Championship: Ipswich Town’s McCarthy hails ‘dominant force’ performance in win over Wigan

'It's nice when a plan comes together, and it did tonight' said Mick McCarthy after Ipswich defeated Wigan 2-1 away on Monday to reach seventh in the Championship table.

Mick McCarthy reflected on a job well done after watching his Ipswich side inflict a first home defeat of the Championship season on Wigan.

Goals from Luke Hyam and Conor Sammon were enough to give Ipswich a 2-1 victory - their first ever win at the DW Stadium.

Wigan rallied at the end and pulled one back through Martyn Waghorn before Oriol Riera hit the post in the dying seconds.

But anything other than an away win would have been harsh on the visitors, who dominated for the vast majority of the match.

“I thought it was an excellent performance,” McCarthy said.

“I was surprised because I thought Wigan would go 3-5-2 instead of 4-3-3 which they did, but I knew our front three would cause them problems – and that’s just what happened.

“After the first five minutes we got organised a lot better and once we did that we were the dominant force in the game.

“I know a lot of talk will be about the last 10 minutes and the shot that hit the post and another that missed, but we could have been more than one goal up by that stage.

“It’s nice when a plan comes together, and it did tonight.

“I can come up with all sorts of ideas but unless the players buy into it I’ve got no chance.

“Thankfully tonight they did. It was a really solid performance.”

McCarthy was particularly pleased for loan star Sammon, who scored only one goal in his 18-month stay at Wigan before moving on to Derby County, where he also failed to nail down a regular starting spot before being allowed to move to Ipswich.

“I was thrilled for him,” said McCarthy. “I thought he grew into the game and got better and better.

“He hasn’t played a lot at Derby, he’s been sub a lot, and you need to ply your trade to be able to do it properly.

“Let’s hope he’s going to do that for us on a regular basis.”

Sammon interestingly opted to celebrate his goal with gusto in front of the away end, as opposed to the now-fashionable understated reaction to bagging against a former employer – which his manager fully understood.

“I think that’s the biggest load of nonsense ever,” McCarthy smiled.

“Are you ever going to go back and play for that club?

“I’ve had a few clubs and my club is now Ipswich. I’m not bothered who we’re playing against – if we win I’m giving it large.

“That’s where my loyalties lie – with Ipswich.”

Uwe Rosler admitted his Wigan side were below their best, but reckoned they would have warranted an equaliser at the death.

He said: “I felt we started very well, and then lost our way a little bit.

“Ipswich came with a clear plan, to rough us up, and tried to make the game a scrap.

“In periods they dominated our midfield, we couldn’t get the ball down, and we weren’t strong enough to win the second balls.

“But the response we showed in the last 20 minutes speaks for the character of the players and the spirit in the camp.

“We should have got something out of the game. When you have around 20 attempts, you should get something out of a game.”

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