Marcus Stewart admitted his pride had taken a dent after Ipswich Town's goalless draw with Aston Villa.

Town found themselves sucked back into the relegation zone after doing everything but score in Saturday's stalemate at Portman Road.

And Stewart said: "The defenders did their jobs but as one of the two strikers it was my job to score an all-important goal.

"The fact we failed to do that meant my pride was hurt.

"It was a very frustrating afternoon, almost a case of Torpedo Moscow revisited because we just couldn't put the ball in the net.

"Nevertheless, it was a decent point and if we show the same character and determination in our remaining games we should stay up."

Centre-half John McGreal felt one vital ingredient was missing for Ipswich.

"We just needed a bit of luck," he said. "We had a couple of decent chances and if we'd got the rub of the green we might have been celebrating three points.

"We were trying to build on our point at Newcastle but at least this was a vastly-improved performance from our last home game against Southampton."

Skipper Matt Holland said: "Overall we played well and felt a bit aggrieved that we only finished with a point.

"Even so, our battle to stay up was never going to be decided by one match. We just need to make sure we show the same qualities in our next game at West Ham."

Marcus Bent said: "We always feel we should win our home games but a point's better than nothing."

The dates of two Ipswich fixtures have changed. The trip to Arsenal, scheduled for Saturday, April 20, has moved to Sunday, April 21.

The home clash with Middlesbrough will now take place on Wednesday, April 24.

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Published Monday, March 25, 2002