MANAGER Paul Hurst was full of praise for Ipswich Town after they drew 1-1 with high-flying Aston Villa - despite being a man short for 51 minutes.

Hurst called his side "warriors" for their never-say-die attitude after Fulham loanee Tayo Edun was dismissed at Portman Road.

Both goals came in the first half, with Jonathan Kodjia putting the visitors ahead before Trevoh Chalobah replied for the Blues.

Hurst said: "The players stood up to be counted and were like warriors out there.

"Even being down to ten men, we still carried a threat of sorts and limited them to very little, especially when you look at the quality they have in their side.

"Everyone in the ground was proud to be associated with that team and we saw that with the ovation the fans gave the players at the end of the game.

"We're not playing against a team from a lower league.

"We're playing against a team that's expected to be right in the mix for promotion and has got players that have played higher - internationals.

"I'm delighted for the players that they saw it out to the end for if we'd conceded late that would have been extremely cruel."

Hurst felt Edun's red card was not warranted and said referee Tim Robinson had "a bad game".

The visitors took the lead when a cross by former Hibernian midfielder John McGinn was headed home at the near post by Kodjia.

But Town levelled matters in the 36th minute when a throw-in from Jonas Knudsen into the Villa penalty area fell to Chalobah.

With his back to goal, the midfielder turned and fired into the net.

Villa substitute Conor Hourihane went closest to a winner in stoppage time but his attempt was saved by Ipswich keeper Bartosz Bialkowski.