Ipswich Town player reacts to cheating claims from Norwich City boss Philippe Clement | OneFootball

Ipswich Town midfielder Jack Taylor has hit back after being accused of cheating by Norwich City head coach Philippe Clement.

It was a memorable day for Ipswich Town last Saturday as they secured a 2-0 victory over Norwich City at Carrow Road in the East Anglian derby.

Having ended their 16-year wait for victory over Norwich with a 3-1 win at Portman Road in October, Ipswich tasted success at the home of their bitter rivals for the first time in over 20 years last weekend, as well as completing the double over the Canaries for the first time in 33 years.

Jaden Philogene's 11th-minute penalty opened the scoring for the Tractor Boys before George Hirst doubled their lead just before the break, and that proved to be enough for Kieran McKenna's men to claim the local bragging rights, as well as a crucial three points in their push for automatic promotion.

However, as would be expected in such a fiercely contested fixture, the game was not without controversy, and it is fair to say the referee's decision to award Ipswich a penalty when Anis Ben Slimane fouled Jack Taylor in the box angered Norwich head coach Philippe Clement.

With the contact from Slimane appearing to be minimal, Clement slammed Taylor in his post-match interview, describing the situation as "a player trying to cheat" and claiming the midfielder was "acting like he’s been caught by a tackle", while he also called for the introduction of VAR in the Championship to avoid such incidents in the future.

Jack Taylor hits back at Philippe Clement after Ipswich Town, Norwich City controversy

After following up their derby victory with a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Portsmouth on Tuesday night, Ipswich will be looking to bounce back when they welcome automatic promotion rivals Middlesbrough to Portman Road on Sunday.

However, while the Tractor Boys will be focused on getting their promotion challenge back on track against Boro, the fallout from their win over Norwich is continuing, and responding to Clement's claims, Taylor passionately denied the accusation of cheating.

"Well I definitely didn’t cheat," Taylor told TWTD.

"That would be my first response to it. I felt contact, I watched it back and the video didn’t look as clear as it was.

"From a different angle, you’d probably get a better solution. I’ve gone on the blind side of him and he’s kicked my foot. If it happened to our players, that would be sloppy defending in my opinion."

Taylor was also full of praise for the defensive performance of his Ipswich team-mates, and while he admitted it was not their most exciting attacking display, he claimed that he never felt Norwich were going to get on the scoresheet.

"It shone through at the Norwich game where I don’t think we were great on the ball, but if you watch us back defensively we were bang at it. I don’t think Norwich would have scored if we played an extra half an hour. In that sense, that was us at our best defensively," Taylor said.

"At this stage of the season, sometimes you might not play well. As long as you get the goals and you get the win, that’s all that matters really.

"You want to try and play your best and you set up tactically how you want to break down an opponent, but not all games go like that. You might have to go a bit longer and feel the game and give the game what it needs to get the win."

Ipswich Town will have Norwich City to thank if they win automatic promotion

Ipswich have endured plenty of pain at the hands of Norwich over the years, but they certainly got their revenge this season by completing the double over their near neighbours.

The game at Carrow Road last Saturday was filled with incidents, and as well as the questionable penalty award in the first half, Tractor Boys midfielder Marcelino Nunez was arguably lucky to avoid a red card on his return to Norfolk during his chaotic second half substitute appearance.

However, Ipswich will care little about whether those refereeing decisions were correct, and as they look to make an instant return to the Premier League, the six points claimed against Norwich could prove to be decisive if they go on to secure automatic promotion.