“We’ve got 10 games to play, we’ve got to play better than that,” was manager Mick McCarthy’s assessment after the Blues dismal 0-0 home draw with his former club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
"In the second half they were the better team but they haven’t won, have they?” McCarthy responded when told that Wolves boss Paul Lambert had said he thought his side did enough to win.
"[As was the case with Brentford on Saturday], they’ve had the better of the second half again, why that is I don’t know.
"Well, actually it might be that we’ve got some good players and they’re actually quite a good team, despite their position.
"I’ve no idea why they’re there, look at the players they’ve got with Marshall and Bodvarsson, they’ve got a £13 million striker on the bench [Helder Costa].
"They’ve got good players, Weimann cost a chunk of money, he was a Premier League player. That’s their front three. Dave Edwards up behind, I think they’ve got good players.
"I watched them against Reading on Saturday and actually they should have got something out of it, they could have won that as well. But they’re not doing and the only positives I’ve got is that we didn’t get beat and we got a clean sheet.”
Asked to assess the seven-game unbeaten run, which only includes one win, he said: "Thank goodness.”
He added: "If I look back everybody was looking upon [the February games] with increased trepidation and fear and I said at the time we’d probably go and play well in those games, we went to Villa and won and picked up some good points.
"And it’s just as well we have and that’s another point from what’s been a bloody tough season.”
McCarthy was pleased with his side’s defensive performance: "All the talk about changing the shape and changing the tactics but we weren’t playing that well that we could have [switched it around], it was a case of sticking with it and making sure we got something out of it, which we did.”
In the second half Luke Chambers was audibly geeing his side up, which McCarthy said he’d expect from his skipper.
"I would hope so and of course he was and he would, he’s a good captain, Chambo,” he continued.
"I asked them after the game, it was a rhetorical question, ‘Did anybody not try as hard as they should tonight?’.
"And I know full well they do every week but we played against a good side and we have to give them a bit of credit and I’m not going to be giving my lads stick, other people do it better than I do.”
Does he believe the February run took a lot of his players, including some who haven’t played a lot of football this season? "I’m not looking for excuses. We’ve got 10 games to play, we’ve got to play better than that.”
Did he feel Emyr Huws was missed? "It would appear so but I thought Toums played very well, he gets on the ball and passes it forward. But Emyr’s been excellent.”
McCarthy says the Wales international is confident he’ll be over his hamstring injury in time for Saturday’s trip to Barnsley: "I think so, he’s quite positive about it.”
Reflecting on the table, the Town boss says the Blues, who are 16th, nine points off the relegation zone, aren’t yet safe: "I think we’ve got a bit to do, I still think we’ve got to scrap it out.”
He admitted he was frustrated not able to take three points from one of these two games - "Of course” - with the final whistle signalling the first boos for several home matches.
Reflecting on that, he added: "We’ve got to play as we have in all the games and the expectancy is that we get the three points.
"But even if we’d have played better and there had been more chances, I just think that’s going to be the case for me now, if we don’t play well here and we get beat I’m going to get it in my earhole. Well, so be it.”
The Blues boss, who is still undefeated against Wolves since taking over at Town, two wins followed by five draws, was pleased to have Tommy Smith back in his starting line-up after nearly six months out following back surgery but says the New Zealand international began to feel the pace before he was replaced.
"He was finding it tough after half-time, a couple of things went against him and it was the right thing to do to take him off,” he said.
"It’s a long time to be out and it’s a pretty physical league, a very physical league and it was a high intense game. But it was nice to have him back, though.”
Wolves boss Paul Lambert, whose side ended a run of six successive defeats in all competitions, said: "I thought in the second half we were really good, I thought we deserved to win the game in the second half.
"I thought in the first half we were pretty comfortable, I didn’t think there were too many chances.
"In the second half I thought we were well on top, hit the bar and hit the post and had lots of the ball coming to a really hard place.It’s a big point and it stops the slide that we were on.”