Town boss Kieran McKenna says the Blues will learn from this afternoon’s disappointing 4-0 defeat at Leeds United and move on really quickly to Boxing Day’s similarly big game against leaders Leicester City at Portman Road.
The Whites, who are third, cut second-placed Town’s advantage over them to seven points via this afternoon’s comprehensive victory.
McKenna felt conceding the opening goal in only the eighth minute, score by home skipper Pascal Struijk, made what was always going to be a tough afternoon even more difficult.
"It was a disappointing game and it didn’t go how we wanted it to go,” McKenna admitted. "Of course, the first goal is a really important moment. We’re really disappointed in there with how we defended the corner.
"Having said that, I thought there was a crystal clear foul [on Conor Chaplin] in the build-up to the corner, which was unmissable really, which was so clear, it was so close to the referee. So that was disappointing.
"But we own our bit of it as well. We didn’t defend the corner well enough and that turns what was going to be a very difficult game anyway into a very, very difficult game.
"Leeds were clinical with their moments in the first half. I didn’t think there was a huge disparity between the teams in the first half, to be honest. I know the feel of the game is very different according to the scoreline, but I didn’t think there was a huge disparity in the first half.
"But they took their moments well and we didn’t defend our moments well enough, and when they score from our long throw just before half-time to make it 3-0, you know it’s going to be a really difficult second half ahead.
"Of course, the feel of the second half was very different, Leeds were completely dominant and we had to suffer a little bit in the second half.
"But the players stuck together, the subs came on and gave us energy. It certainly wasn’t an enjoyable experience but over the course of a long season, you’re going to have days that don’t go your way. Today was one of them and we’ll have to, and we will, learn from it and move on really, really quickly.”
Quizzed on whether he had any complaints about the penalty, awarded for a foul by ex-Leeds man Leif Davis on Crysencio Summerville, McKenna said: "I haven’t seen the penalty back. The manner of the goals in the first half was really disappointing because I didn’t think we were in trouble in the game, to be honest, in terms of the flow.
"I thought some of our pressure when they had the ball was really good. We forced turnovers, we forced mistakes and I thought we were comfortable, but we didn’t defend moments well enough.
"The second goal, we were in a really, really good pressing situation, we actually pressed well deep in their right-back zone, but we allowed them to come out of that situation and didn’t defend the big spaces well, although they’re obviously good in those situations.
"And then the third goal just before half-time, we were trying to build a little bit of pressure around their goal and we don’t lock it down well enough and they break out full pitch.
"The manner of the goals was disappointing. There were collective things in there, individual things in there that we’ll learn from.
"And that’s all we can do now. The game’s gone, it didn’t go our way, but we think we’ve shown as a group that we’re very good being consistent, taking the lessons when it doesn’t go our way, being stable when it does go our way and trying to prepare as well as we can for the next game.”
The loss was the first time the Blues have lost by more than two goals since McKenna took charge just over two years ago having only lost three times - twice in the league - by a margin of two.
"Of course, the players are very disappointed and disappointed for the supporters as well as they travelled in great numbers in support of us, as they always do away from home,” McKenna continued.
"But there certainly won’t be any overreaction. We know how hard we’re competing but we know the difficulty of the level, we know the difficulty of the opponent, we know we’re playing against a team who are incredibly strong, even for this level, and who are at their absolute best whenever they’re a goal ahead and can transition because that’s what they do better than anyone in the league.
"It’s not an experience that we’ve enjoyed. I’ve certainly been through it in my career before, the players have been through it, you’re going to have days tat don’t go your way.
"It’s an incredible testament to the group that it’s the first time in two years we’ve lost any game by any sort of margin.
"It’s a testament to the group where we are after 23 games in terms of points and today’s a disappointing day but we always knew were going to have them.
"We’ve lost three games after 23. We’ve lost twice to Leeds with their strength and we’ve lost away to West Brom.
"We know we’re going to lose some games along the way. We never just accept it, we’ll always reflect, look to improve, take the bits that we can improve.
"But for us, it won’t be about revving everyone up for a big reaction [when leaders Leicester visit Portman Road on Boxing Day].
"It wasn’t like that after West Brom. We lost to West Brom with some similarities. We conceded an early set piece against a really strong side and had a difficult afternoon, and today even more so.
"After that game, there was no grand reaction, we just learnt from it, we took the disappointment, we stuck together and put in some really good performances after that.
"That’s what we’ll look to do again. We know we’ve got another strong team in the history of the division to play on Tuesday night, but again it’s just another game. There are 46 of them.
"We play Leicester on Tuesday night, but three days later we play QPR, two days after that we play Stoke and they’re all worth the same points and they all require maximum effort.
"And we know if we do that and we stick to our principles that we can perform well and that we can win games. We won’t win them all but we’ve shown that we can perform and we can win plenty.”