Midfielder Andre Dozzell hailed the Blues’ 1-0 victory at Hull City, their first of the season against one of League One’s top sides, as a big win and one which was very much needed.
The Blues had beaten only Accrington while in the top 10 this season - Stanley were sixth when they were defeated 2-0 at Portman Road in October - with their eight previous games against the sides in the top six having ended in defeat.
Among those matches was a comprehensive 3-0 home defeat to the Tigers at Portman Road in November.
But last night was a different story with the Blues, who hadn’t beaten Hull in their previous 14 meetings, probably worthy of winning by more than a single goal.
Dozzell felt it was an important victory in the wake of Saturday’s 0-0 home draw with the division’s form club Oxford United.
"It’s a very big win, I think it was much needed, coming off the last game where we should have got three points,” he said. "It’s something build on, we want to take that into the Doncaster game.
"I think every single player put a good performance in, they did their job. We worked as hard as we could and we got the rewards.”
He added: "It’s a big three points but we don’t want to stop here. We’ve had three clean sheets as well and when you keep clean sheets you’ve always got a chance of winning. We’ve just got to keep going and take it into Saturday, which will be another tough game.”
The 21-year-old had praise for the Blues’ backline for that third clean sheet in three and also for Myles Kenlock, who had a hand in James Norwood’s winning goal.
"I think the whole back four were solid and Kenny’s assist was a great ball and obviously Norwood with a great finish as well,” he said.
"I’ve been playing with Myles for a few years now and I see him do it in training, so it’s nice to see him do it in a game.”
Kenlock’s excellent cross-field pass teed-up up Norwood for his fourth goal of the season. It was just the type of chance the striker needs if he’s score with the regularity of his spell with Tranmere which led to his move to the Blues in the summer of 2019.
"Exactly but every single one of us has got to keep going, the forwards have got to perform, the midfield’s got to perform and the back four’s got to perform,” the former England U20 international continued.
"James is such a handful for defenders, you can see that. His movement, his work-rate, he just causes a lot of problems for the defenders.”
Dozzell felt Norwood combined well with on-loan Tottenham man Troy Parrott playing in a role between the lone out-and-out striker and he and Teddy Bishop in midfield.
"I think the front two, they worked so well,” he reflected. "When one went the other went short. There was just that understanding between those two and I think it will be a good partnership, and they can build on that as well.”
He says he enjoys operating alongside Bishop: "I’ve been playing with Teddy for years now, he’s come through the academy as well and I like playing with him.”
Asked whether he and Bishop have given manager Paul Lambert a decision to make with Flynn Downes available following his two-match suspension on Saturday, Dozzell said: "That’s up to the gaffer. We all did our best today and hopefully we can take that into the next game. But at the end of the day it’s the gaffer’s decision.”
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Quizzed on what’s changed between last Tuesday’s exceptionally flat display as the Blues drew 0-0 with Northampton at Portman Road and yesterday’s display, Dozzell said: "Not much has changed really. Obviously you could see we were very organised [against Hull].
"We’ve been working as hard as we can in previous games. I’ve always said that luck is going to change and this is the time now where we’ll get that big three points against a good side and we’ll take that into another big game on Saturday.”
Looking ahead to Saturday’s game against sixth-placed Doncaster, who beat the Blues 4-1 at the Keepmoat Stadium in October, Dozzell said: "Doncaster will be a different game, another tough game. We know they’re good but if we perform like that then we’ve every chance of winning.”