Preston’s in good hands

had already used all three of his substitutions.

So Gallagher went in goal and made an outstanding one–handed save to deny Danny Rowe.

Even when down to 10 men, Neil felt his side could have gone on and won.

He said: “They had one shot and Gallagher has saved it, but they never had the ascendancy while we had more chances.

“I’m relieved we did not lose but disappointed we did not win.”

New Ipswich manager Paul Lambert opted to use all of his experienced players, showing the slate had been wiped clean after Paul Hurst’s departure, and was delighted with their response.

“The big thing for me was the reaction of the supporters and I loved the atmosphere,” he said.

“We needed to kickstart an atmosphere and if they see performances like that then they will go away happy.

“If the players had been playing like that since the beginning of the season then I wouldn’t be sitting here now.”

Bartosz Bialkowski and Jonas Knudsen both had limited game time under Hurst, but Bialkowski saved well low down from a Callum Robinson curling shot and Knudsen made an important defensive header from a corner early on.

Flynn Downes went close with an athletic volley and bossed the midfield, while Matthew Pennington made a goalsaving tackle.