Town striker George Hirst insists the Blues’ first away victory of the season is not a weight lifted off their shoulders after the 4-1 success against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.
Having previously earned just two points and scored three goals on the road, Town romped to a dominant victory in west London courtesy of a double from both Hirst and Marcelino Núñez.
Performances so far away from Portman Road have been notably different to those on Suffolk soil, but Town’s second away league win of the calendar year appeared to show their promotion credentials.
"I wouldn’t say a weight lifted off our shoulders,” Hirst said. "I think it’s been coming. We’ve been unlucky at times and at times we’ve just not been good enough.
"Today, we showed a lot of good qualities about what we’ve been speaking about during the week and over the past couple of weeks. It was a really big result for us as a group and for the fans to come away and see us win. Hopefully it’s the start of a good run.
"A very impressive performance. We were probably frustrated at half-time, I think we had a really good start to the game and didn’t push on or capitalise on that start, let them back in and they get the goal.
"We went in at half-time, the boys were all a bit frustrated but the boss calmed everyone down and told us to get back to doing the basics as well as possible and we’ll get more chances and that’s what we did.
"We spoke about it before the game as a group. We’ve really started to find our feet at home and it was a big thing for us to find our feet away from home and go and get that first goal.
"In the past games so far this season, there have been times where we might have scored first or not scored first and we’ve fallen back and let the game get on top of us a little bit. Today, we were the furthest thing from that.
"We concede to go 1-1 and then there was no heads dropping, we were under a bit of pressure at times but that’s going to happen in every single game no matter who you’re playing. It’s just about how we deal with it.”
It has been a while since Town scored an early goal away from home, but Hirst struck after just 68 seconds at Loftus Road when he glanced on a cross from Sindre Walle Egeli to put the Blues in front.
"It’s always important to score as early as you can and ultimately get that first goal,” he said. "A big thing we’ve spoken about recently is if that goal doesn’t come in the first 20-30 minutes, it’s not a time to panic.
"At home and away from home, there’s going to be games where you can’t beat everybody 4-0, 5-0, 4-1 or whatever it might be.
"There’s going to be times where you need to grind a 1-0 out and you’re going to score in the 95th minute. That counts for exactly the same as a 5-0 result, it doesn’t count for any more just because you scored more goals.
"For us, it’s about not letting any sort of atmosphere get on top of us. We understand fans get frustrated at times and it’s just about us managing that, keep doing the basics well and keep improving as a team.
"Whether it takes us two minutes or 92 minutes, if you get the win, score the goal and keep a clean sheet at the back then it doesn’t really matter when the goal comes. It’s about keeping level-headed and doing what we do best.
"I’ve been speaking to Sindre a lot in training, trying to figure out where he’s going to try and cross it and when he does certain things. Today it all came together and he puts the ball on a sixpence like that and then it’s up to me to put the ball in the back of the net.”
Hirst’s second goal was a well-worked move from back to front, with Walle Egeli involved again along with the overlapping former Rangers man Darnell Furlong.
In fact, it was the first time in the 26-year-old’s career that the forward had notched twice in the same game for Town.
He said: "It’s been a long time coming personally. Once I got the second, I was hoping to nick another opportunity and get the third, but I'm sure that will come on another day. I’ll keep working hard and hopefully more goals will come.
"A great little ball from Darnell, I think it was a good team goal. The boss said after the game we had two pieces of brilliance and two pretty good team goals.
"I’m happy to contribute with two more goals, I felt like they’ve been coming over the last few weeks. I’ve probably missed a few chances that I look back and feel like I should put away, but that’s football and the life of a striker. Today I get the two chances and they go in the back of the net.
"I should probably score a few more [headers] with the size of me, but it’s always nice to get in the right areas and the opportunities come.
"To score two headers, both deliveries from Sindre in the first half and the stand up to the back post from Darnell in the second half are great deliveries. It’s just about me trusting that I know where they’re trying to find and being in the position at the right time.”
The two pieces of brilliance that Hirst references are ultimately what this game will be remembered for.
Marcelino Núñez struck two stunning free-kicks into either corner of the goal in front of the away end to open his Blues account in style.
The midfielder has been a fan favourite since his controversial arrival from East Anglian rivals Norwich City in the summer, and his ability from dead-ball situations is one of his main strengths.
"We see him do that every day after training, to be honest,” Hirst said. "The second one, Tayls [Jack Taylor] turned to me and said he’s not going to shoot from there, surely. I said if anyone’s going to, it’s probably going to be Nacho.
"Then he goes and scores the goal so we can’t really say much to him. We see him do that every day after training, he’s always taking free-kicks at the end of a session and today you see the fruits of the labour.”
On the conditions, Hirst added: "A bit of rain, a bit of wind, a little bit cold, I’m never going to complain about that. It gives you a little bit more energy if anything, run around a little bit more to keep yourself warm. These conditions, I’m never going to be one to wish them away.”
Three of the four Town goals were scored in the second half in front of a sold-out away following, who were enjoying themselves on their day out in the capital.
"They were and rightly so,” Hirst said. "The more we can have them jumping around, the better. It means we’re doing our jobs. I thought the fans were brilliant up there, they didn’t stop singing all day to be fair to them. Credit to every single one of them.”
During the second half, Hirst was taken off and appeared to be in some discomfort before he was replaced by Chuba Akpom.
There were concerns with fellow striker Iván Azón also currently absent with a minor muscle injury, but the Scotland international insists there are no worries regarding his withdrawal.
He said: "I’m fine. I just slipped and my hamstring decided it was going to cramp on me as well as my quad.
"I’ve never had cramp in my quad quite like that, so I don’t really know what happened. But I’m all good, I’ll be all good for Tuesday.”