“We were completely cheated”- Dara O’Shea felt scoreline not reflective of Blues’ share of game but showed how punishing Premier League can be

“We were completely cheated”- Dara O’Shea felt scoreline not reflective of Blues’ share of game but showed how punishing Premier League can be

Ipswich Town’s stand-in captain, Dara O’Shea, expressed disappointment after their 4-1 home loss to Tottenham Hotspur, highlighting how unforgiving the Premier League can be.

O’Shea felt that the Blues should have been ahead at halftime, as they had several early chances but found themselves 2-0 down before the half-hour mark.

Son Heung-Min was allowed too much space, setting up Brennan Johnson for two goals in quick succession, putting Ipswich in a difficult position.

Omari Hutchinson’s goal before the break gave Ipswich a glimmer of hope, but after Luke Woolfenden’s second-half equalizer was ruled out for offside,

Spurs capitalized with two more goals in a seven-minute span from Djed Spence and Dejan Kulusevski, leaving Ipswich with a painful defeat.

“I’m really disappointed that we didn’t go into the break winning,” said O’Shea. “We started the game excellently, but we just didn’t take our chances.”

O’Shea and his fellow defenders were particularly frustrated with the first two goals, both of which came from Son’s unchallenged deliveries to Johnson.

O’Shea reflected, “We know what needs to be better to prevent those goals. We just have to learn from them.”

O’Shea also acknowledged the harsh nature of the Premier League, where mistakes are quickly punished. “You don’t get anything cheap in this league.

It’s definitely something we can stop, and we have the ability to do so. We just need to be clearer in those situations and learn from today.”

Woolfenden, who replaced Ben Godfrey at halftime, had a header ruled out for offside after Town applied second-half pressure.

O’Shea felt that moment encapsulated their season, saying, “It’s been the story of our season—lots of ‘what-ifs.’ We just need something to go our way.”

The loss, combined with Wolverhampton Wanderers’ 1-0 victory over Bournemouth, left Ipswich five points from safety with 12 games remaining.

When asked about manager Kieran McKenna’s message after the heavy defeat, O’Shea said, “He just told us to believe in ourselves and not to focus on outside noise.

We have massive belief within the club, and we need to keep showing that character.”

Despite their current struggles, O’Shea remained confident in the team’s abilities. “Everyone wrote us off at the start of the season, and while that takes some pressure off, we still put pressure on ourselves.

We’ve worked hard to get here, and now it’s up to us to stay in the Premier League.”

O’Shea also pointed out that Ipswich had caused problems for top teams, and they just needed to keep pushing forward. “We’ve had great moments and caused opponents real trouble. We just need to keep going, as it’s a tough league, and you don’t get anything for free.”

Looking ahead to their next match, a trip to Manchester United, O’Shea saw it as a good opportunity to bounce back. “It’s great that we have a quick turnaround.

We can learn from today’s game and approach the Manchester United match with fresh minds and hunger. It’s a huge moment for us to improve at such a historic stadium.”