Chris Powell hailed his Huddersfield Town side's character to recover from 2-0 down to secure a hard-fought point at Ipswich Town in a pulsating Championship encounter.

Town found themselves two down in the early stages of the second half after goals from Tommy Smith and Christophe Berra before Nahki Wells' clinical brace rescued a share of the spoils.

And Powell believes the most satisfying aspect of his side's comeback was the mental toughness they displayed in the second half.

"I was very pleased with the performance," he told reporters after the game.

"Even at 1-0 at half-time and at 2-0 you're thinking maybe it might not be our day, but I thought we passed the ball very well and fashioned some really good chances in the first half.

"At half-time I said to the players I know we can get something from this game.

"What was pleasing is the character of the players now.

"They know they can push forward and get results, whether it's a point or three.

"The good thing today was there was an impact from the two subs as well.

"It keeps our motivation high, our confidence good and we can rest up now until we play Forest next week."

Wells' decisive contribution was the natural talking point post-match and Powell was delighted to see the striker, who has sat out the last two matches due to tactical choices on the manager's part, vindicate his decision to field him from the start.

"If you manage players in the right way, I think they'll respond and realise," he said.

"I've always said to him 'you've got a part to play for us'.

"I keep saying it and I'm paid to make decisions, big decisions and people will always wonder why.

"I have always said Nahki is a goalscorer and you want those in your team, you want those in your squad.

"And he's one who will score goals for us like he has done today and will continue to do so in the future."

Much was made before the game about the decision to leave out in-form wide duo Harry Bunn and Sean Scannell, a point reinforced by their second-half introductions coinciding with a more cohesive attacking performance from Town.

They also helped yield two goals, but Powell revealed his team selection was based on both fitness concerns and a desire to match Ipswich's strikeforce up in defence, as well as having a twin strikeforce at the other end.

"You have to be careful with that [knocks] because I want him [Scannell] long-term," he said.

"He's made such a great impact alongside Harry Bunn in the wide areas.

"They carry the team up, create chances and score goals.

"But I have to be a bit clever with him and Bunny.

"I was looking at Ipswich and they play a front three - it's quite direct at times.

"I can see that watching previous games so I just felt we needed that extra security.

"It still allowed us to have three in the middle of the park who have been dovetailing really well and it allowed us to have two up top today.

"I felt we needed to do that to try and attack Ipswich, which we did.

"But I knew I always had those guys up my sleeve with half an hour to go and that's what I had to do.

"It's never just 11 players, it's about the 18 or 14 with three subs."