Conor Chaplin has reflected on the 2-0 weekend defeat at West Bromwich Albion and welcomes the opportunity for Town to bounce back via a Portman Road double-header against Millwall tonight followed by a visit from Coventry City on Saturday.
Last season’s leading scorer and the supporters’ choice as Player of the Year, Chaplin has netted six goals in the Championship this season – the same as Welsh international colleague Nathan Broadhead – but neither player could prevent Town’s failure to score in a game for the first time in 35 matches when they visited The Hawthorns four days ago.
Chaplin, who has been ever-present in the league in the current campaign, said: "Unfortunately, days like that, when we’re second best, are going to happen.
"If that game was happening this week we would still fancy ourselves but on the night they were the better side. Fair play to West Brom; they had a good game plan and stopped us really well.
"I know a couple of their lads and I know the respect they have for us as a team and that they put it into their preparations for the game. They were different to a lot of the other games we’ve had but we’re going to find that more and more as the season progresses and it will be our job to overcome it.
"Teams will put different plans into place and, like I say, we’re going to have to rise to the challenges when they come along. At the end of the day, we’ve lost our first Championship away game this season so we can’t get too down about it, although it was obviously disappointing and we’re determined to try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
"This is one of the best leagues in the world and it would be stupid to think we are not going to lose games. But it’s our first defeat in 13 games and we’ve only had two defeats in 17 league games all season, which is very consistent form, so we’re not doing too badly.
"There are plenty of clubs who would love to be in our position, so there’s no way we should be getting too down about it.”
Asked if the Baggies were the best team Town have faced this season, 26-year-old Chaplin added: "They’re up there as one of the best sides we have faced this season and they were definitely the best prepared we have come across.
"They had two weeks to come up with a plan and usually it’s only a few days because we often have two games in a week, so I think that helped them. Also, both the goals they scored came from set pieces, which we pride ourselves on as well, so that was also disappointing from our point of view.
"I mentioned West Brom showed us a lot of respect and that was because we’re doing well, which should actually give us a lot of confidence. But the main thing between now and the end of the season is that we overcome it when other teams do the same. Teams are going to be more mentally prepared and switched on when they face us and we need to be ready.
"Earlier this season we probably surprised opposition teams with our intensity and how good we were with our patterns and our willingness to run, both on and off the ball. It’s normal that they won’t be surprised when they come up against us for a second time.
"It’s the same at any level that they’ll have more respect and that their game plan will see them trying to stop us, and the good things we do, as well as doing their own thing to try to beat us.”
The fixture was manager Kieran McKenna’s 100th in charge since he arrived in mid-December 2001 from his role as a first team coach at Manchester United and Chaplin said: "It wasn’t how we wanted to mark the occasion but I think it’s clear to see that his first 100 games as a manager have, overall, gone really well.
"He will have many hundreds, maybe even more than a thousand, to come in his career in the dug-out. I think I speak for all the players when I say we are just pleased that he’s here and that we get to work with him on a daily basis and, of course, learn from him as well.”
Asked to highlight McKenna’s main strengths, the former Portsmouth, Coventry and Barnsley player added: "To be honest there are so many, absolutely loads, and he has helped me no end. I thought I knew the game but Kieran has opened my eyes to a lot of things that make me understand the game a lot more now than I did before he arrived here.
"Even in just having a conversation with him, never mind his coaching ability, he has helped me enormously. His attention to detail stands out, as well as his ability to read how a game is going to play out and the things to look out for.
"He’ll prep us so that we’re not taken by surprise when they occur – he’s usually bang on with that – and he’s always level-headed with the same emotional reaction regardless of the result. He’s also methodical and the analysis is never less than in-depth.”