Christian Walton didn’t sugar‑coat a thing after Ipswich Town’s 1–1 draw with Preston North End. He admitted straight away that Town “weren’t at it” for most of the afternoon, and you could hear the frustration in every line.
The game was sticky, slow, and clogged with bodies, and Walton made it clear the players felt it too. Still, he pushed the message that they had to take something from it, saying the group needed to “take the positives” and move on quickly.
Walton didn’t hide how flat the first hour felt:
“For the first 70, 75 minutes, we probably weren’t where we needed to be,” he said, and it summed up the whole mood.
Preston sat deep, packed the box, and made Town work for every half‑chance. Walton pointed out it was the first time Preston had used one striker all season
“They’ve shown us the utmost respect,” he said and breaking down 11 bodies behind the ball was always going to be a grind.
Even so, he felt Town showed character late on and were “unlucky not to win it.”
The refereeing didn’t help the temperature of the afternoon. Walton admitted there was “talk” of another penalty late on, even if he couldn’t see the incident clearly. But he refused to lean on it as an excuse.
“We can’t rely on that,” he said, stressing that the goal conceded from a corner “isn’t good enough” and that set plays are something the squad prides itself on.
Preston’s opener stung because it was exactly the one route they were trying to shut down.
The match had the same scrappy, bitty feel as Bramall Lane, and Walton acknowledged it nearly boiled over at times.
But he also made it clear that Ipswich can’t lose their edge. “We need to show our fire,” he said. A bit of bite, a bit of emotion he sees that as part of the job.
He’s played in sides like Preston, sitting behind the ball for 90 minutes, and he knows how frustrating it can be. The key, he said, is staying focused on the bigger picture.
Walton didn’t pretend the low block problem has gone away, but he insisted the team is improving.
“We’re always working on that side of things,” he said, calling it a challenge that even Premier League sides face. A draw wasn’t what Town wanted, but it wasn’t a disaster either. “They all matter,” he said. “It’s not a defeat… we’ve just got to look ahead now.”
And that starts with Portsmouth away a trip Walton is clearly buzzing for. “I’m looking forward to it,” he said. A proper ground, a proper atmosphere, and another chance to put things right.
