How the Irish fared: Ipswich win eases the pressure on Mick McCarthy

These are difficult times for Mick McCarthy but Ipswich eased the pressure on their beleaguered manager by claiming a 2-1 Championship win at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

The Tractor Boys arrived at Hillsborough having won just one of their previous eight games and looking more likely to face to fight to avoid relegation than challenge for promotion.

Consequentially, it’s no surprise pressure has being growing on a manager who has now been in charge for four years.

However, the nature of the Championship is things can change quickly and Saturday’s win means Ipswich are now just five points off a play-off spot.

“I’m very, very pleased with the performance and happier with the result. I thought we were excellent,” former Ireland boss McCarthy said.

“As the game went on, we caught them on the break a number of times and didn’t really make enough of it until we got the winner.

“I had no worry about my ability or my confidence in the players and they’ve backed that up today with a really good performance. That performance and result today reflects my time at Ipswich. That is more like my team and how I have been.”

While Ipswich have been struggling under McCarthy, Brighton have been thriving under Chris Hughton and the Seagulls claimed a fourth league win on the trot when easing to a 2-0 success at Bristol City.

Victory kept Brighton in the slipstream of leaders Newcastle and stretched their advantage over third-placed Huddersfield to five points. Hughton, though, is refusing to get carried away.

“At the moment I know we are a good team but we cannot afford to take the pressure off. We have a better squad than last season but whether we are a better side time will tell.”

Reflecting on Brighton’s most recent win, he added: “We had opportunities to score more goals, but what we did really well was limit them to very few clear chances.

“In training we do more offensive work than defensive and our good record for clean sheets is down to a great team ethic.”

Meanwhile, Cyrus Christie is a doubt for Ireland’s World Cup qualifier against Austria next Saturday after the full-back was forced off with an ankle injury in Derby’s 3-2 win at Wolves.

“Cyrus’s injury didn’t look good,” Rams boss Steve McClaren said.

Those sentiments were echoed by the player, who tweeted: “Great result today gutted to come off injured signs aren’t great but hopefully nothing to serious thanks for all the messages.”

Robbie Brady was the sole Irish scorer in the Championship this weekend but his header ultimately had little meaning as Norwich lost 3-2 at home to in-form Leeds.

In the FA Cup first round, Jay O’Shea scored as Chesterfield won 2-1 at Colchester, Glen Rea netted in Luton’s 3-1 victory at Exeter, John-Joe O’Toole struck as Northampton hammered Harrow Borough 6-0 while an Alan Power effort helped Lincoln City to a 2-1 win over Altrincham.

However, it wasn’t such a good day for Kevin Dawson as the midfielder was sent off in Yeovil’s 2-2 draw with Solihull Moors.