Jim Magilton is given a play-off jolt

JIM MAGILTON admitted his Ipswich side have a major task to make the play-offs.

Tommy Miller fired a cracking 34th-minute equaliser to cancel out Alex Baptiste’s opener for Blackpool but the Tractor Boys were unable to secure the victory they so badly needed.

Ipswich have now failed to win in five home league games and remain seven points adrift of the top six with just 14 games remaining.

Disappointed boss Magilton said: “It is going to take a huge effort now. We would like to be in a stronger position. It’s not impossible but it is a big task.

“I’m a realist and felt we had to win the game today. The players are all a bit down but we’ve got to keep going.

“It’s a test of character. I’ll find out more about my lads now than I would if we were winning every week.”

Blackpool edged the early exchanges with David Fox and Roy O’Donovan unleashing long-range strikes that tested Ipswich keeper Richard Wright.

And in the 28th minute the Tangerines secured the breakthrough they just about deserved with Baptiste blasting his first goal for the club.

The right-back, signed from Mansfield last July, rounded off a flowing move with a thumping 15-yarder that beat Wright at his near post.

At the other end Baptiste produced further heroics, pulling off a superb goalline clearance to stop Ipswich debutant Luciano Civelli’s drive flying in.

But the hosts were soon level as Miller netted with a stunning blast on 34 minutes for his fourth goal of the season.

Miller made a dynamic run out of midfield and latched on to Pablo Counago’s neat pass before slamming an unstoppable 20-yard shot home via the post.

O’Donovan had a great chance to immediately restore Blackpool’s advantage but tamely side-footed a close-range effort straight to Wright.

Danny Haynes almost sent Ipswich ahead on the stroke of half-time with a rising drive from 30 yards that flashed inches past the post.

From the restart the hosts were on the front foot and in the 47th minute Jon Stead’s acrobatic overhead kick was only just beaten away by agile Blackpool keeper Matt Gilks.

Then Haynes’ unselfish flick-on presented Stead with another opportunity but he lifted his shot over the top.

Blackpool still looked dangerous on the counter-attack and it needed a perfectly-executed tackle from Alex Bruce to deny in-form striker DJ Campbell a clear-cut shooting chance.

But Ipswich had the upper hand and came within a whisker of winning it through Counago in the 86th minute.

The Spaniard, making his 200th club appearance, applied a firm header to Miller’s corner, only to see Fox scramble the ball off the line.

Blackpool caretaker boss Tony Parkes said: “I’m pleased with the point. We defended well and deserved it.”

TONY RUSHMER (News of the World)