Goalscorer Conor Chaplin admitted that the Blues put in probably their poorest display under new manager Kieran McKenna as they beat Gillingham 1-0 at Portman Road on Saturday, but knows which dressing room was the happier after the match.
Chaplin slammed in his ninth goal of the season in the 74th minute to see the Blues to their third home in three under McKenna and their fifth win in seven under the new boss overall.
"A win’s a win and move on to Tuesday as swiftly as Tuesday, that’s probably how you look at it after the game,” Chaplin said.
"We’re under no illusions how we played, probably the poorest we’ve played since the new gaffer’s been here. But we got three points.
"You look at last weekend, we thought we played well, we didn’t have too many clear-cut chances but we controlled the game.
"We had a bit of a reaction on social media and things like that, but I didn’t really agree with that, I thought we played well last week.
"In terms of today, I can tell you which the happier dressing room is. Playing well and not winning or not playing so well and winning. That’s crucial, especially at home as well, we need to build this place and evolve this place into a fortress and that’s three on the spin now at home, so that’s something that we’re looking to build on.”
Why was it such a struggle? "To be fair, we weren’t kidding ourselves at all. We knew exactly what was coming, to be honest. A new manager bounce, new energy. We played Gillingham a few weeks ago and they were a completely different prospect to what they were then.
"We knew that as well, the boss was insistent on that all throughout the week and said that maybe it was going to be a grind, it’s going to tough. When you’ve got to break down 10 players on the edge of their box, it’s tough.
"I think you could bring in 10 lads from the pub and sit them on the edge of the box and it’s going to be tough to break them down, as simple as that.
"And they were very good with it, they were very rigid, which was exactly what they came here to do. They were tough to break down today, we just had to wait for that opening, wait for that little bit of quality and thankfully that came.”
Regarding his goal, he said: "Fridge [George Edmundson] did really well, great spot, he fizzed it in really firmly and that’s exactly what it needed on this pitch, today it was a little bit dry out there so it needed that firmness on the pass. It was perfect.”
Did he always think Town would find a way to win, despite it having been a bit of a struggle?
"I definitely think we’ve got to believe in games like this that you’re trying to get the breakthrough, you’re probing, you’re going to make a lot of mistakes on the way to getting the breakthrough because that’s the way it is,” he said.
"You need to make mistakes in order to try and get through on goal. I think there were plenty of them today, that’s for sure. But we got the breakthrough and we got a win, so that’s the most important thing.”
While he’s happy to win full stop, ultimately Chaplin wants the Blues to be winning with more style than they did against the Gills.
"We spoke after the game, we’re happy with a win, of course we are, but we need to evolve the club, we need to evolve in terms of the expectation that we want to play well, we want to win playing well with a certain style.
"I think that’s what big clubs do and we’re certainly a big club in this division, so that’s something that we’ll be aiming for.”
He added: "Obviously there’s an expectation to win and probably from the fans there’s an expectation to win three or four-nil today, and that was never going to be the case, never.
"They’ve got a new manager in, an experienced manager, always has teams really well set up and that was exactly how it was today. I think everyone saw that.
"Although that expectation is there, we probably need to put a bit more onus on ourselves to go and show what we can do in terms of style of play and win like that. But at the same time, if you can’t win like that, win how we did today.”
Yesterday’s goal was Chaplin’s third this season against the Gills having netted in last month’s 4-0 win in League One and in the 2-0 Papa John’s Trophy tie in October, both at the Priestfield Stadium.
"Three in three against Gillingham!” he grinned. "Sometimes it goes like that, you get purple patches or get teams you enjoy playing against or scoring against more.
"Thankfully, it’s been like that this season, but unfortunately we don’t get to play them anymore.”
Asked whether he is happy with nine goals at this point in the campaign, the 24-year-old reflected: "Yes, probably asking me now. At the start of the season, I don’t know, but when you ask me now definitely, in terms of it having been a slow start with injury and things like that.
"Happy to be contributing, 100 per cent, but, like we say, we want to go on to Tuesday now as quickly as possible and fingers crossed get a win there.”
While he has developed a habit of netting important goals in front of the Sir Bobby Robson Stand, Chaplin hasn’t scored in front of the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand as yet.
"I’ve not scored a goal at this end, I don’t know if you know that,” he said. "I’ve scored quite a few goals this season, thankfully, but I’ve not scored one at this end. It would be nice to change that, but I’ll be completely honest, I’m not bothered which end they come at.”
Chaplin has played alongside plenty of different players in the Blues’ front three this season and he says that’s only to be expected.
"We’ve got a big squad, everyone’s had opportunities, no one can say they’ve not had an opportunity. Every single player has had opportunities,” he continued.
"It’s about taking that opportunity when you’re called on because the squad’s that good, it’s got that much depth, especially in the forward areas.
"We’ve got probably seven, eight maybe off the top of my head that are real quality players in the building who can play in those positions, so if you get your chance, you need to take it.”
The win saw still-ninth Town cut the gap to the top six to eight points but it might have been as few as six, Oxford having scored twice in the latter stages to secure a 3-2 victory over 10-man Portsmouth.
"We know ourselves what points tally and points per game tally we can aim for and that’s certainly what we’re focusing on,” he said.
Chaplin knows supporters will be expecting another win when the Blues visit bottom side Doncaster on Tuesday.
"Of course the fans will,” he said. "But they won today [2-1 at Sunderland], so they’ve had a good result. They’ll obviously pick up from that and get confidence from that, it’s not going to be easy going easy when you’ve got a team fighting for their lives, trying to get out positions in the table that they find themselves in.
"It’s not going to be easy. We’re under no illusions that it’s going to be a tough game.”
Chaplin was delighted to learn that Ed Sheeran was watching from his box in the Magnus Group West Stand.
"Was he? Was he singing my name, was he?” he laughed. "I’m usually singing his songs and he’s singing mine! That’s nice, isn’t it?
"I’ve not met him, I’d love to, I’d be very starstuck, I’ll be honest. He’s like my favourite ever. Olly Murs was with him? I like a bit of Olly as well, to be fair, get down to that!”