Right-back Jordan Spence believes more positives than negatives could be taken from Town’s 2-2 draw at Reading, despite admitting that the Royals’ late equaliser was “a real sickener”. The Blues remain bottom of the Championship with only one win all season but are unbeaten in their two games under new manager Paul Lambert.
"It was a good performance but it was a real sickener to concede as late as we did,” Spence said.
"At the moment it is difficult to be really excited but when we pick the bones out of it — see what we did well and what we didn’t do so well — there are more positives than negatives.
"As a football club and as a football team I thought we put on a really good show and it’s a shame we couldn’t get all three points for the fantastic support [1,887] that travelled. But hopefully there is renewed optimism in relation to what we can achieve.
"It’s the same story as the Preston game [last week which ended 1-1], whether it’s luck or the ability to see out a game when you’re in the situation that we’re currently in, both things might have played a part, but the performance was another step forward.
"We just have to take the positives from [Saturday] and be ready to go again in two weeks’ time after the international break.
"We all know football well enough to know that it goes in waves and that they were going to throw caution to the wind in the second half.
"Could we have scored a third goal in the first half and not conceded their first? In the second half could we not have maybe done better with one of our counter-attacks? That’s all water under the bridge at this point, isn’t it?
"We showed we are a really good football team and the more we show that the more points we will get and the better things will become."
Regarding the improvement since Lambert took over as boss, Spence added: "I think it’s important that we draw a line under what previously happened and it’s important not to speak disparagingly about fellow professionals.
"The manager has come in laid out a clear blueprint, a clear plan, he has a great deal of experience and he has turned us into a team that looks like scoring more goals and conceding less.
"Players have taken responsibility for what took place before and we look forward. From the showing in the first half, and at times in the second with the resilience to hang in there, and the showing from the travelling support, we’re not a team who should be at the bottom of this division and we’re very, very determined to show that.”
The 28-year-old believes the Blues will stay up if the first two performances under Lambert are replicated in the months to come.
"We have 29 games left and if we play along similar lines to how we’ve played home and away in the past two weeks we’ll get more points than we’ll drop,” he insisted.
"We’ve had a poor start but I do believe that over the course of the season the better teams are nearer the top and the worse ones are near the bottom.”
Reflecting on his own role in the team, Spence says it has changed under Lambert: "It’s slightly different. I’m playing a little bit higher, overlapping and getting forward a bit more because of the shape and what I’m being asked to do.
"But it’s just a case of plugging in and following instructions, and that’s really exciting as well.
"We’ve been the same team two weeks in a row but we’ve travelled with 21 players today and we’ve got players that are really ready to go, know the system, know what the manager is asking and are keen to build on it. We’re going to need everyone.
"It’s a big squad and the competition for places should enhance performances. Our front three were phenomenal with the work they put in and it’s very difficult to do that for 90 minutes.
"With injuries and suspensions, we’re going to need everyone and I’m looking forward to clawing back some of these points in the next few weeks.”
Town now have a gap of almost two weeks to their next fixture, the live Sky game against West Brom a week on Friday.
The Blues have gone into the last two international breaks on the back of positive performances - the 1-1 draw with Norwich - and their first win - the 3-2 victory over Swansea - but then disappointed greatly on their return to action, losing 2-0 to both Hull City and QPR.
Asked how the squad will look to avoid a repeat of those post-break displays and results, Spence said: "We look at the work we have managed to put in over the last two weeks with the new manager.
"There has been a marked difference and if we can implement more of that, put in the work on the training field, get some people who are carrying knocks back to 100 per cent again, we’ll be ready to go and ready to fly out of the blocks.”
He added: "With the right application and that level of performance we should see better results. It’s not always going to be great but hopefully we can show the other side of the game to get results. The quicker that happens the happier we will be."
The West Brom match is followed by another game at Portman Road, the visit of Bristol City the following Wednesday, although Spence felt the travelling Blues support made Saturday’s game feel like a home fixture.
"That’s good but it felt like a home game [at Reading] with the support that we had. The fans were fantastic and certainly made a considerable difference and the fans really got behind us against Preston last week.
"They have been encouraged by what they have seen and if we can deliver what we’re supposed to deliver it will be a big advantage being at home.”