Boss Paul Lambert believes there were positives to be taken from Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Bristol Rovers but felt his side needed to be more ruthless in both boxes.
Lambert says the Blues, who only really got going having given the visitors a two-goal start, had the ball in the Rovers penalty area on more than enough occasions to have taken something from the match.
"We have analysis that we always do anyway, that’s not changed,” he said when asked about any post-match discussions or assessment which had taken place.
"We had 71 entries into the penalty box — 71 and scored one goal. Incredible, we absolutely peppered their goal.
"When you have 71 penalty box entries, you expect more than one goal. So we have to be more ruthless in the attacking box and the defending box.”
He says there were positives to be taken from the performance, despite the result: "I always say that a score can paper over cracks, it depends what’s happening underneath it, and we had so many good things on Saturday.
"I’ve watched it back and seen the stats on it, we just never took our chances with incredible opportunities when the ball is going through on the goal, but that’s what happens.
"As I said before, if you look at the table last year, two of the clubs that went up were second and seventh [Luton and Barnsley at this point], and Charlton, who went up in the play-offs, were fifth.
"Portsmouth [top on this day a year ago] and Sunderland [third] never got near it. Sunderland had the play-off but ultimately didn’t go up. It’s a tough, tough league, very tough.”
With the exception of the FA Cup replay with Coventry, Town have dominated possession in their last few games more than in previous matches, with Jon Nolan having said he felt the team had played too many long balls.
Lambert says that wasn’t something he was aiming for: "No, we play really fast aggressive football, we never play long ball, we played really quick.
"As I said before, there’s no right way or wrong way to play football, if you’ve got Pep Guardiola’s team at Man City or Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool team, it’s two totally different teams, one is possession-based and one is pure hectic football.
"So there’s no right way or wrong way, you go with what you think can win you a game.
"The lads started the season like a house on fire and have been great, only lost three games in the league. So there’s a hell of a lot of good things.”
He says he would have been more than happy with the current position - second in the table, seven points behind leaders Wycombe with a game in hand - if it had been offered to him at the start of the season in August.
"Massively,” he said. "We had a chat about that, I asked the lads if I said on 3rd August you’re sitting second, you’ve got a game in hand and you’re going to be behind somebody after what’s happened last year, every one of them said we’ll take it."The turn around has been huge in the whole clu. That’s the reality of it.
"As I said before, you’re not even halfway through. You’ve still got all this to go again and they’ll be a lot of twists and turns, but we’re certainly up there. We’re in a good position.”
Lambert reiterated that it’s a tough division and that plenty of clubs the size of Town and even bigger have struggled to get out of it at the first attempt.
"You look at Sheffield United, six years in the division,” he said. "Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday and Southampton have all been in it, and some for more than one year so it’s a difficult league to be in.
"And our team’s still developing. There’s a lot of young ones that aren’t used to this pressure of being at the top. They’re always mid-table Championship or up a bit.
"The expectancy level wasn’t there, but it is now and they have to deal with that, and they have to deal with that psychological mindset of having that big club syndrome in a league that people think you [should win, but you] don’t have a divine right.
"If you go through the team it’s a lot of lads’ first time at a massive club, and that’s the difference, that’s the big difference.”
He added: "If you look at the team, Luke Woolfenden, Flynn Downes and Andre Dozzell in those last few games are only 20 years old. You’re asking those three to keep carrying it.
"They have been brilliant those guys, so you have to look at that, and even Idris El Mizouni has played a part in it, Armando Dobra’s played a part in it, and there’s not many 18, 19 or 20-year-olds being the core of a first team in this division, there’s not many.
"So that’s the really pleasing thing. That’s why I say if you give them a few years more to develop then they’ll be huge unless somebody comes in with x amount of money for them, then you can’t stop it.
"But my God they could be really good, but they need time. But that’s why they deserve a lot of credit because you’ve got three or 19 or 20-year-olds being a large chunk of your side.”