Mick McCarthy has insisted that his Ipswich Town side were "unlucky" during their trip to Nottingham Forest last night.

Despite having had both Lee Martin and Richard Stearman sent off, it appeared that the nine-man visitors were going to hold out for a share of the spoils at the City Ground.

However, a deflected strike from Lewis McGugan in the 84th minute sealed a 1-0 victory for the home team.

"We were unlucky to hold out. It's a poxy deflection that's cost us. They didn't look they were going to score any other way," McCarthy told the East Anglian Daily Times. "My players were fabulous. I was really proud about how they went about their jobs. It was a fantastic effort, but we've lost.

"It was a great effort and we gave them a couple of scares at the end even with nine men, but it wasn't to be."

Next up for Ipswich is a trip to fellow strugglers Peterborough United on Saturday afternoon.