Boss Paul Lambert had praise for both his players and the Portman Road crowd after the 2-1 home defeat to West Brom. Kayden Jackson netted with five minutes remaining to give the Blues a chance of grabbing late point with the visitors already two in front with Jack Lankester coming close to an injury-time equaliser with a freekick which scraped the post.
Asked whether the first period was tough viewing for him, Lambert said: "I think that’s a bit harsh on the first half. We stayed in the game, we were up against a really top, top side which has just been relegated and not lost many players.
"This club was really low when we came in, we had to lift everybody, not just the actual team. I remember getting asked the question at the AGM, ‘How do you lift a team that’s meant to be full of League One and League Two players?’.
"I think everybody’s perception is a little bit different now. We went toe-to-toe with West Brom, in the second half I thought we were outstanding.
"You always judge it by the crowd reaction and that crowd, I didn’t see many leaving because they got right behind them.
"So I’m proud of them, we’ve got a really young side. We’ve got academy kids coming off the bench, they’ve got a guy on the bench [Gareth Barry] who has actually won the Premier League. They’re a helluva side as well, West Brom. Sometimes the table does lie.”
He added: "I think you have to look at it objectively, West Brom are a top side and our team have been battered from pillar to post for most of this season and I’ll stick up for every one of the guys, they were absolutely brilliant.
"Every day in training, they’re brilliant. Every game I’ve been involved in they’ve given me everything and honestly I’m absolutely with how they’ve played.”
Regarding the crowd, Lambert said: "I’ll put in record, it’s a big thanks from myself to the supporters because they were brilliant the whole game, right from the off the atmosphere was outstanding, that’s the way it should be.
"That’s football, that’s the atmosphere and I know I made the fans’ group [Blue Action, who he met earlier in the week] know that and they were brilliant along with everybody else.
"The kids came to the game and, as I said before, that’s the next generation of fans for this football club.
"But the support, my God, that was absolutely great, so that’s a big thanks from me to them.”
Town came out after the break seeming to have grown in self-belief and Lambert says he spoke about that during half-time.
"I thought we were a little bit tentative in the first half,” he reflected. "We still knocked the ball about pretty well without really being aggressive with it.
"And we just got to half-time and regrouped a little bit and had some words with them and they played the way they did and the way we have been playing.
"We gave a really good account. But the players are the ones that can take the credit, and the crowd as well. The crowd drive you on but the players were fantastic.”
Lambert felt Lankester showed courage just to take the freekick which almost brought a leveller.
"Eighteen years old and having the bottle to go up and hit it in front of a massive crowd. Brilliant,” he said.
"I was just told he hit the post, another yard inside and it’s a goal and I don’t think anybody would have begrudged us that if that had happened. But that’s football. But we’re really, really happy with the team.”
He believes the second-half display was a further step in the right direction despite the lack of a victory.
"Absolutely,” he said. "A few weeks ago you were reporting on it, I was somewhere else in the world. You’ve been reporting it since the start of the season, you’ve seen games and the way the morale was and everything like that. That’s no slight on anybody, that’s just what happens when you don’t get results.
"But the performances since I’ve been here have been really, really high. We came up against a really good side, who are one of the favourites to get out of the division.
"But the actual positivity, you can sense it, in the training ground, in the stadium with everybody on board, the supporters, which we had to galvanise as well because they’ve had it hard too. Everybody’s had it hard. We’ve just come in to give everybody a lift.”
West Brom boss Darren Moore said after the game that he didn’t think Town would be in the position they are at the moment for too long.
"That’s really kind of him,” Lambert continued. "But I think everybody knows that. I think Darren’s done a great job and it’s really kind of him, we’ve only been here a few weeks.
"As I said before, when fans ask you how you get the best out of so-called League One and League Two players, that just shows you.”
Does it annoy him when people refer to his players in that manner? "It doesn’t annoy me because I hadn’t really seen the lads play [at the time the question was asked at the AGM]. You have to give somebody a chance.
"Did anybody every think I could go and play with Borussia Dortmund and win the Champions League? Probably not. I proved a few people wrong and I intend to prove a few people wrong here.”
Asked whether Town are just a goalscorer away from being a decent team, he responded: "I think we need a little bit of help come January, I really do, to help the guys out there. If we keep doing what we’re doing I really do believe we’re going to be fine.”
Lambert was delighted that Teddy Bishop made his first appearance since August as a sub: "He is [a talented footballer]. I’ve spoken to him and he’s got to stay fit. He’s got to train every day and not break down. Sometimes it’s out of your hands, it’s your own body, how your body copes with the training and the stress of it.
"But if you want to play top level football you have to train the way you play. I’ve never been involved in any team where you don’t train the way you play. Low key doesn’t work. Your body breaks down.
"But to be fair to the kid, he’s trained virtually every day since I’ve been here and he’s got a talent, as I’ve said before, he goes by people and he makes things happen. And this club has got a really good structure here with the young players.
"There are a lot of good young players here and if you can keep nurturing them and they grasp it then the club’s in good hands.”
West Brom boss Moore was pleased to get the three points having expected a tough game against the Blues now Lambert is in charge.
"I thought the game settled down after 10 or 15 minutes I thought we were in total control," he said.
"I thought we created chances in the first half, I thought we created chances in the second half.
"I can’t have a go for not converting more, we scored two very good goals tonight and whatever it may be, experience or whatever, young Tosin Adarabioyo will learn from [the error which led to Town's goal].
"It was a good one to learn from, it didn’t cost us three points and it will stand him in good stead because I thought he had a fantastic game tonight.
"I thought he showed his adaptability, his versatility, I thought he was agile, his speed tonight was very, very good, his heading contact was very, very good.
"It was just a little mistake and it will be a good one for him for his career going forward. We’ve had a chat, he knows it, he’ll accept it and we’ll move on.”
He added: "I think you saw tonight it was an accomplished performance. I think at the end when they huffed and puffed, I thought our positional sense was excellent in the game.
"I’ve seen games like that this season where we’ve been away from home and we’ve been a little bit disjointed, so we keep working and tonight I was really pleased to come away with the three points.
"We knew we had to come down here and put on a performance, we knew we had to be very good tonight because Paul, this club, this team’s a different team at the moment, they really are.
"They won’t be where they are for much longer, I’ll tell you that now because of how they play. Very, very good, experienced manager and it’s three valuable points for us today.”