Ipswich Town boss Paul Lambert confident goals will come after 'encouraging' display against Oxford United

Paul Lambert felt Ipswich Town's performance at home to Oxford United on Saturday was an encouraging one, writes Jacob Henderson.

The Blues were left frustrated as it ended goalless with the promotion-chasing U's at Portman Road, with Troy Parrott and James Norwood having the best chances of the afternoon.

Norwood struck the woodwork in the 53rd minute, with Parrott poking wide from close range after good work from Teddy Bishop in the 55th minute.

"It was an encouraging performance and was certainly better than the games against Peterborough and Northampton," the Town boss told iFollow boss.

"We dominated for some periods of the game and if we'd had a little bit more care in the final third we could have been two or three up.

"Troy and James worked really hard up front and had their chances which they were a bit unlucky with.

"The good thing is we created the chances, though, so if we can continue that, the goals will come. From that point of view things were better today.

"I felt like it was the right team for the game and that's why there were seven changes from Tuesday. It's nothing against the lads that played against Northampton.

"You could see the players were fighting. Josh (Harrop) put in a great block right at the end and that's just as important as everything going forward. He saw the danger and threw his body in the way - I was pleased to see that from him."

It was a second home stalemate in a row for now 12th-placed Town, following the 0-0 draw with struggling Northampton Town last Tuesday. It leaves them six points off sixth-placed Sunderland with a game in hand.

But James Wilson's commanding performance back in the heart of the Blues' defence was an undoubted positive ahead of tomorrow's game at third-placed Hull City (7pm).

The central defender, who had been sidelined since October with a knee injury, played the full 90 minutes on Saturday, earning himself the man-of-the-match award.

"I felt we were solid defensively and had some chances. We probably should have edged the game," he told iFollow Ipswich.

"It's been a frustrating few months personally but I'm obviously very happy to be back out there.

"Towards the end I was feeling it a little bit but across the full 90 minutes I felt very good and I feel like I would be ready to go in the next one. I want to play every game possible but we'll see what the manager decides.

"We went close on a few occasions so I don't feel like we're far away. As a collective I thought we had a good shape defensively as well.

"It gives us a little bit of confidence going into a tough game against Hull on Tuesday."

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