Mick McCarthy says it's important to end Town's recent habit of conceding the first goal against Brighton this afternoon. The Blues lost 2-0 at Wigan last week and prior to that came from a goal behind to beat Middlesbrough at Yeovil at Portman Road.
The Town boss was pleased with those comebacks and form in general at Portman Road since he’s been at the club, but says Albion are tough to beat once they've got their noses in front: "It’s been a good place for us, and so it should be, it’s our home ground.
"We don’t want to be going behind because last year Brighton were particularly good, if they got in front they didn’t lose too many.
"It’s not that we’ve been carved open, we’ve given some silly goals away, so we’ve got to take that out of our game.”
He says he’s reviewed New Year’s Day’s 3-0 home defeat to the Seagulls: "I thought Brighton were a good side. We watched it again the other day and we were all over the shop a little bit.
"We just didn’t play particularly well and they did. We got done from a corner kick and, as I say, last year they were the best side at getting in front and not conceding.”
Despite results such as last week’s defeat, McCarthy has been pleased with his team’s displays: "I’m delighted with the way we’ve played this season. I’m delighted how they conduct themselves, the way they perform.
"We’ve improved on certain things, on ball retention, passing, we’ve improved on balls in the box, successful balls in the box, everything.
"And it wasn’t like we missed the target, I think we had better shots on target. And you know what? Murph’s shot, the goalkeeper made a match-winning save there.
"And they had some match-winning blocks. I’ve said to them, I’m not criticising them for not scoring goals, as it’s the hardest thing to do, put the ball in the net, and there were some blooming good saves [from Wigan keeper Scott Carson].
"He made a great save off Skusey from 25 yards, one off Berra from 25 yards. It’s frustrating playing as well as we have and not getting the results we deserve.
"We can just improve on tiny little detail and if we play great and don’t score, don’t let one in at the back.”
McCarthy says things might have been different had Luke Chambers’s early header been an inch or two lower: "We have got some threats from corners and freekicks and but for the width of the crossbar we’re 1-0 up inside 30 seconds.
"I’m chewing at our lads because they got a free header [from which Ryan Shotton scored the opening goal]. We got a good header and it was just headed up on to the crossbar.”
He says there have been no special shooting drills as a result of Sunday’s game: "No! Like when you concede a goal you all go out and defend freekicks for three days? That’s nonsense that.
"We do constantly do finishing sessions. Terry’s one of the best I’ve seen at putting finishing sessions on and he continues to do that on a regular basis.”
The Town boss confirmed that Dean Gerken would be keeping his place in goal despite his error for Nick Powell’s late second for the Latics: "Absolutely. That was just a cock-up that. That’s not like coming for a cross and dropping it or things spilling off you, not doing things you expect keepers to do.
"It’s a mistake. Let me tell you, I’ve been there, bad backpass, stupid tackle to give a penalty away, all those things.
"That is not him playing badly, it’s just a rick. He’s been excellent, by the way, I think he’s been great.”
He says the situation was different to when Scott Loach was dropped after the Leeds match: "Go back to the games. You’re comparing apples and pears there.
"We had lost 75% of our games, we’ve now lost one in four. A completely different situation, it doesn’t even bear any resemblance at all.”