Jim Magilton is ever the optimist as his Ipswich side cling to the hope of reaching the Championship play-offs after a 2-2 draw at Preston.They are two points adrift, but still have an outside chance in their last game against Hull. A late Jonathan Walters equaliser at Deepdale earned a valuable point in a game that the Tractor Boys deserved to win.

Magilton said: "I think we started really brightly, but we started to take our foot off the gas. It's probably been a bit like us all season - when we have had teams on the ropes we have not really managed to kill them off, so credit to Preston who got back in the game.

"I would have been very upset if we had not got something from the game. I knew it would come down to the last game.

"Old habits reared their ugly heads and probably that's the reason why we are not sitting pretty.

"I can only applaud the lads. They keep going and give me everything, it's never a lack of effort.

"If we win the last game you never know what happens. We have to take care of our business and then see how the land lies.

"The lads have a little bit of hope. We have to cling onto that. We have to believe we are still in with a shout.

"The whole game is a big match for us, something to play for at the end of the season."

Tommy Miller blasted a shot from 25 yards out to make it eight goals in nine games against Preston.

Ipswich goalkeeper Stephen Bywater denied Neil Mellor with a tremendous block after the half hour, but Chris Brown levelled with a deflected shot.

After the restart, Pablo Counago was thwarted by the inside of the right post before Mellor put Preston in front. With the minutes ticking away, Walters popped up with an equaliser.

Preston boss Alan Irvine, having ensured Preston's Championship survival, admitted: "I'm disappointed we didn't see the game off.

"I'd absolutely love to be in a position like Ipswich. It would be fantastic to think we still had a chance of the play-offs - obviously it isn't something I even considered at any time, we had another job to do.

"Today there was that little edge that wasn't quite there at the start of the game. The goal probably jolted us into a bit of action, at least there was a reaction to the goal."

Reflecting on his time since he took over the helm at Deepdale, Irvine said: "We have improved quite a lot. We would have been really up near the top of the table had the season started in January.

"It makes you feel good going into next season, but it doesn't give you any guarantees.

"There's a lot of hard work to be done during the summer. We'll train really hard in pre-season. We'll do an awful lot of work as well that will hopefully give us alternatives, different shapes, systems and styles of play. You need time in order to do that.

"We'll hopefully be able to make a couple of improvements to the squad, but I'm not expecting there to be wholesale changes. We just wouldn't have the finances for that.

"We have to cut our costs accordingly. We don't have a massive budget.

"But I think we have shown we can compete in the division with a team that are capable of beating anybody."

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