IPSWICH boss McCarthy admits his heart was in his mouth when defender Josh Emmanuel appeared to grab hold of Derrick Williams in the penalty area in injury time of his side’s 3-2 win over Blackburn Rovers.

Referee James Linington had already awarded Rovers one spot-kick when Hope Akpan was pulled down by Adam Webster in the 75th minute, which Danny Graham converted to make the game 3-2.

But Rovers boss Owen Coyle felt his side were denied “as clear a penalty as you will see” when Williams looked to be pulled back in the final minute of added time as his side went in search of an equaliser.

Williams chose to try and stay on his feet despite the contact, and McCarthy said his side may well have got away with the decision.

He said: “Yeah, I was worried, because the way things have been going it could have ended up 3-3.

“Maybe it was a penalty.

“I haven’t seen it again, but my heart was in mouth because the way things are going I could see myself needing a new tin hat.”

Former Rovers loanee Tom Lawrence scored twice for Ipswich, to first put them 1-0 in front, and then as they built up a 3-1 lead just before the hour mark.

The Tractor Boys haven’t been in great form of late, but hadn’t lost to Rovers at Portman Road in seven attempts going in to the game, a sequence they extended with this latest win.

And McCarthy told the Ipswich Star: “There has been some doom and gloom and rightfully so because we’ve not been playing very well and winning enough games here.

“This was a good performance and we should have won more comfortably. We’ve found our one thousand and third way to give goals away and I hope that’s it for a while now – that would be nice.

“I thought we played well. It was a good performance.

“We almost contrived to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by giving goals away.

“We’d got the game by the scruff of the neck at 1-0 then gave a goal away. Similarly when we were 3-1 up and that just made for a nervy end.”