Fresh from draws against Middlesbrough and Norwich, the U’s climbed out of the relegation places by beating the Blues courtesy of goals in either half from Mark Harris and Przemysław Płacheta.
“I thought it was a big performance, big effort,” said Rowett. “Early on we pressed them well, but then they settle into that little rhythm of making it hard for you to get out and having a lot of the ball. They’re very good at building one side and then switching it to the side constantly and they did it to good affect without necessarily creating lots and lots of big chances. They’re a very talented team, so I was quite pleased with that.
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“Of course we scored a goal, get in at half-time, then I have to say I’m really disappointed with the goal conceded. It’s a good finish, but we get blocked too easily. At that moment then there was a real decision to make. Do we sit in and just hang on to a point, or do we show a little bit of quality and character, make changes, and be ambitious? I thought we stepped up well, were the better team for 10/15 minutes and thankfully got the goal to show for it.
“Ipswich are a very well coached side, a very well structured side, lots of great options off the bench to change a game, so to win it is a big, big evening for us. We needed that tonight.”
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Rowett added: “We watched a lot of Ipswich. If you let them build they’re going to open you up, so you need that energy from the front. That’s why I went with Sparky (Mark Harris) up front because I thought he could disrupt them.
“Kieran (McKenna) is a good guy and I’ve been so impressed by the way he’s gone about his job. They’ll probably feel like tonight’s result is a bit of a stinger for them, but the games always hinge on fine margins and the margins went for us tonight.”
Asked if he felt Ipswich would be in the promotion mix, the Oxford boss replied: “Absolutely. They’re well coached, well organised, have good options. It’s a tough division, but I do feel the top end of it perhaps isn’t quite as outstanding as it has been. I definitely feel there’s an opportunity for Ipswich to be in that mix.”