Counago stops the Swans flying off

Ipswich Town 1 Swansea City 1

Caption competition
Caption competition
View past winners of our Sports caption competition
News in pictures
News in pictures
On Facebook
Sport blogs

iBet: AC Milan’s lead at the top looks temporary

Juventus lost the lead of Serie A in Italy at the weekend by virtue of their game with Bologne being...

Financial strife fails to dim smiles at high-flying Rayo Vallecano

This is a club that, despite all it's off-the-field financial problems, is currently flourishing in ...

Hertha Berlin and the Skibbe saga – a depressing tale

Perhaps, in a few decades time, some German writer will transform Michael Skibbe's excruciatingly br...

Roy Keane insists progress is being made at Ipswich Town, even if results don't back him up. Failure to beat Swansea at home means Ipswich have yet to win this season after a dozen attempts, although Keane is convinced his side should have taken all three points despite having gone behind to an early Craig Beattie goal.

Although they remain winless, Pablo Counago rescued a point, while Paulo Sousa's Swans stretched their unbeaten record to six in a row.

Keane said: "We are making progress but we need results. We need that final ball or someone to put the ball in the net.

"You would not have thought we were bottom of the League with our spirit, supporters and the pace of the game. It is something to build on, it is not doom and gloom in the sense of the players being afraid to go on to the pitch. They are training well and we believe it will turn."

The seriousness of the situation was underlined in midweek when the club's owner, Marcus Evans, a man so secretive he has yet to have his picture published, arrived at the training ground by helicopter for a meeting with Keane and the chief executive, Simon Clegg. The manager and his staff had used the recent break for clear-the-air meetings with those players not on international duty.

Sousa was happy to get a point, but insists his side need to find their own killer touch. "In the first half we could have scored more goals," he said. "We had more possession in the second half but we were not as direct as I would have liked."

The direct approach worked for Swansea when a long ball from full-back Angel Rangel went over the centre-halves and Craig Beattie ran on to score his first goal for the Welsh side since his £800,000 summer move from West Bromwich. The Spaniard Counago, who turned down a move to Swansea in the summer, equalised after good interplay with Jaime Peters.

Dorus de Vries made good saves from Jon Walters and Tommy Smith and late on his outstretched leg denied the 16-year-old Connor Wickham, and along with it Ipswich's hopes of that elusive first win.

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

No secularism please, we're British

No secularism please, we're British

Arguments about the role of religion in national life have recently acquired a new urgency
Harold Tillman: 'Chinese tourists can save the high street – if we let them'

Harold Tillman interview

'Chinese tourists can save the high street – if we let them'
Working as a jail torturer ruined my life

Working as a jail torturer ruined my life

Meet the former soldier who has joined the political prisoners he tortured in Turkey's Mamak prison by suing the generals who led a regime of terror
The local high street jet shop

The local high street jet shop

Got a spare $50m and can't stand the queues at Heathrow? Get yourself down to London's first private plane dealership
Do you like your doctor? It could be the death of you

Do you like your doctor?

It could be the death of you...
The mysterious affair of how Agatha Christie is teaching foreigners English

How Agatha Christie is teaching foreigners English

Twenty of the author's novels have been adapted and presented with learning notes and a CD
Six Grammys, five years off: Adele puts love before career

Six Grammys, five years off

Adele puts love before career
The 10 Best binoculars

The 10 Best binoculars

From no-frills to bins with digital cameras
Milan for £300

Milan for £300?

A cultural family holiday - on a budget - to Italy's most stylish city
'Black-hole' resorts: Turn up, tune out, log off

'Black-hole' resorts

Turn up, tune out, log off
New Arsenal face an old question of credibility in San Siro

New Arsenal face an old question of credibility in San Siro

Remodelled since winning in Milan in 2008, for all their consistency – and prize-money – Wenger's side are yet to claim a European title
James Lawton: This prodigal son deserves no forgiveness

James Lawton: This prodigal son deserves no forgiveness

City would be putting their desire to win title ahead of morals if Tevez plays for them
Mark Cavendish: Is Olympic gold at end of the rainbow?

Mark Cavendish interview

Is Olympic gold at end of the rainbow?
Apple admits it has a human rights problem

Apple admits it has a human rights problem

After years of complaints and workers' suicides in China the technology giant faces up to the human cost of its gadgets
Peter Moore: 'I feel guilty I'm the only one alive'

Peter Moore interview

'I feel guilty I'm the only one alive'