Jon Stead eased the pressure on Ipswich boss Roy Keane after coming off the bench to score a late winner in yesterday’s 2-1 victory at Cardiff.
The Tractor Boys fell behind following Peter Whittingham’s 35th minute volley, but Jon Walters levelled things in the second half with a brilliant strike before Stead condemned the Bluebirds to a third straight defeat – extending Ipswich’s unbeaten run to seven in the process.
Keane, whose managerial career at Ipswich started with a 3-0 win in the Welsh capital seven months ago, said: “I have had my fair share of luck in this city. I’ve had some good wins here as a manager and I had some good wins as a player at the Millennium Stadium.
“If you look at the whole game we deserved to win. We conceded a sloppy goal but there’s a great spirit in the camp and we showed that in the second half.
“We’ve had a poor start to the season but I am confident we can get out of this situation. I’d be losing sleep if my players weren’t up for the fight but that’s not the case.
“The lads have always stuck together and we know we can do better than we’ve been doing this season. I have made a lot of changes at the club so it’s going to take time for things to fall into place. But it’s very pleasing to get this win”
Keane added: “Steady has been coming off the bench and scoring important goals for us and his winner was a fantastic strike. He missed one or two chances earlier and then he puts the hardest one in the top corner.”
Meanwhile, Cardiff boss Dave Jones, who kept his players locked up in the dressing room for over an hour after the match, said: “Our second half performance was the worst we have played at home all season. I can’t remember us stringing three passes together. There was no quality at all.”
