Joe Sheehan: “lots of things to be positive about” for Ipswich despite League Cup defeat | OneFootball

Ipswich boss Joe Sheehan had plenty of positives to take out of the League Cup this week despite a 5-1 loss

Ipswich were on the wrong end of a 5-1 thrashing in the League Cup this week, but manager Joe Sheehan still took plenty of positives out of the game.

Although the Tractor Girls proved to be no match for Leicester they aren’t out of the cup just yet.

It was only matchday one in the cup and with four games left to go in the group stage there is plenty of time for the team to recover.

Speaking after the game, Town boss Joe Sheehan was keen to find the positives from his team’s performance.

“We weren’t sure what to expect coming into the game,” Sheehan said. “It’s a new competition for us and we thought it was important to make some changes.

“I think we had a promising first half and there were lots of really encouraging moments.”

Ipswich actually took the lead in the first half through Ruby Seaby. The Foxes equalised at the end of the first half before going on a complete rout in the second half.

Goals from Asmita Ale, Rosella Ayane, Samantha Kaczmar and Jutta Rantala after half time confirmed a first loss for Ipswich in the cup.

Ipswich stars return to action

Although they lost, Ipswich welcomed back two stars with long-term injuries.

“The performance as a whole was pretty good, second half got away from us a little bit which is disappointing because I thought we didn’t deserve to get beaten by that scoreline.” Sheehan continued.

“But there are lots of things to be positive about especially Charlotte (Fleming) getting a good bank of minutes after working so hard over nine/ten months and Shauna (Guyatt) as well who got her first taste of minutes in six months.”

Fleming was sidelined for Ipswich at the end of November last year after tearing her ACL. After nine months of recovery, Fleming was met with a warm reception by Town fans on her return to action.

Shauna Guyatt was also used as a substitute for the first time since suffering an MCL injury of her own.

What next for Ipswich?

Ipswich face Crystal Palace in matchday 2 of the League Cup. After losing to London City Lionesses, Sheehan’s team will be hopeful they can get their first win in the competition.

Town have been disappointing in the league so far this season with just one point from their opening three games.

Another relegation contender is up next for Ipswich this weekend as Portsmouth visit on Sunday afternoon in the Championship.