Jens Cajuste feels Ipswich Town’s 1-0 home loss to Crystal Palace will prove to be ‘just a bump in the road’ on their way to achieving Premier League survival.
The Blues had gone into Tuesday’s fixture, broadcast as the first of Amazon Prime Video’s midweek takeover, neck-and-neck with the Eagles on nine points.
But a deft Jean Philippe-Mateta angled finish on 59 minutes saw Oliver Glasner’s side travel back to South London with a precious three Premier League points to move them away from the bottom three.
The narrow defeat, with the returning Jacob Greaves having seen a header come back off the post after falling behind, saw the Blues’ winless home run on the club’s long-awaited return to the Premier League extend to seven matches.
Napoli loanee Cajuste said: "It felt like we started to come into the game in the second half and then conceded from nothing really, so it's incredibly frustrating.”
Put to the Swedish international that it must have left a flat dressing room, he said: "Yes, but I think it's still a tight-knit group and everybody supports each other through thick and thin. We know there are so many more games to come, so it's just a bump in the road.”
The 25-year-old admitted his side’s display lacked the intensity seen in their previous home game against Manchester United where a 1-1 draw had been the least they deserved, but felt there was a reason behind that.
"Yes, I think it's a different game,” he said. "It's a different team with different tactics. They didn't really press us as high as United did.
"It's difficult to analyse the games so soon after the final whistle, but yes, we definitely lacked a bit of intensity.”
With Town having gone into the game knowing a win would have lifted them clear of the relegation zone and put three points between themselves and a survival rival, the game had taken on extra significance ahead of kick-off.
But central midfielder Cajuste feels it is far from a disaster to come away from the game empty-handed.
"There are still so many games to go, it's still early and there's time,” he said, "but, of course, we wanted to win this game a little bit extra. But it didn't go our way this time.”
Sunday sees AFC Bournemouth make the trip to Suffolk and Cajuste says the players will be giving their all to bounce back with the victory the home fans have been desperate to see arrive.
"We've got to go out and give everything we've got, there's nothing else to it,” he said. It will come. "It's a matter of time.”
With just four days in between the two home games, he added: "I think it's better to have less time to ponder and reflect on it. So definitely it's nice to have games so short between each other.”
Cajuste has now started four games alongside Sam Morsy in the heart of the midfield, following Kalvin Phillips’s suspension after a red card against Leicester City which was followed by an ankle injury.
And the player who has a Haitian-American father and a Swedish mother, having been born in Gothenburg, has been enjoying his run in the side at a club he has quickly grown fond of.
"I've said it before, I think it's a great team and great club,” he said. "Everything around it is fantastic. And, of course, on nights like this you're a little bit frustrated, but I'm very, very happy with the team.”