Andy Marshall today issued a note of caution amid the euphoria of Ipswich Town's stunning 4-2 success at Coventry.

The Blues were 2-0 down at half-time before braces from Marcus Bent and Pablo Counago turned up the heat on play-off rivals Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Reading.

But, despite being delighted with the transformation, Marshall told the Evening Gazette: "We'll get steam-rollered if we play like we did in the first half against Portsmouth on Friday.

"We were so bad and felt really annoyed and frustrated with our early performance.

"The manager usually stays calm at half-time and, in fairness, we haven't given him much to rant and rave about recently.

"But this time it was totally justified. He made his disappointment very clear and what he said made a huge difference.

"We responded in a perfect way after that and did everything he asked of us."

Ipswich never looked back after their roasting at the interval and, while the goals flowed in at one end, keeper Marshall made two crucial saves to deny Jay Bothroyd and Dean Gordon.

"That made it an extra pleasing afternoon for me," he said.

"The second was probably the pick of the two but the first was more important, because it would have made the score 3-0."

Town chairman David Sheepshanks was understandably delighted and hailed the 'exceptional' performances of Bent and Counago.

He told the Evening Gazette: "They both scored top-class goals which would have graced the Premiership."

Published Monday, April 14, 2003

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