Town defender Leif Davis admitted it was nice to ‘get one over’ on Plymouth Argyle, the Blues having come from behind to defeat the Pilgrims 3-2 at Portman Road and record their sixth straight home win to maintain their flying start to the Championship season.
The Blues failed to beat Plymouth, who pipped Town to the League One title last season, in both meetings last term, a fact that had was had not been forgotten by Davis in the build-up to the first second-tier match between the sides since 2010.
"It was a good game to be a part of today,” Davis said. "After last year we wanted to get one over on them, they obviously scored a last-minute equaliser here at home and we were beaten away at their place, so it felt good to get the three points and help get the three goals as well.
"We just had to concentrate on our own game. It was said yesterday and this morning that we’d like to get one over them, and we did and got the three points. But we’ve just got to focus on ourselves and the games.
"Before the games we don’t worry about other teams, we just concentrate on ourselves and doing the things that we do right.
"They are a good team, that’s why they came up with us [last season]. They’ve got some very good players and you’ve seen early doors they went 1-0 up with a great finish.
"They’re a very good team, but we weren’t at our best in the first half. We still created a lot of chances which we should’ve been ahead a bit more. At the end of the day, we got the three points no matter how it came.”
By Davis’s own admission, Town were not at their best in the first half and were set to go into the interval behind but for an own goal from former Norwich City man Bali Mumba.
Davis said: "It’s just about how teams come at us. It’s a bit different, teams set up a lot differently against us. We still play our nice football, getting through the pitch quickly and creating a lot of chances.
"But we didn’t solve their game plan early on in the game, I think it took us a while to find where it was.
"When we came in at half-time the boss was telling us where the spaces were on the screen. It worked in the second half and I still think we created a lot of chances in the second half as well.
"In the first half we were struggling to play out as much as we’d have liked to get through the pitch. In the second half we had them spells in the game where we were in corners of the pitch getting locked in, but we still got out to the other side of the pitch and create big chances.”
The Blues’ 11th win in 13 Championship matches this season means they hold a nine-point lead over their Davis’s former side Leeds United in third place, while also holding a game in hand over the Whites.
Davis admitted the league table makes for good reading, but says the squad know the importance of staying grounded.
He said: "It’s nice to be where we are in the league, but it’s still early doors and there’s plenty of games to go. We don’t get overexcited with these things, we might have a look at the table but it doesn’t let us affect us.
"We still concentrate in training, give everything we do, work hard on the training pitch and work hard out there.”
The Blues’ success under Kieran McKenna, the Northern Irishman having become the fastest Town manager to 50 league wins, has meant there is much more attention on the club from the national media.
Asked how hard it is to block out external noise, Davis said: "For me it’s easy. I don’t really look through social media that much and I don’t think the lads do either.
"We’ve got a great bunch of lads and everyone’s got their heads screwed on properly. No-one comes into training talking about what position we’re in, everyone comes in and just wants to graft hard in training and keep learning from the boss and him helping us is going to make us fly even more.”
The goal-fest nature of recent matches at Portman Road continued, in complete contrast to Town’s record on the road. The Blues have scored twice in each of their last 18 home matches, while the last seven games on Suffolk soil have yielded 38 goals – 23 for and 15 against.
Davis highlighted the sellout home crowds as a reason for such attacking displays and was full of praise for the Town support across the country.
"They’ve been incredible all year and they were incredible last season as well,” he said. "Big credit to them coming every Saturday and midweek games as well with the travelling here there and everywhere all over the country.
"We know it’s a good shift when we’re travelling and they do it on the day while we do it the day before, so fair play to them for doing that for this incredible club.
"They’ve been a delight to have home and away. They sing all the way through the game and keep us in the game, like today when we go behind they were still singing and chanting away. That’s what pushed us on and got the goals.”
Substitute Marcus Harness scored the winner after some neat work from Davis, and while the left-back won’t get an assist for that one, he will be credited with an assist for his exquisite ball for George Hirst earlier in the half.
That takes his tally to six, which is not bettered by any other Championship player this season. The 23-year-old described his role in the team as a unique one.
"It’s always nice to help the forward men score, whoever it is,” he said. "But I’m not too bothered about that, I’m more bothered about the three points and winning games.
"It is also nice to grab assists, but I’ve got to do my job at both ends of the pitch. On the heat map I might be the highest man at times, but that’s the way we play and that’s how I like to play getting up and down the pitch creating chances for the team.
"I wouldn’t say it’s the easiest role on the pitch having to run all day. I really enjoy doing it and putting the yards in for the team.
"It’s one of them positions where I can pick up a lot of balls and deliver them into the box, playing nice passes like I did for Hirsty.
"I wasn’t even that high for Hirsty’s goal, he came up to me in the first half and said ‘just clip it and I’ll beat the man’, so I put it into an area that I thought he’d have a chance of getting on the end of it. He did that and he scored a great goal.”