Leicester City 3 Ipswich Town 1: Hughes heaps more misery on Magilton

This was only the third competitive match of Jim Magilton's managerial career yet already he admits that the frustration of his self-imposed exile from the field is proving hard to bear. Given that all three games have ended in defeat, perhaps that is no surprise.

"How am I handling that? Badly," he said after Leicester, themselves without a point or a goal before yesterday, had turned his Ipswich side over rather too comfortably. "It is frustrating not being out there," he added, "but when I took the job I knew there would be ups and downs."

The former Northern Ireland midfielder will hope the ups are not too far away, yet on the evidence of a performance that not only lacked the commitment and energy that was Magilton's hallmark but also any concentration, he may have to wait a while longer.

Ipswich made too many errors and Leicester made them pay. The result did not flatter the home side. Indeed, it could have turned into a rout. Matt Fryatt, Leicester's most dangerous player throughout, could have had a hat-trick yet did not make the scoresheet.

The smallest crowd for a League game at the Walkers Stadium since it opened four years ago seemed to indicate a lowering of expectations among Leicester supporters after two seasons at the lower end of the Championship table.

Defeats against Luton and Burnley in the opening two matches clearly had not helped sell tickets. Yet it took fewer than eight minutes for home spirits to be given a fillip with a goal of Australian construction and execution. Danny Tiatto lofted the ball into the penalty area from the right for his compatriot Patrick Kisnorbo, a 25-year-old central defender, to rise unchallenged and guide a neat header out of the reach of the goalkeeper, Shane Supple.

Ipswich replaced Nicky Forster with Sam Parkin in their attack in the hope that the height and strength of the ex-Chelsea striker would give the Leicester defence a different kind of threat.

Before Parkin could impose himself, however, Leicester gained the security of a second goal after another defensive malfunction by the visitors. A poor clearance by Dean Bowditch travelled only as far as Stephen Hughes, the former Rangers midfielder, who balanced himself nicely before hitting a crisp, low shot wide of Supple's dive.

This prompted Magilton to make a second change in his strikers, swapping Alan Lee for Billy Clarke, but there was no end to his frustration and he was drawn into a touchline argument with Mike Stowell, the Leicester assistant manager, that earned both a dressing down from the referee Jon Moss.

Leicester had the chances to put themselves out of reach, Fryatt going close with a header before Dan Harding made a last-ditch save after Fryatt had gone around Supple. Finally, Fryatt did find the net with his head, only to be flagged offside.

Ipswich sniffed the chance of escaping with a point they did not deserve when a shot by Matt Richards was deflected past a wrong-footed Paul Henderson with five minutes left, but the substitute Iain Hume's goal in stoppage time made sure Leicester registered their first points of the season.