Steven Schumacher ‘really proud’ of 10-man Stoke’s display against Ipswich

Posted Tuesday, January 02, 2024 by PA

Stoke boss Steven Schumacher was brimming with pride after his side held promotion-chasing Ipswich to a goalless draw.

The Potters had the better chances, but they had to hold on for dear life after Jordan Thompson was sent off in the second half.

Schumacher took over the reins at the Staffordshire club last month and they are now six unbeaten; but with only one win in the past two months.

“I’m really pleased and proud of the players,” reflected Schumacher. “They put some effort in for the fourth game in a row in 10 days against a tough team.

“I’m really proud of them because we’ve managed to get a result which I felt we deserved.

“We played really well for 20-25 minutes and caused lots of problems. We couldn’t get ourselves in front.

“I felt just before the red card we were back on top, but the red card changed it.

“For 25 minutes, we’ve had to dig deep and fight for a point. Thankfully the lads have done that and I’m really pleased. They deserved it.

“The team spirit is the most pleasing aspect. It shouldn’t be easy to come here and play. We need to make it a tough game and it should be a tough place to play and it should be.

“The atmosphere was brilliant. The fans got behind us when we really needed them for the last five or ten minutes there.

“I’m really pleased, we got a result because we played really well.”

Ipswich remained in the top two despite going a fifth game without a win – their longest such streak in the league since April 2022.

Tractor Boys’ boss Kieran McKenna rued a big chance after his side failed to make the most of the man advantage.

He said: “We would have liked to have won. But I saw a lot of good things in the performance.

“With the schedule it doesn’t make it any easier, but I saw a lot of good things.

“It was a tough start. But after that we controlled the game really well and stayed brave.

“We got into some really good situations, but we were a first touch or half a yard away from getting a goal.

“We weren’t able to quite do enough after they went down to 10 men. It’s an advantage, but in other ways they were open and there was space to attack when they had 11.

“The crowd weren’t necessarily with them, but them the sending off galvanised them around that a little bit.

“They defended their box in numbers, but we weren’t able to do enough at the end of the game.

“That’s a frustration, but as a collective and individually there were a lot of good things.”