Interim manager John McGreal admitted that Town’s 2-0 FA Cup replay defeat at Barrow hurt, feeling that his side were once again let down by their inconsistency.
The Blues were two down at the break having been thoroughly bested by League Two’s 19th-placed club. Town were better in the second half but while rarely testing Bluebirds’ keeper Paul Farman.
Asked how the defeat and in particular the first half display felt, former Blues defender McGreal said: "It did hurt because it just shows the level of inconsistency in 90 minutes. Really, really poor first half.
"You can argue it’s quite easy to get on the ball when you’re 2-0 down and they’ve dropped off a little bit, but at least they’ve had a bit of a go in the second half.
"We had to adapt, change the shape just to try and get amongst them. Play from an area, which worked a lot better. I think we’ve caused our own downfall at times playing out from the back and getting caught.
"But guys that needed a game haven’t performed but again the inconsistency from Charlton, even from prior to that, Barrow [at home], Charlton to Wigan to where we are today and how we finished the game. Even within the 90 minutes [you could see] the inconsistency level.
"The only way to get that is to continue working hard and keep the belief and go again. I would not be surprised come Saturday if our guys put on another excellent display like they did against Wigan, just because how they are at the moment.”
McGreal says he feels for the 202 travelling Blues supporters: "Absolutely, I always say that. I always give the fans a mention because they’re diehard fans. Absolutely diehard fans to travel all this way.
"We know how far it is ourselves with travelling today, so for them to do it and now to travel all the way back being in work in the morning and not to have a performance.
"We can push it a little bit for the second-half performance because we gave it a bit of a go but that should be a given really, even in the first half.
"We do feel sorry for them but again come Saturday, there’s going to be close to 30,000 there. With these results at the moment and these inconsistencies, the fans are there to back the lads up.
"They’ve got to get a bit of a break from the players, a Wigan-type performance come Saturday and try and get a win.”
Why does he feel they are so inconsistent? Why was the first-half display so flat? "Honestly, there’s an expectancy from what we’re trying to put on to the guys. Even with [former manager] Paul [Cook] when I’ve watched them train, there’s an expectancy there, it’s just at times, is it a confidence [thing]? Obviously there’s [an element of] confidence, but then sometimes you’ve got to learn and adapt to how the team wants to play and the basics.
"The basics of the second half were ‘We’ve got to have a right go here’ because the first half was a non-event from us.
"And in the second half, we’ve had a bit of a go. And it just proved that if you start the game that way, you can boss the game, which we did in a way in the second half.
"It’s confidence, giving different players game-time, that can all equate to an indifferent performance, especially a poor performance in the first half. But a bit of a better performance in the second half.”
Were there words at half-time? "I’m a proud man, whenever I’m in charge of a team, I want my team to do particularly well, but we can’t sit there and watch that as a caretaker manager.
"Things had to be said, things had to be changed and I’m not scared of changing teams. I’ve done that throughout my career if they’re big names or even lesser names.
"It just happened that we had to go with a different type of energy, we needed to get legs in the team and get the ball in and around their back three, which we did in the second half.”
How were the players at half-time? Angry with their own performance? Frustrated? "Yes, even afterwards as well. I think there’s been so much talk. That’s the thing, there’s too much talk going on in a way.
"You can see that they want to try and do well, even in training. Training’s been good, the guys have been given opportunities in a way, but to now it’s the inconsistency and that’s the crux of it, there’s no getting round that, it’s the inconsistency.
"The players are there, there’s quality in the squad and now it’s just getting back to the drawing board, getting on to the training pitch and working hard again.”
If the defeat is his final game in charge, how has he found the experience of being interim manager? "I’ve enormously enjoyed it. Proud as punch to represent the club.
"I haven’t potentially got the results in the way that the guys were looking for as such, but I don’t think that was the remit, the remit was to give the guys a little bit of time, to come in, try and get the guys in a better place.
"Today’s a little bit of a killer, but again, I take the positive out of the second-half performance, I really do.
"I just think now there’s something to build on because you have to. With the inconsistencies throughout the season, you have to grab any positivity out of it and, coming in tomorrow, will take the positives out of that second half.”
McGreal says he doesn’t know whether he’ll be in charge when Sunderland visit Portman Road on Saturday.
"No, I’ve literally come from the changing room to do the press, to see you guys,” he said. "As I said before, [CEO] Mark [Ashton] and his team have been keeping me well informed at this moment in time. I’m sure they’ll keep me informed over the next day or two.”
How big a job does the new manager face when he comes in? "There’s work to be done, there’s no question of that. Not even looking over the last three or four games, you look right the way through the season. It’s the inconsistency.
"We’ve had false dawns, there have been some good performances, there have been not-so-good performances, so there are plays there and shapes and different personnel to work with.
"There are plenty of bodies to work with. But the new guy will come in and he’ll have his own ideas, he’ll have the January window just around the corner as well, which I think will make a big difference as well.
"There’s a lot to work with. There’s a lot of work to be done, but there’s still a lot to work with.
"And also you’ve got the fans behind you, which is another huge plus. I know for one that the fans will get right behind the new guy as well.”