Town boss Kieran McKenna felt there was a lot more good than bad in the Blues’ performance as they were beaten 4-3 by Leeds United at Portman Road, their first defeat of the season, but insisted the Whites’ fourth goal shouldn’t have stood due to a foul on skipper Sam Morsy.
The Blues went ahead in the seventh minute via an own goal but the Whites scored three times in nine minutes to take a 3-1 lead before Nathan Broadhead pulled one back in first-half injury time.
Town went looking for a leveller but Leeds, relegated from the Premier League in May, all but sealed the win with their fourth 15 minutes from time before Conor Chaplin’s second goal in two games brought it back to 4-3.
"I thought there was a lot more good than bad, there are so many positives to take in the game. I thought we were the better and more dominant team in so many aspects of the game on and off the ball,” McKenna said.
"There was lots to be pleased about and on another day the game could have gone differently.
"On the other side of that, there were, of course, things for us to improve, big lessons to learn. Disappointment with the goals that we conceded in the first half.
"But that’s part of the adjustment to playing against a much better team with much higher level players.
"We have to defend those moments individually better and we will. We’ll improve and we’ll learn from those mistakes and we’ll continue working to get better.
"I think overall there are so many things in the game that should give us confidence and belief in how we’re working and the improvements we’re making as a team, as players, as a squad and as a club.
"And I think more than any deflation, I think today should give us confidence to continue on that journey ahead of us.”
Reflecting on where the match was prior to Leeds scoring their three quick-fire goals, he added: "I think we had the game in a really good place. It was a really intense start to the game but we were competing in that, we got the goal and from there I think we were in a great position to go and take control of the game.
"I think if we’d have been able to do that for a little while, we would have been able to build up a lot more momentum.
"But we conceded a goal straight after, again it’s an individual bit of brilliance from a player who is at a much higher level than we’ve faced before as a team. But we can do better on that.
"I think the game could have gone either way. To be honest, I had the feeling that today would be a high-scoring game. I know we’re usually very good defensively but I had the feeling that today would be a high-scoring game, it could have gone either way, we could have many more goals. I think we had 13 shots in the first half.
"It was nice to get the goal at the end because I think that was more of a reflection of what our attacking play deserved and from a defensive point of view, I think we still did a lot of good things but in terms of the goals we conceded, we know that individually and as unit we can do better and I’m sure the players will go through that work.”
One notable aspect of the performance, was the lack of panic at 3-1, a position the Blues have rarely found themselves in since McKenna took charge.
"Absolutely,” he said. "The goals came so quickly after a good start and it would have been easy to go into our shells at that point or not to continue to playing our football and sticking to our plan and being brave on and off the ball, and big credit for doing that.
"That’s what got us back in the game, what got us the goal before half-time, which had been a long time coming with the 20 minutes that preceded that and we kept going right to the last whistle.
"I have to say, I thought the fourth goal was a clear foul for me against Samy Morsy and I think if it’s anyone else apart from Samy Morsy he gets the free-kick. I thought it was a clear foul as he wins the header and then gets emptied out, which means there’s a big hole in the middle of the pitch where Samy would have been.
"I think that was a key moment because at 3-2, we’ve just brought our subs on, we’ve brought on the fresh legs and I think we were prepared to push for an equaliser for the last 20 minutes and the fourth goal took the sting our of that comeback.
"But again, credit, we kept going and I think it was a nice way to finish the game with the goal at the end.”
McKenna says his team learnt that mistakes get punished more clinically at this level: "That’s the case. Leeds have got so many good players, it’s why it’s remarkable really that there’s an outside perspective that we will compete with Leeds this season.
"I’m not saying that’s not our goal internally, but from an external point of view that’s a remarkable perspective on it and is a good reflection that the players are doing and the work going on at the club.
"On an individual level, their talent pool right across the pitch is really, really high, especially in those forward positions.
"That’s an adjustment for us to make on an individual level, but the players will learn from these experiences, they will learn so much from that game and from the opponents that they faced.
"So much of that will be positives but also there’ll certainly be things in there that they know they can improve on and that’s an exciting place to be.”
Asked how he strikes a balance between playing down those expectations and giving players belief, McKenna said: "I think for us, we never speak about those things and we don’t speak about outcomes that much.
"I’ve said it before, last season in League One, we rarely ever spoke about getting promoted, we just spoke about performances week in, week out trying to improve every day individually, trying to improve the team and trying to perform well every week. And we focus on that this season.
"So again, we haven’t said anything about where we might finish, what points we might get or what end of the table we’re going to be fighting at.
"We’re just going to try and be the best version of ourselves, try and play in a style that we believe in every week, a style that our fans can get behind, that can give them a good football team to come and watch every week and a style that will help our players to improve individually as they clearly are. We’ll focus on that and block out any external noise.
"To be honest, from my perspective, it’s quite remarkable and I think we can only take it as a compliment for that to be an external narrative, but internally whether people were tipping us for the top end of the table or the bottom end of the table, our process and our discussions on the inside wouldn’t really change, it would just be about getting better as individuals and getting better as a team.”
Are the players doing a good job of blocking out outside noise? "Yes, they are. We’re pretty well versed in it, a consistent group from last year. Last year we never got too high, never got too low, so there’s a lot of players who have been through that and they see and feel the benefits of focusing on performance.
"I think they’re realistic about where we’re at and know the things we’re doing well and they know that there are areas for us to improve and they know that we’re still growing as a team, and today is another part of that growth and it’s up to us to make sure that we take those lessons and we use them to keep on trying to get better.”
The Blues boss says striker George Hirst isn’t going to be out too long but missed out due to the adductor problem which was flagged up on Friday.
"Not far away,” he said. "We hope it will be a matter of days. Let’s see how he is for next week.”
McKenna was delighted with Kayden Jackson’s performance in the former Leicester man’s absence.
"I thought he was excellent,” he said. "I’ve said it so many times, I’ve said it since I first arrived that I thought Kayden could be an asset to the football club because of the qualities that he has at the higher level will translate better possibly than the level we were playing at.
"He showed his work off the ball, he showed his ability to threaten space whenever we have the ball and I thought he was a real handful and a constant outlet and contributed well to the goals and some other chances that we had as well.”
New loan signing Brandon Williams came on moments before Leeds scored their disputed fourth goal.
"He’s not had much competitive action lately, so it’s good to get him on the pitch,” McKenna said. "Important to get him on the pitch so soon and he’s going to be a good asset for us, so it was good to get him the 20 minutes or whatever it was.”