Frustrated, disappointed, but refusing to press the panic button, that was the post-match assessment of keeper Christian Walton after Ipswich Town’s 1-0 home defeat to lowly Lincoln City.
Ben House’s 24th minute goal inflicted Town’s first home league defeat of the season as Plymouth’s comprehensive 4-1 win at MK Dons saw them increase their lead over Town at the top to four points.
It was also the first time Ipswich had not scored in the league — despite having 33 shots and 76 per cent of the possession.
Walton admitted: "It was frustrating, but I think it was just one of those games which you will have over the course of the season.
"It’s disappointing on certain aspects, but overall I thought we had enough chances — the stats will back that up.
"But at the end of the day, we’ve lost 1-0. You can take what you like out of the stats, we’ve lost the game.”
After starting slow, Ipswich fell behind to House’s back-post header. It was the second consecutive game Town had conceded from a set piece — a fact not lost on Walton.
He said: "It was disappointing as we work hard on our set plays and it’s disappointing to take that.
"You can’t practice what happened [with the goal]. You can stay switched on and not lose your man and defend it probably a little bit better.
"To concede two set plays in two weeks is disappointing. But we work hard on them so over a period of time we will be better.
"As a group, we can be happy with the second-half performance. We’ve just not got over the line so fair play to Lincoln for defending really well.”
Ipswich laid siege to Lincoln’s goal after the break, but Walton acknowledged it was the slow start that proved their undoing.
He explained: "The first period of any game is massive, whether you are in the Premier League or the Conference.
"Starting games well is vital to how you progress and we didn’t start as well as we have been in games.
"You look at Bristol Rovers at home, Cambridge at home, I know they play different systems but we started well in those games and we are putting them on the back foot.
"They are coming to a packed out stadium. I’ve been there myself in the Championship when you go as the underdog and you are holding on for your life. If you defend well, you get the rub of the green and it was one of those games really.
"As a collective group, we were disappointed with the start we made and then to give a set play away is even more frustrating.
"We will look at why that was and reflect on it and the manager will debrief it on Monday.
Walton called on his teammates to bounce back ahead of Friday’s big televised clash at home to Derby County and the midweek trip to Cambridge United in the Papa Johns Trophy.
He added: "I don’t think it was a bad day at the office at all. It happens, people make wrong decisions, right decisions. The first 20 minutes wasn’t as good as we have been.
"But we are creating a lot of opportunities — I don’t think any team in this league will create that many opportunities and not win a game of football. It was just one of those games.
"It's a long old season and defeats happen. Every team is going to lose games of football, it’s about how you bounce back and react — that’s the biggest thing.
"You look at when we lost to Plymouth, we bounced back. We have got to do that again. It’s going to be a good game here on Friday night.
"They are a big team in the division so we need to show what we have been doing this season. We need to carry on from the second half [against Lincoln] and take that into Friday.
"I think the attacking players will be frustrated, individually, but as a group, it’s just getting on the end of it.
"But we have been and we’ve been scoring a lot of goals this season. We were the top goalscoring team in the division going into this game.
"I don’t think there’s any need to worry about losing one game when we are creating a lot of chances. It’s just about getting it over the line and getting the rub of the green.”