Jon Dahl Tomasson felt Blackburn Rovers’ first-half cost them against Ipswich Town with individual errors proving their undoing.

Rovers were beaten 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller at Portman Road and trailed their hosts 3-1 at half-time. All four goals were self-inflicted with neither Aynsley Pears nor the defence covering themselves in glory.

The first was a second-phase set-piece half-cleared, the second was a weak clearance and the third came from poor marking. That gave Rovers a mountain to climb at the break.

They did get themselves level through an own goal and a fantastic Sam Szmodics strike but came unstuck once more after Massimo Luongo pounced on Pears’ punch which didn’t clear the box. Tomasson felt all of the goals were very avoidable but was pleased with the second-half response.

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“It’s very clear, we didn’t win our duals, we were too late, we played too slow and we gave the ball away,” Tomasson told The Lancashire Telegraph. “We gave the ball away and we gave three unnecessary goals away in that first half.

“It was not a good half. I think the second half was the Rovers you have seen this season and credit to the lads for that.

“We are a young team, and we are trying to develop over the year, that’s why I am pleased with the second half and that we created so many chances.

“They have been extremely solid and that is really good. When you lose games and you give away a lot of unnecessary goals, we can’t be happy with that.

“When you’re chasing the game it’s different but if you look at the first goal, we have everyone in our box. The second is a long ball that we didn’t clear very well and the third wasn’t a transition moment.”

“We are disappointed with the result,” he added. “We knew Ipswich would be tough, they have an excellent record at home and they have started extremely well in the Championship.

“The first half cost us the game. We were not quick enough on the ball, not moving quick enough. The distance of the team and coming into duals was not what I wanted.

“You saw in the second half, the Blackburn Rovers you normally see. We showed a good resilience and a good performance. It’s tough scoring three goals away and not getting a result, especially with the last goal.

“All four goals were preventable. Credit to the boys and the second half and the fans for travelling for the team.”