The Seasiders have never won at Portman Road and with the Tractor Boys boasting the best home record in the Division Saturday's trip to Suffolk was always going to be difficult. The day got off to a bad start when Player of the Year elect Stephen Crainey failed a fitness test on an injured calf, his place in the starting eleven went to John Hills who made his first League start of the season.

With Pool featuring as the main match on the Championship this was the chance to show the nation that we aren't "plucky Blackpool" or the "struggling Seasiders and in the opening exchanges Wes Hoolahan fired wide after he cut in from the left flank following some neat play by John Hills.

At the other end Pool were indebted to Paul Rachubka who dived full stretch to keep out a Jon Walters strike.

With Stephen Crainey and Kaspars Gorkss missing through injury the last thing Simon Grayson wanted was Ian Evatt pulling up with a suspected hamstring strain, Evatt quickly gesticulated to the Pool bench that he was unable to carry on and Danny Coid came on to replace him with Shaun Barker switching to the left sided centre half.

Walters and Lee combined on the quarter hour, Lee's cross diverted goalwards by his strike partner but Danny Coid was in the right place to clear off the line and keep the scores level.

Pool were indebted woodwork and Claus Jorgensen on 20 minutes, Alan Lee's volley crashed back off the bar and was scrambled behind for a corner, which saw Jason De Vos head goalwards, but he was denied by Claus Jorgensen on the line, the Faroe Islander on the far post rose to head off the line despite pressure from a number of Ipswich players.

With Ipswich piling on the pressure, Pool lost skipper Michael Jackson with a suspected torn hamstring, with no other defensive cover on the bench Stuart Green entered the fray and Keith Southern switched to an unfamiliar centre back role.

Alan Lee fired over from 20 yards as the interval approached then the one time Burnley target expertly combined with Tommy Miller only for Shaun Barker to turn the cross over his own bar and out for the a corner.

Pool had a couple of half chances before the break, a Paul Dickov cross was cleared by Harding whilst Keith Southern almost got on the end of a Hoolahan cross.

The topic of conversation at the break was how long Pool's makeshift defence could hold out and after just five minutes of the second period we had our answer, Sumulikoski intercepted a poor ball by Ben Burgess, breaking out from the back and sending Walters clear down the left, Haynes and Lee were involved before the Macedonia international rifled in a superb strike in to the top corner from the edge of the box.

Ten minutes later Ipswich doubled their lead, Alan Lee again was instrumental, the big striker hooked on to Walters who managed to wriggle free from Keith Southern and slot past Rachubka.

Ipswich were in the ascendancy and squandered a number of great chances to add to the their lead, but to their credit Pool stuck to their task and eventually pulled one back, Paul Dickov raced clear of the Ipswich defence and despite the referee's assistant flagging the Scot rounded Bywater and slotted into the empty net. Ipswich protest and after the referee and his assistant discussed the move, the goal stood, video replays showed that this was the correct decision with Quinn clearly defecting the ball into the path of Dickov.

Pool almost snatched a dramatic late equaliser, but Claus Jorgensen saw his snap shot charged down by the anxious Ipswich defence.

Town: Bywater, Bruce, Naylor, De Vos, Harding, Norris, Miller, Sumulikoski, Haynes (Quinn 70), Lee (Counago 70),Walters. Subs not used: Colgan,Wright, Garvan.

Blackpool: Rachubka, Barker, Jackson (Green 30), Evatt (Coid 10), Hills, Taylor-Fletcher, Southern, Jorgensen, Hoolahan, Burgess (McPhee 61), Dickov. Subs not used: Gerrard, Morrell.