’s come down to a tackle and a penalty which is a big shame.

“Disappointed in hindsight from how the game went just because I think it was a really tight game. It’s a lot easier to accept losing when you’re by far the inferior team but we weren’t today.

“I don’t think there was an inferior team or any of that sort today because the game was so tight. It wasn’t a game of great quality, so it’s a lot harder to take when you lose a game like that.

“There’s disappointment because we’ve lost, that’s the main thing and because there wasn’t much in the game and it’s hard to lose tight games. We knew coming into the game that they’re probably top on xG [expected goals] given away or top three in the league, they’re a tough team to create good chances against.

“They don’t really press or leave themselves exposed too much in terms of first and second phases, they get a lot of people behind the ball and they’re good at it. We knew it was going to be tough to crack and tough to create chances and we were going to have to be at our very best.

“I didn’t think either team were, we probably nullified each other throughout the majority of the game. That’s what makes losing harder to take, but we can’t control it now, we need to take lessons from that and take it into the two home games coming up.”

Chaplin nearly had a chance of his own when following up an Omari Hutchinson strike which was saved by Matz Sels. Liam Delap’s touch just took the ball away from Chaplin when he was lining up to shoot.

When put to him that nobody could criticise Delap due to his recent form, Chaplin said: “I will! It’s a goal but Liam wouldn’t have done that on purpose, he hasn’t seen or heard me.

“It’s one of those things that’s unfortunate, I back myself there nine times out of 10 to finish. He’s not the type of selfish lad to do that intentionally, he just hasn’t heard or seen me.

“It will be [special when the first goal comes]. I’m more interested in winning games and picking points up than that at the moment. But it’s obviously something that I’m working towards.

“I feel really good, I felt really good especially in the first half today. I felt we had some really good moments and I affected the game really well. I’m definitely enjoying it, it’s definitely a more challenging league but it’s where we all want to be. It’s just about consistently improving.”

Speaking further on Delap, Chaplin added: “He’s been brilliant. He’s got all the attributes that you’d want in a modern day number nine. He’s learning as well, he’s got a long way to go in terms of learning and understanding the game and what it takes to be dialled in all the time.

“But he’s a hungry lad, he’s working hard to understand and to be consistent for 90 minutes. He is going to show that in weeks to come. He’s definitely got scope to get better.”

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Chaplin was the only change to Kieran McKenna’s line-up for the defeat at Forest as the forward replaced Wes Burns, which allowed Hutchinson to move into a wide right role.

The former Portsmouth man argued that it is not as difficult to adjust when in and out of the side as some may think.

“It is and it isn’t [tricky],” he said. “You’ve got to be ready for those moments and keep yourself in tip-top condition.

“You have to be ready, it’s part of football, so I don’t think you can be expected to be given grace just because you haven’t played. It’s on you to be ready.”