Ipswich Town column: A wizard lights up Portman Road to levitate us up to fifth

It was a moment that seemed to belong in a different game, a different league, and perhaps even in a different country altogether.

But it certainly gave the crowd some bang for their hard-earned buck (finally) as Ryan Fraser lit up Portman Road in injury-time on Tuesday night.

With the ball flying through the air and the away fans desperate for Frederick Graham to blow up (*whistle), our flying Scotsman could have been Eric Cantona, Dennis Bergkamp or Thierry Henry with the way he seemed to magically cushion the ball into the perfect spot to carry on his piece of wizardry.

Head down and bursting past his marker, he gave a lesson to any young aspiring player as to what ‘putting it on a sixpence’ means.

Brett Pitman should be applauded, but it was more about that caressing touch and inch-perfect delivery. We were soon discussing it in the media suite afterwards and were wondering just what price Fraser would go for in this window, if Jonjo Shelvey is fetching £12 million and Lewis Grabban £8 million?

The key question in the press conference after soon followed: ‘Just to clear it up, there is no recall; he’s here for the season, isn’t he?”

The club scored another own goal with their letter to fans about moving-or-we’ll-move-you from family areas

The answer was typical Mick: ‘No. If there had been a recall they would have took him long ago.”

Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Portsmouth was hugely disappointing as I believe a club with a great history like ours should never make so many unenforced (whatever the manager says) changes for an FA Cup tie, which hands the minnows a real chance.

Meanwhile, the club scored another own goal with their letter to supporters about moving-or-we’ll-move-you, from family areas if they no longer go with an under-16. Football fans are creatures of habit, so if they had got their season ticket in a fair way, then find a way around it.

It’s Preston (13th), who have won their last three, next up at Portman Road on Saturday (3pm) and if Fraser’s fit, I’d suggest he could be worth the admission price alone.