Town boss Kieran McKenna felt his game plan for the 1-0 defeat at Arsenal wasn’t far from coming to fruition.
Kai Havertz’s 23rd-minute goal was enough to see the Gunners to the three points but the Blues made it tough for them, giving away few chances in the first half, despite having been under the cosh throughout, and then having opportunities to break on the home side in the second.
McKenna was asked whether, aside from the moment in which Arsenal scored the goal, whether the match had gone as he would have wanted.
"There’s maybe an element of truth in that,” he reflected. "We knew tonight we needed to solid and resilient in the game and we wanted to give ourselves a chance to stay in the game by being defensively really resilient in the first half, and give ourselves the chance to attack it more in the second half.
"From a defensive point of view, a lot of the first half was good. We didn’t give up many chances. We ended up deeper than we wanted to be and we weren’t able to get enough territory and a foothold in the first 20 minutes.
"We can defend the goal better in terms that we didn’t have much six-yard box defending to do in the first half, so that was the disappointment.
"But from where the game was at that point, the way that we managed to dial it up in the second half in terms of being more aggressive without the ball, being braver with the ball, we got the game to a really healthy position to where in the 93rd minute we were in great areas, we’d got fresh players on the pitch and we were pushing for an equaliser.
"I think between that first goal and the end of the game, there was an awful lot of good work done to keep the game competitive and give ourselves a chance to get something.”
McKenna felt there were positives in the display that can be taken into future big games, such as Monday’s match at Portman Road against Chelsea.
"I think definitely in the second half,” he said. "Arsenal are a very, very good side without the ball, both when they’re pressing and when they’re defending deep, and in the second half we managed to play through the pressure and cut through the pitch a few times, which you don’t see very often against Arsenal. So we got to really good positions there.
"And in their half, we managed to get some really good situations as well, where we got between the lines and we got wingers in one-v-one situations but we weren’t able to find the quality that we needed to create a big chance.
"But I think how we went about it and how we managed to play through them at times and work the ball well in their half in a very difficult stadium and team to do it against, I think there were positives from that.”
The left-footed Bukayo Saka is threat down Arsenal’s right-hand side that an opposition manager has to prepare his team to face but the England international is out for a long spell with a hamstring injury, which has required surgery, and so McKenna had to set his side up to face Gabriel Martinelli, who is right-footed.
The Town boss says there are differences with the two scenarios, although would have picked the same team had Saka been playing.
"I think it is different,” he said. "Having a left-footer on the right side opens up a lot of different angles, when you come inside the pitch, it opens up the in-swinging crosses and different passes into the box.
"They still have that threat Arsenal with Odegaard, so it’s not like they have two right-footers on the side, they still have Odegaard, who drops to the touchline a lot, so they still have that in-swinging cross threat, that reverse pass threat from the right-hand side.
"Martinelli is sort of a more linear runner in that position and Saka has maybe the versatility to do both. Both very good players and I thought Leif [Davis] in particular did a good job against Martinelli tonight.”
McKenna felt his team didn’t make the most of situations they had worked for in the second period.
"I think we missed some moments in the second half, not necessarily just a shot, might be a cross, but I think we missed some moments to really take the initiative to go and try and do an impactful action to win the game,” he said.
"Arsenal have got some of the best defenders in the world and are a very, very good team defending on a low block and we did some good things, but there were a few situations where I think we can be a little bit more decisive to go and try and make the moment.”
Nathan Broadhead again made an impression from the bench and McKenna was pleased with the Wales international, who is yet to make a start this season having suffered a hamstring injury early in pre-season.
"Full credit to him, it’s obviously been a bit of a slow burner for him coming into the season with a big injury in pre-season,” he said.
"But he’s getting more regular minutes at the moment. Pretty much every time he’s come off the bench, he’s having a positive impact.
"It’s still another step to start a game and the intensity at the start of a game but he’s working towards that and I think every time he’s coming on in different game states, he’s having a good impact at the moment.”
McKenna was also pleased with Kalvin Phillips, making his first start in almost two months following an ankle injury.
"I thought he was a positive tonight,” the Blues manager continued. "I thought all the boys who came into the team were, to be fair.
"You had Jacob Greaves, Luke Woolfenden, not played in a good amount of time, Kalvin Phillips, Ben [Johnson] hasn’t played a lot of minutes lately.
"I think it’s always a good testament to the group when you have players who haven’t played come in and look fit and are attuned with the squad and with the team. I thought they all acquitted themselves well, the players who came into the team.”