Boss Mick McCarthy felt the Blues 1-0 FA Cup third round replay defeat to Southampton was a damp squib with the Saints comfortable victors at Portman Road. Shane Long netted the game’s only goal in the 19th minute.
"I’m always disappointed when I lose but the game was a damp squib,” McCarthy said. "We were OK until they scored and I think they then killed the game.
"They’re a good Premier League side. They’ve only conceded 15 goals in the Premier League against teams better than us.
"They didn’t give us many chances, I don’t think either goalkeeper has been worked too much, to be honest. They got the goal and they’ve killed the game.”
He added: "It’s disappointing for us all. Somebody said to me after Saturday that they were really disappointed. Well, we all are.
"We didn’t want that game to be like that. We wanted it to be a rip-roaring cup tie they didn’t allow it to happen.
"Maybe we should give a bit of credit to them. It’s not always us who is to blame. We have tried our hardest, as we always do.
"They’re a damn good side and I watched them beat Arsenal, I watched them beat Manchester United, so it’s no great shame on us that we’ve lost to Southampton, the pity is that we didn’t really have an exciting cup tie that we were hoping for.”
He says his players should have benefited from their two matches against the high-flying Saints: "I think whichever game you’re playing in there should be something learned from it. I think we’ve seen that they are a very good side.
"And I’m sure, and I know as a player, if I’ve played against good players, better players, somebody who did something, whatever it might be, I would have picked something up on the way.
"I would hope all my players have, and I’ve no doubt they have. Probably how bloody tough it is playing against Premier League teams.”
McCarthy was impressed with Kevin Bru’s display in central midfield: "Excellent, I’m really pleased with Kevin.
"He and Balint Bajner walked in the door in pre-season, two free transfers, two free agents. Balint hasn’t done as well as Kevin has, but Kevin’s been excellent whenever he’s been asked to play. I’m really pleased with him.”
The Blues manager says he’s not concerned by striker David McGoldrick’s current lack of goals, believing the Ireland international is still playing well and that he’ll start hitting the net again soon.
"I bet if you interview Murph he can’t tell you why they’re going in except for the fact that he practises it and he works at it, but so does Didz,” he continued.
"It’s difficult when it’s just not going for you. Something will change for him because he’s such a good player. He’ll get his goal and it’ll come again.
"He’s still putting his shift in, he’s still playing well, he’s just not getting his goals. But he will.
"And you know what? It might be Murph that dries up a little bit and we’re relying on David McGoldrick coming good again with his goals. He’s playing well, but he’s just not getting the goals he deserves.”
He says McGoldrick was substituted as a precaution: "You saw him take a knock on his foot.
"Murph had had a cut head, that’s no problem, you can play with stitches in your head, but I certainly didn’t want to risk David McGoldrick making it worse whatever he might do to make it worse. I haven’t had an update on it, I’ll have to go down and see.”
McCarthy is hopeful that his ill midfield trio will be OK for Saturday’s visit to Millwall: "They’re still poorly, they’re not here today, Tabby, Cole Skuse, Teddy Bishop, they’ve still got that virus.
"I’m hopeful they’ll be OK for Saturday, but I don’t know yet, which is my concern now. I can’t do anything about this one.”
He doesn’t expect his players to be affected by the back to back defeats: "I’m concerned when I’m asked questions like that, it’s a bit like we’re questioning players all the time, it’s like we’re just so weak-minded that we can’t cope when we get beaten.
"We were beaten by a good side on Saturday, it was just a mistake, and I’m pretty pragmatic about that.
"Hey ho, we’ve won some games when other teams have made mistakes. And I think we’ve competed against Southampton today, third in the Premier League.
"It’s a different game against Millwall on Saturday, they’ve been up to Bradford, I see they’ve been beaten 4-0 and they’ve had to travel. Who knows what the mood in their camp is like. Ours is pretty good, despite the defeats.”
Regarding his Millwall opposite number Ian Holloway, he says he knows what it’s like to be in his current position: "None of us want to be there. They keep saying that this is a tough league to get out of, it’s fairly easy to get out of it at the bottom end, let me tell you because it’s really competitive.
"I feel for Ollie, I’ve been there at the bottom of this league, the Premier League and it’s tough, the spotlight is on you, but he’s a good manager. I hope he’s OK.”
Saints boss Ronald Koeman said: "I think it was a very serious performance tonight. We were lucky that we scored from our first chance that we got in the game.
"After that, we defended well, there was good organisation in the team. I think we had some good opportunities in the second half, in the first 10 or 15 minutes, to create something more out of that counter-attacking.
"But I’m proud of the team, the players. It was difficult, it was a typical English cup game, long balls, battles, but a great performance from the lads and that’s very positive.”