Anthony Wordsworth not only celebrated a goal upon his return to action at the weekend — he was also quick to apologise for an error that contributed to Hull’s 2-1 win.
The ex-Colchester midfielder only cleared Robbie Brady’s corner back to him, allowing the former Manchester United youngster to cross into the middle for substitute Robert Koren to head home and cement his side’s automatic promotion place in the Championship.
Wordsworth, 24, admitted: "It was a bit of a bittersweet afternoon. It was obviously nice to score but I should have cleared the ball for their goal near the end.
"I walked straight into the changing room at the end and held my hands up. I should have cleared it and I should have got tighter to the man to try to stop the cross.
"There was a spare man in the middle so a few of us could have held our hands up but I was the first one to say I could and should have done better than I did. We watched it back and the manager said I had to learn from it and make sure it didn’t happen again. I need to try to minimise the mistakes.”
It has been a stop-start first few months as a Town player for Wordsworth after he broke three vertebrae against Blackpool in February, forcing him to spend two months on the sidelines.
Wordsworth added: "I haven’t played a lot of football in 2013. Before I came here I was suspended and because of the weather and postponements I missed five weeks of football.
"Then I got injured here and missed eight weeks, so I haven’t played much at all. I’ll have to address that with the physios and the medical staff.”
Wordsworth will retain his place in Mick McCarthy’s squad for tonight’s home clash with Crystal Palace and said he is happy to let the manager decide whether he should start or remain on the bench.
He also reported that the 2-1 defeat by the Tigers has done nothing to affect dressing room morale at the club and everyone was eagerly looking forward to the visit from an Eagles side who remain in a play-off slot despite winning none of their last five league games.
Wordsworth said: "We’ve just been doing what we always do to prepare for a game, the same as what we did before we played Hull. Had we won we could have crept further away from the bottom three but it wasn’t to be. Now we must pick ourselves up and go again.
"I didn’t think there was a lot between us and Hull. Obviously, they are up near the top and are one of the better teams but our record since November, when the new gaffer came in, would put us in the top three or four.
"It was a close game with very little between the two sides and it could have gone either way. Unfortunately they nicked it — and I played my part in their winner.”