Crystal Palace 1-0 Ipswich Town: Luke Woolfenden feels Blues need to use ‘the dark arts’ better after meek appeal against Eagles’ late winner
Ipswich Town defender Luke Woolfenden claimed not applying the ‘dark arts’ played a part in the Blues’ 1-0 Premier League defeat to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Ismaïla Sarr’s 82nd-minute goal was the decisive moment in a contest that lacked too many moments of quality, but Woolfenden believes there might have been a decision for referee Simon Hooper to make when Kalvin Phillips was tackled by Daichi Kamada in the build-up.
The academy graduate, who was making his 200th start for the club on the same ground he made his first, insisted that his team-mates should have contested the challenge stronger and suggested it may have resulted in a change of fortune.
“It’s a tackle that falls the wrong way, I think it’s a tackle that we win,” he said. “To be honest if we’re all smart and we run up to the ref and appeal it they’ll probably overturn it.
“We’ve seen so many times where there’s pressure on the ref and then VAR gets involved. It’s probably a bit of needing to learn the dark arts.
“Only two of us go up to the ref, if we all run over to the ref and say it’s a foul then we probably get it.
“It’s a ball that falls the wrong way and it’s a great finish,they’ve taken a scrappy chance and we haven’t and we’ve fallen on the wrong side of a 1-0.
“The manager’s not said anything about that, it’s come from me. That’s something this season we’ve not done well enough, the dark side of the game we can get better at.
“The top teams, everyone moans that they get decisions but if you watch them every single one of them appeals and we’ve not done that today.
“I’m not saying it changes anything but all likelihood it could have done. That’s come from me and not the boss, it’s something we can do.”
Similar to the reverse fixture at Portman Road, there was not an awful lot between the two sides but it was a familiar story for Town who once again found themselves on the wrong side of the key moments in the game.
Julio Enciso went close on the counter-attack and the Blues had a chance cleared off the line by Sarr, but perhaps the biggest opportunity they spurned was Ben Johnson’s header which came just two minutes before the winning goal.
“Disappointing, annoying,” Woolfenden reflected. “Againit’s another game that we’re bang in and we fall short again. It’s not good enough and disappointing.
“We had good chances and good moments where we’ve turned over possession high up the pitch and unfortunatelywe’ve not taken the final ball or final chance.
“They’ve taken their chance, Palms [Alex Palmer] has made two great saves but ultimately the winner is a scrappy tackle that’s fallen their way and a lovely composed finish.
“Everyone will probably agree with us that there’s not a massive load that we need to change, we’re in every single game until big moments.
“It’s just about getting the know-how to come out on the right side of them, by hook or by crook you’ve got to find a way to do that. That’s been the main point I’ve taken from this season is that big moments too many times we’ve fallen on the wrong side of it.
“I don’t like to talk about luck but sometimes there’s been an element of that not going our way a few times. The tackle today can fly anywhere but it’s fallen to Sarr’s feet and there’s an element of luck about that.
“We’ve just got to keep plugging away and hope that the luck swings round come the final stages of the season.”
Asked how they can go about improving their ruthlessness in front of goal, he said: “It’s a milliondollar question, if I knew that I’d tell you.
“It’s a mixture of everything – we defend for long periods of the game and you’ve just got to have that clinical edge and composure to take those big chances. To be fair we’ve done that this season, we’ve scored good goals, it’s just a matter of getting back to that.”
Town remain five points plus a significantly inferior goal difference from safety with just 10 matches remaining ahead of Wolverhampton Wanderers’s clash with Everton on Saturday evening.
On the prospect of relegation, Woolfenden said: “That’s never been a conversation. It’s just about belief,you’ve got to keep believing and keep plugging away and see what happens.
“Over the last two seasons we’ve never sat there and focused on anything or spoken about anything, whether that be promotion, relegation or massive games.
“We just take it one step at a time, a training session per day and I think that’s why so many of us have improved over the last three years. Taking it game-by-game, applying yourself the best way you can and taking it from there.”
The Blues have suffered with a plethora of injuries in recent weeks with Sammie Szmodics and Axel Tuanzebe joining Conor Chaplin, Wes Burns and Chiedozie Ogbene in the treatment room.
“You can’t fault the boys for that,” Woolfenden said. “There’s boys out there that are carrying issues and are playing through pain to help the boys.
“It’s been a tough few weeks with injuries to key players, everyone’s determined to get out there for the boys and keep trying and see what happens.
“It’s been tough the last few weeks but we’re taking positives that we’re in every game. At some point that becomes a negative in my eyes, you can be in every game but so many times the big moment can’t keep going the wrong way against you, you’ve got to step up to that.
“As a group we are doing that and it’s been difficult and disappointing but as a group we’re staying strong mentality. We’re going to go right to the last day and see where it takes us.”
Town have climbed from League One to the Premier League in successive seasons and there is a feeling among some that some perspective is necessary, although Woolfenden is more focused on the here and now.
He also praised the Blue Army who were in fine voice once again in south London, despite falling to a seventh defeat in eight Premier League matches.
The 26-year-old said: “We’ve come a long way but I don’t think anyone in the dressing room is feeling that. We’ve brought in a lot of new faces, I don’t think anyone’s feeling that it’s okay as we’ve come a long way over the last few years.
“We’ve earned to be at this level and we’ve shown in the games that we deserve to be at this level, it’s just that we’re falling on the wrong side of the margins.
“I wouldn’t say we’re too dejected in there, we’re positive that with hard work we can try and turn things around. We might fall short or we might not, we’ve just going to keep plugging away and see what happens.
“The fans have been top all season, there’s been moments where it’s been difficult. They do recognise the journey that we’ve been on and they recognise it was always going to be a tough season.
“But I think they can be proud of the team that goes out there every week regardless of what the result is, there’s always 16 boys out there that give 110 per cent for the badge and for everything this club represents. That goes a long way in why the support is so good this season.”
