Town may have suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time in a year but Jay Tabb is convinced they have what it takes to put together another lengthy unbeaten run, starting with Saturday’s visit to an out-of-sorts Millwall.
Following the home defeat by Norwich in August they avoided defeat in their next eight games — four wins and the same number of draws — before losing 3-1 at Cardiff.
The response to that setback was even more emphatic as Town registered an 11-game league run that comprised eight wins and three draws before holding Southampton to a 1-1 draw in the FA Cup at St Mary’s.
The home defeats by Derby and in Wednesday’s FA Cup replay by Southampton were both blows but Tabb said: "We have bounced back before and now we need to do it again. We need to forget about the Derby defeat.
"It’s different if you go out on the pitch then you get torn apart and lose four or five nil. Then you kind of question it maybe, but everyone in the squad is okay and the most important thing now is to bounce back against Millwall.”
Town may be about to embark on a run of four fixtures against teams currently occupying places in the Championship’s bottom six but Tabb and Co will be taking nothing for granted.
He warned: "The teams at the bottom are all looking to make sure they don’t get relegated and the games are all becoming really important now. Towards the end of January you can start seeing the finishing line.
"All the games are going to be tough and we just have to make sure we keep doing what we have been doing because it has been working. Forget the last league defeat and look to start another long unbeaten run.
"Millwall also lost in the FA Cup this week and that wasn’t ideal for them. But I think Ian Holloway is a great manager. He’s done a great job wherever he’s been. They started the season really well and when we played them at Portman Road it was a really tough game.
"I’m surprised to see them where they are because the manager’s very good and they have a good squad of players. Obviously, something’s gone against them at the moment but they are only a couple of results away from pulling themselves out of it and going on a run. Hopefully it doesn’t start against us.”