We could still be playing now and it would still be 1-1!

Another one that can be chalked off as 'one of those days', but lately it seems we have had a few too many of them.

Let's start with the obvious. If we want to win automatic promotion from this division, we have to beat teams like Cheltenham at home. There is no other fact than that. Away from home it is a tougher game but Portman Road bouncing with 25,000 fans leaves no excuses.

I arrived in the FanZone for this one, very much discussing with fellow fans how I thought the game would go. 0-0 at half time with a tough to break down opposition, I said, followed by a comfortable 3-0 win after the break.

That went out the window after eight minutes. Early pressure, a corner whipped in and a tap in at the far post for Luke Woolfenden's first goal of the season. We haven't seen too many early goals from Town this season, and for it to come from a corner made it all the more sweeter. Surely this would be a solid three points then.

Considering Town ended the game with 15 corners, they really should have made more of them. I think every Town fan who understands the game is a huge fan of Leif Davis, myself included, but his set-piece deliveries are generally not good enough. Only one out of 15 led to anything, and even that wasn't the best delivery, but Town managed to make it work.

A few minutes after the opener, Janoi Donacien once again showed why is arguably the best one-on-one defender in the league. He won the ball with a standing tackle and drove most of the length of the pitch, before a great pass picked out Marcus Harness in the box. He really should have scored. Some would say it was unlucky to come back off the bar, some think it crossed the line (I don't think it quite did), for me, he has to score. It's a near open goal from 10 yards out. He has to do better in that position.

Harness and Conor Chaplin began this season on fire, but in the last few games I have not been overly impressed. They look out of position and void of ideas for a lot of the game. We need those two players to be creating chances or taking some themselves. This wasn't the game for Chaplin. He was outmuscled by a rugged Cheltenham defense on almost every occasion.

We had a third good opportunity to score not long after that again. A cross whipped in and Davis had a free header at the back post. He got the power on it, but not the direction. It wasn't the easiest of chances, but again he should be at least hitting the target from the edge of the six yard box.

Then Town came unhinged. I am struggling to remember the last goal we conceded that wasn't easily avoidable. I know there is a case for every goal scored to be avoidable, but the calamitous ones are mounting up now. It started with Woolfenden being muscled off the ball too easily. Cameron Humphreys, who was once again impressive overall, lunged into a tackle he wasn't going to win. Davis had left his marker out wide and the ball fell to Ryan Broom who shot at the near post.

We can forgive him for the number of times he has saved us from conceding over the past year, but Christian Walton followed up his worst game in a Town shirt at Charlton with another poor performance. He really should have saved it.

It was 1-1 and Cheltenham were back in the game after creating nothing. It might be harsh to say Walton's performance was poor, but he only had one comfortable save to make all game and he didn't.

Humphreys then had a chance to put Town back in the lead before the break, but failed to beat the goalkeeper who was already lying on the floor from a previous save. Another gilt-edged chance not taken.

The second half was possibly the most one-sided I have ever seen at Portman Road, but the goal was not to come.

Harness missed a good chance with a header. Freddie Ladapo missed one from four yards out. Chaplin and Kayden Jackson tackled each other rather than slotting in the rebound. Panutche Camara, who again got a few more minutes under his belt, hit the post right at the end. Town huffed and puffed but could not find the winner.

They ended the game with 29 shots on goal. Only four on target, but 17 were blocked. Ultimately that is a terrible conversion rate in front of goal. Cheltenham were credited with three, but one was actually a cross and the other was a shot from the halfway line that went out for a throw-in, so I am going to say they scored one from one. They barely even touched the ball in our half after the break.

Frustratingly, Town continued to try and get crosses into the box, rather than having a go from the centre of the pitch. Their defense won every header so I am not sure why we weren't able to change it up a bit. At the end Kieran McKenna stuck Cam Burgess up top to try and change that fortune. At that point Town finally stopped crossing the ball!

We also had three shouts for a penalty. Two of them would have been soft, one probably was, but we know these decisions are rarely given. The ref was average, not the worst we have seen by any stretch, but he was not the reason Town did not win this one.

It felt like a day where luck was maybe against us, but it was also full of bad decision making in attacking positions and some last ditch defending from Cheltenham. Of course days like this do come around through the course of the season, but that is now Lincoln, Charlton and Cheltenham in the space of only a handful of games.

The biggest worry for me is if you look at the last few seasons, we have scored plenty in the first couple of months and then the goals have dried right up. I don't think we are there yet, considering we did at least score four at Charlton, but our chance to goal conversion ratio this season is possibly the lowest in the league.

There is no doubt about our style and consistency being excellent but we are starting to see cracks at both ends. Mistakes are costing us points now, in games where we have plenty of chances to outscore the opposition. Clean sheets are disappearing, which is fine as long as you keep scoring.

McKenna said it was possibly the best performance since his time here, but I have to disagree. Goals win games, not possession. We may have played them off the pitch for the majority of the game, but that was to be expected, and the outcome is still only one point.

The gap to third is now just one point, and I fear the trip to Exeter on Saturday may be a banana skin for us. We need to hope Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth start having rocky spells as well. Let's hope we can get back to winning ways and get through it without injuries.

Hearing that Dom Ball and Tyreece John-Jules are now long-term injuries as well, our squad is looking a little depleted, and the players who are fit are going to be asked to play a lot more minutes than they maybe would have done.

We can bring some fresh legs in January, but we want to keep the spine of the team intact. We have to sign a striker as we are down to just Ladapo. Freddie is unquestionably a good striker in terms of holding up the ball and bringing players into the game, but he is not going to get enough goals.

I don't think Gassan Ahadme is the solution either. I know Town have played down rumours for now, but I would personally love to see Jordan Rhodes back in a Town shirt. I also feel like we should make a play for Jonson Clarke-Harris - surely we can afford to take him from Peterborough.

Town are now bang on the average of two points a game, which is the target. It is by no means panic stations yet, but it's time to start fixing some of the minor problems before they begin to cost us when it comes to the end of the season.

Uppa Town

Europablue added 07:46 - Nov 15 We are having a bit of a bad run, but the reason we were so far ahead of Wednesday was that they had a bad run. All we need to do is go on a better run and have the rub of the green a bit more. This season isn't like other times we have made a good start. We are not going to finish 11th this season, but we definitely don't look nailed on for a top 2 place. We have dropped 4 points in 2 games, mostly down to Walton suddenly finding poor form, when previously he has won us so many points. The biggest loss for us is Evans because he and Morsy have a really good balance together. Actually, Ball and Humpreys seem to play well together, but Morsy and Humpreys either aren't compatible or haven't found their rhythm yet. The other problem is that a big part of our success earlier in the season was changing our attacking players, but with the injuries, we just have less options. We were looking more solid at the back with Burgess, then he got injured. Burns has suffered second-season syndrome. He has been awful at times, but he often has the spark that gets us goals and wins us games even if he's otherwise played badly. I wouldn't say that it's time to panic, but it is certainly time to tighten up in defense. I think Exeter away is a better prospect for us than Lincoln or Cheltenham at home.

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oldelsworthyfan added 10:29 - Nov 16 Good analysis Europablue.
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