McCarthy swears he didn’t do

MICK McCARTHY seemed to abuse his own Ipswich fans as Norwich retained their hold over their East Anglian rivals.

Tractor Boys boss McCarthy was dancing on the pitch in delight when skipper Luke Chambers headed home in the 89th minute.

But the veteran manager then seemed to direct an obscene gesture and mouth “F**k off ” at the 2,000 travelling supporters, who moments earlier had been singing, “McCarthy, your football is s**t.”

McCarthy’s mood was not helped by Timm Klose’s last-gasp leveller in a dramatic derby finish.

The Irishman denied any wrongdoing and said: “I was just celebrating the goal. It was the emotions of the game and it’s sad that you are asking these questions. Are you putting words in my mouth?

“I was just doing my job and I think I do it well. I think it would be different if we had won the game. I have no concerns about my relationship with the fans.”

It’s nine years since Ipswich last beat their biggest rivals and McCarthy looked set to land his first derby victory after Chambers met Martyn Waghorn’s cross.

Dragged

But Swiss defender Klose nodded a dramatic last-gasp leveller in the fifth minute of stoppage time in the battle of the two mid-table teams.

Klose met Grant Hanley’s cross to make it 10 derby games without defeat, after Ipswich keeper Bartosz Bialkowski got dragged out of his goal and out of position.

Despite the late setback, McCarthy said: “I thought we played well and gave a good performance. Apart from the 95th minute, when we let our guard down, it was a job well done.”

Canaries coach Daniel Farke said: “It feels like a win. It was a typical derby with crazy things happening.

“My players are always capable of scoring goals.

“We have scored more goals in the last 15 minutes than any team in the Championship and it was nice to see Klose and Hanley getting in the spotlight for a change.

“I’m disappointed we didn’t win. We had so many chances during the second half. I think we had about 13 shots to their one, so we probably deserved to win.

“But sometimes small things can turn out to be very important. Maybe this could prove to be better than a big win.”