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Ipswich Town: Conor Chaplin admits set pieces proved Blues’ undoing after Carabao Cup exit against AFC Wimbledon on penalties

Ipswich Town forward Conor Chaplin admitted set pieces proved the Blues’ undoing as they crashed out of the Carabao Cup on penalties against AFC Wimbledon at Plough Lane.

The Blues got off to the perfect start when former Dons striker Ali Al-Hamadi struck after just three minutes, as Town looked set to go on and progress against the League Two outfit.

Omar Bugiel and Matty Stevens both scored as a result of free-kicks in which the Blues failed to deal with, though, to turn the tie on its head before Chaplin headed an equaliser with four minutes remaining.

That goal would only delay the Blues’ elimination as the home side won the penalty shootout to progress to the third round and leave Town still without a win this season.

Chaplin said: “It’s definitely a disappointing result, but not a performance to be disappointed by. I thought the performance was good, it should be a 2-0 win at least.

“We’ve conceded two set pieces which is really against what we’ve been about and what we’ve been so good at for the past two years.

“That’s the disappointing thing, especially because you know it’s coming and that’s going to be their main way of scoring and main threat, I don’t know if they had a shot other than the set pieces.

“But that’s not something we were surprised about, we knew that was going to be the way the game went and it was just about seeing those moments out.

  

“One, not giving the fouls away because we know that we’re confident enough to defend in open play and set pieces are an easy way to put the ball in our box, so it’s disappointing to give the fouls away and we probably gave away too many at times.

“And then for the goals we’re really disappointed on our part. We obviously found a way back in and then penalties is a lottery.

“We haven’t been doing extra [work on set pieces], we always do the work non-stop every single week. We’ve been so good at them and our record speaks for itself, we’ve been really good at them for the last two seasons and it’s something that we take big pride in.

“That’s why it’s really disappointing to give two away tonight because it’s not even in threatening positions where they’re putting the ball in, it should be routine.

“It’s not amazing whip on the ball, it’s a standard delivery and we should be heading it out from the middle of our line and dominating those areas.”

Al-Hamadi’s early goal also came as a result of a set piece of Town’s own, with the Iraq international scoring against his former club after meeting a corner from Conor Townsend, who was one of six players making their Blues debuts.

Chaplin said: “Likewise we work on attacking set pieces really well and exactly the same goes for that. We’ve been really good at that for the last two years and really dialled in, we work so hard at them both ways.

“It’s good to score one, but when you concede one, especially at a place like this when you know that’s going to be their main chance, it’s disappointing.

“But on the other side, we had a lot of new players today. It was a team that only trained together one or two times for certain people, so it was always going to be tough for details and it’s something you can’t just switch on, it’s something that is crafted over time.

“With that being said, we had enough leadership on the pitch and enough experience on the pitch to deal with those things.”

 

There was always going to be a transition period with so many new arrivals at the club and the 27-year-old says there was a need for change due to the demands of the Premier League, stressing that all of the recent signings have added qualities to the existing group.

“It’s needed with the level we’re going to and are at now,” he said. “We’ve brought in some really good quality and exciting players, but it’s not going to happen straight away with 12 new people in the building.

“It’s going to be tough, especially when we’ve been a team that’s been the same core group for two years, it’s like clockwork. It will get to that, we just need time on the training pitch, which is something that we’ll put in.

“It’s our job as senior players and it’s the duty of the new players to fit into that, but also add to it and bring personality to the group and help us in as many ways as possible.”

With many of the squad seeing less minutes than they have in previous seasons, Chaplin is embracing the challenge of battling for a starting place with such strong competition now at the club.

He said: “It’s really exciting. I don’t think you can expect to be in a Premier League squad and not expect competition or have to fight for your place, you’d be naïve to think so.

“It’s exciting to be a part of the group and exciting to be a part of the club at this time, we wouldn’t stop for anyone. It’s about people having to carry on and finding ways to improve all the time and stay on the journey and that’s definitely what it should be.

“There’s eight less league games in the Premier League, so you want to stay in the cup competitions for as long as you can so the squad can stay nice and healthy and match ready. That’s the most disappointing thing from the night.

“That’s because we’re a really dialled in group to the details and we have been all the time. This needs to be the anomaly, conceding the set pieces, especially at a place like this where we knew it was going to be tough from set pieces. We just need to make sure it won’t happen again.”

In the absence of usual skipper Sam Morsy, Chaplin took the armband and led the Blues out at Plough Lane, something he says was a proud feeling.

He said: “It’s massive pride and an honour every time I put the armband on, for sure, it means a lot to me. I’ve fallen in love with this football club so it means a lot to me to wear the armband.”

Chaplin was disappointed that Town could not reward the 1,800 travelling fans in south London, but emphasised the Blue Army’s incredible support throughout his time in Suffolk.

 

“Brilliant, not just the first two games but we’ve had it for the last three years,” he said. “They’ve been incredible, it’s just a shame and I feel for them for travelling on a Wednesday night.

“To come and not win the game for them and send them back happy, I feel for them. Hopefully that’s an anomaly on our part.”

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