O'Neil pushes Ipswich 'to keep going' after battling draw with Forest

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ShareIpswich Town fought hard for a point against Nottingham Forest, and Gary O'Neil was proud of his side's resilience at home.Gary O'Neil has pushed his Ipswich Town side "to keep going" after a hard-earned draw with Nottingham Forest on Friday.Ipswich came from behind to draw 1-1 at Portman Road, with Julio Enciso cancelling out Neco Williams' opener.The Tractor Boys were on the back foot for the majority of the contest, with Forest accumulating 2.31 expected goals (xG) from 17 shots to the home side's 0.46 from seven attempts.In fact, Ipswich only had one shot in the second half, which came from Jack Clarke in the 92nd minute.Nevertheless, Ipswich have 10 points in eight Premier League games this season (W3 D1 L4); only in 1993-94 have they ever hit double figures in fewer matches from the start of any of their six previous campaigns in the competition (fifth game).They have also gained more points from losing positions in the Premier League this season than any other side (seven) – they only gained four in the entirety of their last season in the competition (2024-25).Exequiel Palacios was particularly impressive in midfield, leading Ipswich in chances created (two), touches (99) and accurate passes (77).He also won possession 14 times in this game, the most by any player in a single Premier League match this season, with the last to do so as often being Curtis Jones for Liverpool v Everton in April of last term (16)."We had to hang on and fight, that's what we needed. Tough game in tough conditions," O'Neil told Sky Sports."We were never good enough with the ball and it ended up being Forest direct balls that took control. We had to try and match that but the conditions were tough."They are a good side but to go 1-0 down and fight back, there are lots of ways to be successful in football matches and we rolled our sleeves up and dug in. Massive second half to get a point and keep a clean sheet in the second half."This league will test you. Really proud of the players but we have to keep going. We have some time before facing Hull [City]. Proud of the players."Ipswich Town fought hard for a point against Nottingham Forest, and Gary O'Neil was proud of his side's resilience at home.Gary O'Neil has pushed his Ipswich Town side "to keep going" after a hard-earned draw with Nottingham Forest on Friday.Ipswich came from behind to draw 1-1 at Portman Road, with Julio Enciso cancelling out Neco Williams' opener.The Tractor Boys were on the back foot for the majority of the contest, with Forest accumulating 2.31 expected goals (xG) from 17 shots to the home side's 0.46 from seven attempts.In fact, Ipswich only had one shot in the second half, which came from Jack Clarke in the 92nd minute.Nevertheless, Ipswich have 10 points in eight Premier League games this season (W3 D1 L4); only in 1993-94 have they ever hit double figures in fewer matches from the start of any of their six previous campaigns in the competition (fifth game).They have also gained more points from losing positions in the Premier League this season than any other side (seven) – they only gained four in the entirety of their last season in the competition (2024-25).Exequiel Palacios was particularly impressive in midfield, leading Ipswich in chances created (two), touches (99) and accurate passes (77).He also won possession 14 times in this game, the most by any player in a single Premier League match this season, with the last to do so as often being Curtis Jones for Liverpool v Everton in April of last term (16)."We had to hang on and fight, that's what we needed. Tough game in tough conditions," O'Neil told Sky Sports."We were never good enough with the ball and it ended up being Forest direct balls that took control. We had to try and match that but the conditions were tough."They are a good side but to go 1-0 down and fight back, there are lots of ways to be successful in football matches and we rolled our sleeves up and dug in. Massive second half to get a point and keep a clean sheet in the second half."This league will test you. Really proud of the players but we have to keep going. We have some time before facing Hull [City]. Proud of the players."