Town defender Leif Davis believes the Blues are in a good place ahead of this weekend’s trip to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace.
After three matches of the Premier League season, Town sit joint-13th in the table alongside the Eagles on three points after winning one and losing two of their opening trio of games.
Their successive defeats came at the hands of two sides competing in this season’s Champions League, having let a lead slip to Manchester United at Old Trafford and falling on home soil against Liverpool last Friday.
Reflecting on the first weeks of the season, Davis says there were still plenty of positives that can be taken into Saturday’s clash in south London.
"It’s good to be back in the best league in the world,” he said. "We had a good start to the first game of the season and then 50 minutes of the game against Man United, I think we were in a good place.
"We lost a little bit of discipline in the game, especially when that second goal went in when decisions were made from the ref. Nothing we can change in the game, we just have to be strong in that area of the game and be disciplined when things don’t go right for us.
"I think that’s what killed that game for us as well. We started jumping out when we didn’t need to, we should have just been disciplined and stayed in shape when we had to.
"Liverpool, exactly the same thing. Ten minutes into the game, we weren’t set and we weren’t ready. Two goals go in which make it hard for ourselves to then chase the game at 2-0 down after 10 minutes.
"Good reaction from the group, especially the lads that came on as well made it hard for them and created some good chances as well. After the 10 minutes, we stopped them creating a lot of chances, they were shooting from distance and frustrating them.
"That’s what it was against Man United as well, we were frustrating them and that’s what we’ve got to do on the weekend.”
New boss Gary O’Neil promised to be flexible and adaptable during his opening weeks in charge and has predominantly used a back four system in possession regardless of the opponent.
Town moved to a back five during the defeat at Old Trafford, a move that Davis admitted afterwards was largely new, having done little work beforehand with that structure.
The 26-year-old said: "Since that game, we have worked on areas of that. It was a bit different because when we did go to that back five, it gave them a bit more time and more control on the ball in areas of the pitch, which did suffocate us in a bit more.
"We’ve just got to stick to what the manager says. Hopefully the boys will keep their heads down, keep grafting, and hopefully tomorrow we can show what we’ve been working on as well this week. It’ll be a good game, it’ll be a good test, but we’re looking forward to it.”
This weekend will see the Blues face Palace for the first time since their relegation from the Premier League two seasons ago, where Ismaïla Sarr’s goal earned the Eagles a scrappy victory inside the final 10 minutes.
"The last game was a good game when we played them,” Davis reflected. "They scored late on, we were in the game for the majority of the game and we had some good chances. Julio [Enciso] had a good chance in the game.
"But that was that time around, it’s this time around now and we’ve got to go and do what we’re best at, what we know we’re good at and what we’ve worked on all week in training.
"It’s a good atmosphere, especially behind the goal to the right of the tunnel. It was a good atmosphere, I remember that. It’s going to be a difficult test and we’re going to make it difficult for them as well.
"Every game’s going to be tough. I don’t think you can underestimate any team in the league. Every team in the league has a style of playing and how they are suited to playing.
"Sunderland had a different way to Man United, Man United had a different way to Liverpool, and it’s going to be different again this weekend. It’s going to be things that we’ve looked at at training this week, but I think we’re prepared for that and we’re looking forward to the challenge ahead.”
After losing their opening two games of the season, Pierre Sage’s side enter Saturday’s meeting with some form behind them off the back of successive victories in league and cup.
Their 3-2 victory over Fulham last weekend perhaps set a precedent of left-backs scoring, with all three of the Eagles’ goals coming from that position through Tyrick Mitchell’s brace and Ben Chilwell’s winner.
Davis himself has already scored this campaign, but agrees with his manager that he could well have three goals to his name after missing chances in each of the last two matches.
He said: "It’s us arriving in the box a lot more this year, obviously coming from different positions. If I’m inside the pitch a bit more, it’s easier for us to get inside the box rather than making a 90-metre run to try and get to the back post.
"It’s something that I’ve been working on and I had even last year, but I didn’t really get that opportunity to and I know I can do that. I think I’m better with the ball off the floor at finishing than I am with the ball on the floor, so I’ll just tell the lads to leave it up and I’ll try and do the rest for them!
"I’m happy to get my first goal and hopefully I’ll get many more this season and hopefully one on the weekend.
"It’s something I want to be strict on this year. I know a lot of the lads say, with my quality on the ball, I should always have more goals than I do.
"That’s something I’ve always pushed myself this year and I’m going to push myself more on is getting in the box and know that I want to score goals rather than just assists.
"The one against Liverpool, the back post header, I should have done better. I know myself I should have done better, but I can’t score them all. Some of them are difficult, but hopefully I can grab as many as I can.”
On his strike at Old Trafford, Davis added: "I actually didn’t know what to do. I was a bit shook, scoring in one of the biggest and most historic stadiums in England and in the world. I just didn’t know what to do. I saw Nacho [Marcelino Núñez] coming over and I just pushed him off me, I was like ’what’s going on here?’
"The second one as well, I saw it late. Someone was in front of me and I just got that late contact, but I should have probably finished that one. It was probably easier than the first one.
"That wasn’t the main thing from that game, I would rather have come away with three points. I didn’t think it was a 5-2 game at all. We deserved a lot more in the game with how we did play for 50 minutes. It was frustrating, but I was happy to grab my first goal of the season.”