Striker Daryl Murphy says Town need to look at how they start games having conceded early on in their last two matches. The Blues recovered to beat Leeds 2-1 having conceded after 12 seconds last Tuesday and again began Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Preston slowly, with the visitors netting after seven minutes before Murphy hit back with his eighth of the season on 38.
"We’re always disappointed when we play at home but don’t win but, overall, it’s probably a good result,” the Irishman said.
"It’s sloppy from us, we never started well and they obviously scored early. I thought they played quite well for 15 or 20 minutes until we got into our stride.
"They’re a decent team and they’ve got good players, so we knew what we were up against but we were sloppy at the start.
"It’s something to look at, we always go out to start well and sometimes it doesn’t work. The last two games we’ve not done too well from the start so it’s something we need to sort out."
The 32-year-old was pleased with his goal: "It’s a good finish, I’ve turned well and there’s space there, nobody really closed me down so in the back of my mind I was always going to shoot. Thankfully it went in.
"I don’t think I was ever going to do as well as I did last season, with 27 goals, but obviously you want to do as well as you can.
"This season we’ve shared the load, Pits [eight, seven in the league] and Searsy [seven] are nearly on the same number of goals so we’re all chipping in. In the run-in after the new year we need to be consistent, hopefully I can keep scoring.
The results of Saturday’s fixtures saw the Blues drop to seventh in the Championship, albeit on goal difference from Sheffield Wednesday with the Owls and now-fifth Brighton both winning their fixtures, but Murphy is happy with his side’s current situation.
"We’re in good position, there are some good teams there and it’s all about consistency really and picking up points where you can,” he added.
"The gaffer’s said that it’s about where you end up at the end of the season, we’ll see. It helps, the hurt of going out in the play-offs, so we’ll see where we end up. If we’re in the play-offs then I’m sure the lads will be eager to go one better.
"Everyone does [look at the table] and if they say they don’t then they’re lying because the television is on when you go in after the game. You’ve no choice but to see where you are.
"It’s not something we think about after the game, we think about how it went, the gaffer will have a chat but the TV will be on and you see it.”
Reflecting on the increasingly tight top of the division, he added: "It was always going to be the case [that the table would get congested]. The teams at the top aren’t going to win every game and do well every week because teams at the bottom beat the teams at the top.
"It’s such a close league that they can’t take anything for granted. We’re disappointed not to be winning our home games but our away form is brilliant, so if we can sort it out at home we’ll be alright.
"We’ve done well away from home but we need to keep doing it, and if we change our fortunes at home then we’ll be there or thereabouts.”
Meanwhile, Preston defender Paul Huntington has dismissed Town’s claims that they ought to have been awarded a penalty when he appeared to ‘save’ Luke Hyam’s second half shot with his hand.
"I blocked the first one [from Luke Varney], so I was on the floor already, and then it was just two or three yards away and the lad has blasted it at me and it has hit my midriff,” he insisted.
"There is no way I could have got out of the way and there was no chance that the decision was going to be anything other than play on.”
Meanwhile, Town’s U21s are in home action against Colchester United at Playford Road this afternoon (KO 1pm).
New signing Kevin Foley, whose international clearance hadn’t come through prior to Saturday’s game, could be involved as he is ineligible for tomorrow’s FA Cup replay at Portsmouth as he wasn’t with the club for the first tie.
Otherwise, few if any senior players are likely to be involved with Town set to field another much-changed side featuring several fringe players at Fratton Park.
Elsewhere, Blues scholar Sam Ford scored a last minute winner while on trial for West Ham’s U18s as they beat Aston Villa 2-1 at their Little Heath training ground on Saturday.