Azor Matusiwa sums up Dara O'Shea's Ipswich Town display v Hull City in two words | OneFootball

Azor Matusiwa praised captain Dara O'Shea after Ipswich Town continued their good form by beating Hull City 1-0 at Portman Road.

Ipswich Town moved up to third in the Championship with a crucial 1-0 win over fellow promotion hopefuls Hull City at Portman Road on Tuesday night.

Kieran McKenna’s side know they are in a battle to secure a top two spot, but there will be a belief that they can get over the line, even if it’s likely to go down to the wire.

Ipswich’s home form has been key to their success this season, and they picked up their 12th win from 18 games on their own patch thanks to Azor Matusiwa’s stunning strike in the second half.

Azor Matusiwa praises Dara O’Shea’s performance in Ipswich Town’s win over Hull

The midfielder will rightly get the plaudits for his display, as it was an impressive all-round performance from Matusiwa before you take into account his goal.

However, he was by no means the only standout individual on the night for the Tractor Boys, with Dara O’Shea particularly dominant in defence.

The Suffolk outfit restricted Hull to zero shots on target throughout the game, and they barely created a chance of note, and whilst it was a team effort, O’Shea was a commanding figure at the back.

The Irishman took to Instagram to react to the win as he praised the group following three wins on the bounce.

And, Matusiwa was among those to reply to O’Shea, with the Dutchman surely reflecting the thoughts of all Ipswich fans as he stated it was a ‘big performance’ from the skipper against the Tigers.

Ipswich Town are clicking into gear at the right time in promotion race

That was a very big win for Ipswich for a number of reasons. Firstly, Hull are in the mix to go up themselves, so this has halted their momentum.

As well as that, as one of Ipswich’s games in hand, it was important that they put pressure on Middlesbrough, and McKenna’s men now know they can overtake Boro on goal difference if they win their other game in hand, which means it’s now in their hands for a top two spot.

That’s all McKenna and the players will want, and whilst there’s still so much football to play, meaning all teams will drop points, they are in a position to chase Boro down.

It wasn’t always pretty against Hull, but to be successful at this level you have to be able to grind out victories, and you need different players to step up.

Matusiwa did that with a rare goal, and O’Shea was influential at the back to ensure Ipswich recorded another clean sheet, to make it three successive wins without conceding.

The former West Brom man has been a good signing for Ipswich, and he has adapted easily to life back in the Championship, where he is undoubtedly one of the better centre-backs.

With the games coming thick and fast, there’s not much time for Ipswich to enjoy the win over Hull, as attention will already be turning to Leicester, who make the trip to Portman Road on Saturday.

Despite their struggles, the Foxes have enough talent to cause Ipswich problems, but O’Shea, Matusiwa and the rest of the team will see it as a great opportunity to move into second place, with Middlesbrough not in action until Sunday afternoon.