Ipswich Town boss Paul Lambert says Blues need to be 'more nasty' after 3-0 home defeat to Hull City

Paul Lambert said that Hull City's clinical edge was the difference between the teams as Ipswich Town suffered a first Sky Bet League One home defeat, going down 3-0 to league leaders last night, writes Mikey Hales.

Mallik Wilks opened the scoring after two minutes, with Josh Magennis notching Hull's second at the end of a first half where Blues had seen the majority of the play.

Substitute Tom Eaves put the game to bed midway through the second period.

"The early goal was a poor goal, it gives you a little bit of a hill to climb," manager Lambert told iFollow Ipswich.

"I think they probably had two attacks in the first half and scored. The third goal, we were punished by a slack pass, that wasn’t good enough.

"We have to be more ruthless and more nasty. We’ve got to be more clinical in what we’re doing.

"There’s no time to dwell on it. They were more clinical than us in both boxes and ultimately, that’s what has cost us the game."

When asked by BBC Radio Suffolk why he took James Norwood off in the 74th minute, after he had looked the Blues' best chance of getting a goal back, he replied he could not take chances with another injury after his lack of game time.

He was also asked about reverting to two up front but said they were 'hopeless' in that formation and were not strong enough to do it as their style - dominating the ball - would go out of the window.

"There’s no time to dwell on it. They were more clinical than us in both boxes and ultimately, that’s what has cost us the game."

Lambert confirmed that Freddie Sears, who came off in the first half, has picked up a hamstring injury, while Teddy Bishop is set to be out 'for a while' with the problem which saw him withdrawn on Saturday.

Meanwhile, experienced left-back Stephen Ward is hoping the defeat to Hull serves as a wake-up call to the Town squad.

"We conceded early and gave ourselves a mountain to climb," the former Republic of Ireland international told iFollow Ipswich.

"I felt we reacted well, got into some good areas, then the sucker punch was before half-time. That was sloppy from our point of view.

"We huffed and puffed but it wasn't a strong enough performance to get anything from the game really.

"We were too honest trying to find the perfect pass and sometimes we need to be a bit more strong minded and streetwise.

"These things happen in football, the scoreline probably doesn’t reflect how the game went, but they were clinical and street wise,

"It's a wake-up call for us because there have been a lot of games where we've looked good on the eye, but we haven't been ruthless. We need a reaction because we have to prove we have the stomach for the battle this season."

MATCH REPORT

Paul Lambert made four changes to the side who beat Shrewsbury at the weekend with Luke Woolfenden, Emyr Huws, Keanan Bennetts and James Norwood returning to the starting XI.

Hull took the lead inside the opening two minutes, Wilks firing into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

Town looked to respond a few moments later after Norwood won a free-kick on the left wing however Brett McGavin's dangerous delivery was headed away from inside the six-yard box.

The visitors had Jacob Greaves to thank for maintaining their lead twice inside a minute, midway through the half.

First, he got in the way of Norwood's goalbound header from Luke Chambers' whipped cross before bravely denying Keanan Bennetts after the on-loan winger had nutmugged Callum Elder and sent a powerful shot towards the top corner.

Norwood was then put in behind by a lofted through ball from Woolfenden, the striker sending his shot from tight angle straight at Matt Ingram.

Blues were forced into a premature change with just over half an hour played, Freddie Sears unable to continue and being replaced by Jack Lankester.

Huws was the next to be denied for Town, his header from McGavin's corner being blocked before Hakeeb Adelakun ghosted into the box and sent a tame shot straight at Tomas Holy at the other end.

The visitors doubled their lead in first-half stoppage time just when Blues looked to be getting on top in the game, Magennis being left with a simple finish after bringing down Reece Burke's low cross into the box.

Magennis should have made it 3-0 just past the hour mark but he volleyed over the top from next to the penalty spot from Josh Emmanuel's cross.

Wilks could've added his second five minutes later, jumping over a tackle from Woolfenden before Holy got his body in the way of his right-footed strike when in one-on-one.

Norwood was once again denied from a tight angle by Ingram after played in behind by McGavin, with Kayden Jackson and Oli Hawkins entering the action shortly afterwards.

The visitors put the game to bed with just under 14 minutes remaining, Elder pinching possession on halfway before Eaves beat the offside trap and slotted past Holy from inside the box.

Blues kept huffing and puffing but to little avail as Hull's defence held firm.

Town: Holy, Chambers (C), Woolfenden, Nsiala, Ward, McGavin, Huws, Judge, Bennetts (Jackson 74), Norwood (Hawkins 74), Sears (Lankester 32).

Subs: Cornell, Nsiala, Kenlock, Drinan.

Hull: Ingram, Elder, Burke, Smallwood (C), Wilks (Coyle 82), Honeyman (Samuelsen 82), Emmanuel, Adelakun (Scott 62), Slater (Jones 63), Greaves, Magennis (Eaves 71).

Subs: Long, Batty.

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