Amid a Suffolk squall, winds whipping, a constant drum of rain, an encounter full of half-chances, mistakes, the obligatory refereeing controversy and searching questions. Do Ipswich possess the stones to deal with the big league? Perhaps so. How long can Nottingham Forest’s dip sustain before their president, Evangelos Marinakis, takes his usual course of action. Perhaps not much longer.

Ipswich’s Gary O’Neil was the happier manager, Forest had created the cleaner opportunities, only for familiar failings to cost them. “We were never quite good enough with the ball to turn it into a football match,” said O’Neil. Further adding to Forest’s disappointment, Ipswich’s Issa Diop escaped what looked, on first glance, a red card for a last-man foul. A first-half exchange of goals, both owing much to defensive laxness, determined the result.

Ipswich’s aim is to establish themselves as Forest have in the Premier League. Though Forest and their manager cannot be presumptive of their statuses.…