Ipswich Town midfielder Jack Taylor ‘disappointed’ after Kieran McKenna’s side concede late equaliser at Rotherham United

Town midfielder Jack Taylor admitted his side did not see the game out well enough as Rotherham United struck in stoppage time to deny the Blues all three points at the New York Stadium in the Sky Bet Championship.

Taylor’s 87th minute goal looked to set Town on their way to victory in South Yorkshire, only for Christ Tiehi to equalise at the death and ensure the struggling hosts claimed a share of the spoils.

“Yeah, of course, especially having two minutes left to see out the game,” Taylor said of the frustrating finale.

“We’re just so disappointed we’ve slipped away from our principles from a set piece.

“We knew it was coming from a side like Rotherham, but we’ve got to do better to see out the game.

“If we win on Saturday this might not look like a bad point. I think these lot at home will upset a few this year.”

Taylor put the late leveller down to a failure to prepare to what was expected from the Millers, but says the squad did not think the game had been won.

He said: “Not at all, it’s not in anyone’s mentality to think like that. Watching it back, I think we might have slipped away from our principles a little bit.

“But we knew what was coming from Rotherham, it was coming into the box and we needed to deal with that, and we didn’t.”

Sam Morsy levelled in the first half with a fantastic curling effort after Sam Nombe’s early goal put the hosts in front. Taylor then popped up with his first league goal for the club as the game entered the final stages.

The ball bounced off a combination of Taylor and goalkeeper Viktor Johansson to roll across the line, and the former Peterborough United man confessed his goal was somewhat fortunate.

“I didn’t really know much about it,” he said.

“I’d need to watch it back. I’ve just run into an area that I know Leif likes to deliver the ball into and I tried to chuck as much of my body onto it as possible.

“I think the keeper’s pushed it onto my heel, but luckily as I turned around I saw it crawl over the line. But when it goes like that you’ve got to know how to see the following minutes out, especially away from home.”

While featuring in 12 of the Blues’ Championship matches this term, 11 of those have come as a substitute with the 25-year-old’s only league start coming at Southampton in September.

Taylor acknowledged that the whole squad have a role to play and, while it is difficult to not be starting, he knows that the substitutes are just as important as those that start, with nine of Town’s league goals this season coming from the bench.

He said: “We showed again, like in the Birmingham game, that it’s a squad effort and it’s not just the boys that are starting.

“You want to prove a point when you get onto the pitch and I try to do that every week. Hopefully I get the start but, if not, I’ll keep trying to change the game as much as I can.

“Every game is different, whether you’re coming on to see out a game or to try and change a game, influence it and try and create something.

“It’s just about the mindset, you’ve got to zone in when you get on the pitch and dial into every detail and get on in the same way as everyone else on the pitch.

“Every footballer wants to play games so I’m hoping it will come soon.”

While there is obvious disappointment in failing to win the last two matches, the Blues are on a run of 11 Championship matches without defeat and healthily sit second in the table with an eight-point lead over Leeds United in third ahead of this weekend’s match against Swansea City.

“We’ve had a great start and I think there’s more to come from us, especially performance wise,”

Taylor said. “Today we could have played a bit better, and on Saturday against Birmingham, especially at the start of games.

“There’s so much more to come from the whole squad, so we’re really excited. Hopefully another three points at Portman Road.”