Town boss Kieran McKenna felt his side created enough chances to win two Premier League games as they were beaten 2-0 at Leicester City and admitted it was a frustrating way to lose.
The Blues, down to 19th behind the also relegated Foxes, missed a host of opportunities over the course of the 90 minutes, Leif Davis going closest when he struck the post early on, while Omari Hutchinson, George Hirst, Julio Enciso and Nathan Broadhead all had chances with which they will feel they ought to have done better.
Jamie Vardy scored his 200th Leicester goal in his 500th and final appearance for the Foxes to give the home side the lead in the 28th minute with Kasey McAteer adding the second on 69.
"That’s a really frustrating way to lose a game,” McKenna said. "At this level you can lose games in different ways, but I thought we created the better chances in the game, for sure.
"Controlled most of the game but we weren’t clinical enough with our chances and our concentration wasn’t good enough in the moments that they scored, especially the first goal. Our action and our reaction wasn’t good enough and Leicester punished us with a really clinical finish.
"It’s a really frustrating way to lose a game. I honestly think there’s a lot that we can take from this one, especially going into next season, but in terms of this season, it’s a frustrating one.”
McKenna was happy with the overall performance with the lack of ruthlessness at both ends of the pitch the issue.
"I think that’s a big one in terms of the clinical nature of this league,” he reflected. "I know Leicester aren’t going to stay in it but Jamie Vardy has certainly been in it for a long time and that’s where we have to get to in terms of execution.
"And you know in this league, if you don’t take your chances, you get punished, but also, things we’ve been talking about in the dressing room, there haven’t been many games where we’re been the dominant side creating lots of chances this season, so we haven’t had too much practice at that. Today was one of those.
"If you compare it to where we were at last year in terms of going away to Leicester and the games against Southampton, I think we’re much, much, much more dominant this season than we were, but we didn’t find a way to win the game.
"So there’s a lot for us to take from that going into next season where we know there will be a lot more games where we’ll have control of the game, we’ll be the team in the ascendency in the game.
"There are a lot of things that you need to do well from a mental point of view, from a tactical point of view to make sure you win those games and you don’t give them away and you don’t lose them.
"So we know we’re going to be in that position in terms of what some of the first half felt like today more often. It’s a good position to be in, it’s better to be the team who feel like they’re controlling the game and creating the better chances, but those winning margins, those winning details, we know we have to re-find those now in the summer and build them with a new group.
"And if we can do that, we’ll be in a great position because there were a lot of good things in evidence.”
McKenna dismissed the suggestion, as he did pre-match, that the result might put down a marker for next season when both teams will be in the Championship.
"No, I don’t worry about that,” he insisted. "We wanted to win the game for this season. Get the club a little bit more money and on how we competed and where we feel we deserve to be.
"We wanted to win the game in terms of this season and we have another chance to try and do that next weekend [at home to West Ham].
"In terms of next season, I don’t see it having any impact, to be honest. If you asked me if we’d come here today and won comfortably 2-0 or 3-0, which would have been more dangerous for next year, to be honest, some of the lessons from today that we just spoke about in the dressing room, if we use them well going into pre-season, going into next season, I think that could stand us even better stead.”
Nevertheless, McKenna admits that the two points from the six games against fellow relegated sides Leicester and Southampton hasn’t been good enough, the Blues having taken eight points from those matches in the Championship last year, drawing 1-1 twice with the Foxes and doing the double over the Saints, 1-0 away and 3-2 at home, despite never dominating those matches.
"That’s something we need to own and reflect on,” McKenna continued. "We played against those teams last year, they were generally, with Leeds, by far the hardest games that we had.
"For example, when we came here last year we managed to get a point but it felt like we were clinging on with our fingernails to the game and really we managed to hang in there and then push late in the game with some substitutes and get a point.
"The two games against Leicester this year have felt completely different to that. We’ve been dominant in both games, in my opinion.
"Look, four games in football is a small sample, so we should have won the first game [against Leicester] and it probably wouldn’t be a discussion point, apart from a referee’s decision. If Leif hits a millimetre closer to the inside of the post today we go 1-0 up and there’s every chance we win the game.
"The Southampton game at home, we had much better chances in the game. That should lead us to winning the game, so the margins are really, really fine.
"I think it’s a positive thing that we are, in my opinion, much more dominant than we were against that level of opposition, but we’re not going to hide behind the fact that coming out on top in margins and tight games is going to be massively important for us and is something that we did fantastically well last year and it’s something that we need to get back to next year.”
Does he feel players are anxious in goalscoring positions with the Blues having netted only 35 times in their 37 Premier League games this season.
"I don’t think you can group every bit together,” the Northern Irishman considered. "I think maybe in some situations some players, possibly, yes. If you’re in a run of scoring goals and confidence, then you’re more likely to take the chance when it comes along. That might be the case with some.
"As I say, it’s not too many games this year, certainly away from home, where we’ve been in the ascendency, creating chances, so the repetition of being in those positions is something that we’ll get more of going forward and that will give us a better chance to improve as a team and on an individual level.
"We know that with the chances we had today, you should win two Premier League games, so to not score a goal is disappointing, but it’s something that we can use for motivation going forward.”
McKenna knows the Blues, who had 20 shots and 31 touches in the opposition box, both the highest this season, won’t face many better sides than Leicester in the Championship in 2035/26.
"No, I don’t think we will,” he said. "I think they’ll be strong again. If you step back, you can see how the narrative has completely flipped around not just ourselves but moved around Leicester and the strength and the challenge of coming somewhere like this today.
"But, as I’ve said, I think there are some really big lessons for us going into next year. I’d much rather be sitting here with three points and a worse performance, but we have to take what we can from the game and if we take it, the margins of being a team who are creating the better chances and control, but the concentration and discipline needed to make sure you don’t give everything away is the position that we’ll be in more and we’ll need to deal with that better than we did today.”
Quizzed on whether keeper Alex Palmer might have done better on Leicester’s second goal having been beaten by a powerful shot at his near post, McKenna said: "We’ll always reflect on that with Alex and with [goalkeeper-coach] Rene [Gilmartin] as well. No one ever likes getting beaten at the near post, but it was a well-struck shot.
"I’ve not seen the side angles of it yet, so we’ll come back together and see if there’s anything we could do better on that.”
The Blues boss confirmed that the decision to start former Foxes striker Hirst as the central striker rather than Liam Delap was tactical rather than related to fitness or the England U21 international almost certainly moving elsewhere in the summer.
"It was just around George Hirst, to be honest,” he said. "I think he’s performed really well when he’s come on, he’s performed well when he’s started games in the league and in the cup and I think he deserved the chance to play.
"Liam’s been fantastic and is working well but George has been an important part of the group and coming back to his old club, he deserved the opportunity to start the game.”
Regarding central defender Cameron Burgess, who was absent from the 10-man squad, McKenna said: "He’s got a little niggle in his hamstring so he missed out today, we’ll see how he is next week.”