Blues boss Paul Lambert believes his side ought to have been three goals up after the first half but felt they got “caught up with the emotion of the game” in the second as they were beaten 3-2 at home by Millwall.
"We should have been three-up,” he said reflecting on the Blues’ impressive display which had given them a 1-0 lead via Jack Lankester’s first senior goal in the opening 45 minutes.
"I thought we were excellent in the first half. We dominated the game, dominated the ball, we had unbelievable chances and I don’t think anybody would have begrudged us if we’d gone in at 3-0, I thought we were that far ahead.
"They’ve had some blocks, but the football we played was great. But we had to take our chances.
"In the second half, we spoke about it, if Steve Morison came on we’d have to deal with just long balls and headers. But we never dealt with it physically.
"I think we got caught up with the emotion of the game as well, the lads started to get emotionally involved in some of the decisions, which I thought were strange.”
Lambert knows veteran frontman Morison, 35, who came on as a half-time sub, very well having signed him when he was manager at Norwich.
"I knew it was coming, Moro’s had more appearances than our whole midfield put together, that’s how good a career the lad’s had,” the Blues manager added.
"Two big lads up front, the other lad Elliott’s a big, big lad. We’re a young side trying to deal with that physical side of it but we never dealt with that side of it and the emotion of the game with some of the decisions.”
Regarding Millwall’s goals, he reflected: "They were just long balls. I’ve seen it, it’s never a freekick against Flynn Downes that led to the corner [which led to the second goal].
"Jordan Spence should have dealt with that better but Flynn Downes actually won the ball, that was never a freekick, it should never have happened.
"The penalty, I’m yet to see. I think it was a really strong, strong challenge on the [third] one they scored when the lad went in on Deano [from Matthew Pennington’s backpass].
"It looks a bad one when I was looking at it on the video. Again, I thought some of the decisions went against us.”
Lambert himself was shown the yellow card by referee Stephen Martin, he says for encroachment rather than anything he said.
"I went and saw him, he booked me for going on the pitch,” he said. "The pitch is so technical area I didn’t know I was on it.
"I don’t understand that one. I never said anything, I never said anything derogatory or anything.
"I think some of the things I heard in there were shocking in the technical area, some of the things that were being said. We’ll be sending our own report in.
"But I never got booked for bad language or anything, they said I got booked for [going on the pitch]. I must have been a centimetre on the pitch.
"That was that, whether I threw my hands up or whatever the case may be, it was nothing.
"We should have had a penalty I thought in the first half when Pennington got done [by Tom Elliott ahead of the Millwall break from which Gerken saved from Jed Wallace].
"I thought we got caught up with the emotion of it. As I said, we’re a young side, they need to learn that and the only way they’re going to learn that is when they get more experience. The physicality of it, as I’ve said before, we need to get a little bit of help in here.”
Lambert admits the now-10-point gap to safety is a big one but he says he’ll remain upbeat and he still believes the Blues can escape the drop.
"Yes, it is, but as long as I’ve got a heartbeat then we keep going,” he insisted. "I’m never going to go negative, I never will go negative, we’ll always keep going, we’ll always keep the positivity.
"If you ask me if it’s achievable, absolutely it is, absolutely it is. We’re playing some really good football, we need just a little bit of help, just a little bit of know-how.
"As I said before, Morison’s appearances outweigh our whole midfield’s virtually. If you go through our team, Gerken’s played Championship football, Spence has done it, Chambers has done it, Pennington’s done a little bit, Myles has done a little bit.
"Chalobah, it’s his first time, Bish has been out for two years, Lankester’s just in it, is just a kid. Ellis has not [played in the Championship before], Freddie has, we’re really, really inexperienced. Lads who haven’t played Championship football in their careers are learning.
"The lads have been brilliant for me, their effort, their commitment to it, their understanding, they’re better players, that’s for sure than they were and, as I said, it’s my team and we’ll go together.”
Asked if he’s near to landing any of the experienced additions he’s after, he said: "We’re talking to a few lads, we’re talking to a few and we’ll try everything we can to get them in.”
Does he believe he’ll be able to persuade players to come to Town given the current situation? "You have to, you’re hoping lads want to play, lads that don’t play in their own respective teams.
"You’re footballers, that’s your job, it’s the greatest game in the world. You want people who want to actually come, you don’t want people who maybe take three weeks to think about it. You need people that want to come. That’s the big thing.”
Town will confirm the signing of Leicester City’s Australian left-back Callum Elder, 23, on loan tomorrow.
Millwall manager Neil Harris was pleased with his team's second-half turnaround after what he felt was a dismal performance before the break.
"A nervy end, an horrendous first half," he said. "I’ve got to be honest, the first half was not acceptable.
"I thought about changing the team, I don’t think I’ve ever made a sub in the first half unless it’s forced by injury or a red card, but it was probably the closest I’ve been to making a sub in the first half of a game.
"So, we adjusted the shape at half-time, I had a few choice words for the group and they responded in the second half.
"The goals, all five goals, weren’t the greatest of goals but we scored more than Ipswich and that’s all that matters.
"Nervy at the end, we should have seen the game out at 3-1, we weren’t really under any threat but probably the best goal of the game got them back in it.
"Nine points out of nine over Christmas was exactly what we needed and what I demanded from the group and I can only praise my players for that.”
Asked what pleased him most about the second half display, he added: "The character to be one behind and I thought the stadium was good, Ipswich I thought they were good, I thought there was energy and they made it difficult for us and they played well.
"I just said to the boys [at half-time], that’s not the performance we’ve not put in over the last six days against Reading and certainly not against Nottingham Forest [both 1-0 home wins] and they haven’t risen to those standards.
"I questioned them really, asked how much they wanted it and I thought in the second half, it wasn’t free-flowing football, but at what we do and how we play I thought we were very good.”