Blues boss Mick McCarthy says Town need a repeat of Saturday’s performance at Birmingham when they travel to Crystal Palace on Tuesday. The game will see two recently installed bosses go head-to-head, the Eagles having appointed ex-Blackpool manager Ian Holloway on Saturday.

McCarthy says while it was by no means a consummate display, the 1-0 win in his opening game at St Andrew’s is a boost for everyone at Portman Road: “We’ll have to repeat all that.

“We worked hard and defended, we’re going to have to play better than we did, but it gives us a bit of encouragement.

“I said if we were to get anything out of the game, let’s [at least] have a clean sheet. If we were walking away with a 0-0 I’d have been happy.”

With the Blues still four points from Charlton in 21st place, he says it could take a little while for Town to climb out of the bottom three: “It might be Christmas before we get that, you don’t know, do you?

“We’ve had a good start, it’s about continuing that. As long as we’re out by May 4th I’m not really bothered.”

He felt Saturday’s display was a vast improvement on the Sheffield Wednesday horror show which he watched on DVD on Thursday: “That was a gutless performance, I thought.

“Everybody likes Paul at the club. He goes and Hutch takes over and there’s a malaise there. It sets in. Why it sets in heaven only knows sometimes. It was so sad for them because they’re mates of mine.

“And they were nervous and they were at home. It happens. You all expect footballers to be these confident, gregarious creatures, but they’re not, they’re actually a pretty insecure bunch. When it’s tough they need something to get them out of it, whatever it might be.”

McCarthy made sure his players showed their appreciation to the 1,054-strong travelling army after the game — Nigel Reo-Coker being called back from the tunnel by his assistant Terry Connor — and he says the Portman Road faithful was amongst his reasons for taking the job: “I looked at the last game at home, there were 17,500 there and they went bottom of the league because of the defeat.

“I was thinking I could get that sort of crowd rocking, I’ve been there when the club’s been doing well. It’s a great club, a lovely club and I’m privileged to be there.”

Returning to Tuesday’s game, he says he expects a tough evening at Selhurst Park, the Eagles having beaten Blackburn 2-0 in Holloway's inaugural game with his new club: “They look like they’ve got a good team.

“Ollie will have an impact,” he added. “He’s pretty good and he’s inherited a good side by the looks of things.”

Photo: Action Images

Len_Brennan added 06:19 - Nov 5 A draw at Palace would be a good result given how well they have played this season. Remarkably, one of their biggest goal theats over recent weeks has been Damien Delaney. Luke & Danny will have to be keeping an eye out for his run at set plays, as he will surely be up for scoring against us.
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TrueBlueFerret added 06:45 - Nov 5 MM, TC & The Boys 2 dish up a Treat 4my BirthdayBash Plz......COYB
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bigolconnor added 06:45 - Nov 5 I didn't really need to know that the players had to be forced to show their appreciation. It kind of takes the shine off a deserved and dogged win. What probably happened was that the players were so elated and shocked by the win that they wanted to get straight back for the post match chat. They would have missed out on 2,108 pats on the back.
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jayceee added 06:55 - Nov 5 Glad MM is slowly starting to replace "they" or "them" with "we" and "us" when talking about Town. By next week 100% hopefully :D
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Frase1987 added 06:56 - Nov 5 Now these comments are nicer to read :)
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planetblue_2011 added 07:07 - Nov 5 I think if the defence is solid and Campbell and a few more players have their shooting boots on, I think we can snatch a win. Heads must be held high after the performance and win against brum. Keep the same team as well, no changing it!! COYB
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Lukeybluey added 07:39 - Nov 5 I think the January transfer window will be crucial this season. In my mind, when all the loans end (hopefully sign up, campbell, wellens and N'daw permantly), we need at least 4 new players. 2 centre-halfs, a left winger, and a big strong striker. In the meantime, COYB's! let's go for another win lads!
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karls_dad added 07:39 - Nov 5 No mention as to wether N"DAW picked up an injury or not then? hope he plays as he was the rock in the middle!
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 08:04 - Nov 5 It should be standard for players to thank away fans (and home fans) after a match. In Sweden, this almost always happens. It goes to show how self-important some of our "stars" are that they need reminding of the fact. About time we had a manager who insisted on this point - until it hopefully becomes second nature. Well done MM!
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StuartBrett8 added 08:07 - Nov 5 As long as they perform at the same level I'm happy, going to be a tough game. But teams are going to find us tough to beat, so much more solid than under P.J
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JimmyJazz added 08:13 - Nov 5 Portman Road rocking? There's more chance of winning promotion this season than seeing that happen
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Stato added 08:32 - Nov 5 MM clearly complmenting the club and the fans so hopefully that will correct the quotes from yesterday. it would be good to see portman road rocking but what chance when a manager with a 100% win record is being slagged off by his own supporters
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Bergholtblue added 08:54 - Nov 5 Palace are flying at the moment and will want to impress the new manager. It will be really, really tough to get anything out of tomorrow's match. MM's second match and he hasn't been here a week yet! Still as everyone says it all about confidence and hopefully whopping the brummies with have instilled some of that. Portman Road rocking? When did that last happen? v Arsenal in the cup? Can't think of anything since then.

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bluefeast added 08:57 - Nov 5 Tough game at Selhurst Park on Tuesday. I will be there . Palace have pace from circa 7 attacking players , guile and craft from a certain irish midfielder in owen garven we gave them and they keep clean sheets. Odd to think DD is there and playing very well. However we know if he is isolated he will make errors,thats what we must do,isolate Delany , have our players run at him , be interesting ,he will be up for it im sure. Key in this game is us keeping a clean sheet at all costs

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honder_ITFC added 10:26 - Nov 5 Great to hear N'Daw played well, I never understood why Jewell left him out of the squad. Adds that bit of strength to the back that we need. Lets hope these comments are twice as positive after the visit to Selhurst Park, a point will be a great result. COYB
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dirtydingusmagee added 10:27 - Nov 5 Big Mick v Ollie , pistols at 10 paces, the OK Coral , tasty, however i think Ollie will be the fastest gun ,just hope Big Mick is more accurate .a point would be a result, three would be GREAT !. COYB
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Walk_the_Wark added 10:34 - Nov 5 Who was it on here who scoffed at me calling for Holloway?? Apparently I was dreaming and may as well have wished for Guardiola or Mourhino.... And now Holloway is at Palace...bigger club than Town?- I THINK NOT. As I've said I have no doubt that MM will keep us up, but Ian Holloway he is not!!!! And Holloway was available. In time we will rue not taking the opportunity to sign a manager with intelligence and style who plays with passion and creativity, who speaks his mind too and is respected in the game- rather like our beloved Bobby.

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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 10:44 - Nov 5 Don't get me wrong. I think MM is as good as anybody and better than most for the job we have in hand. But let's not forget the magnitude of the task before we get carried away with one victory. MM's managerial record (Wikipedia) is as follows: Played 688, Won 270, Drawn 181, Lost 237, giving a win rate of 39.24%. If we transpose this onto a 46-game Championship season, it gives the following result: Won 18, Drawn 12, Lost 16, with 66 points as the final total. And that is if he was in charge from Day 1, not already burdened with a serious loss ratio from the former manager. Of course, this is no doubt totally unscientific. The above statistics, for example, span his time at Millwall, Sunderland, Ireland, Wolves, and Town, and therefore they are not all compatible with the Championship. But I do think it should make us aware of the massive job he has to pull this round. Nevertheless, I'm optimistic that he if anyone can probably do it. COYB!

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Tractamatt added 10:50 - Nov 5 The way the teams directly above us are playing 3 or 4 more performances like saturday should see us out of the bottom 3. Palace will be tough and I'm hoping they are getting cocky to the point on complacency that way we might sneak 3 point otherwise may need to park the bus a bit to get a point but just want a good performance.COYB
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oldelsworthyfan added 10:54 - Nov 5 I'm sure we'll be comparing MM with Holloway for a while, but Holloway's record is not better than MM's - when it comes to keeping a side in the Premiership. Holloway may be more of a character, but MM is just the man we need right now, firstly to keep us in the Premiership and then to take us on to promotion. At this stage I don't think our 'vision' needs to go beyond that.

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Michael11 added 11:00 - Nov 5 Going to be a very tough game. Confidence is a funny old thing though so if the players gained it from Birmingham then who knows! As we've seen for 3 years if we get at Damien Delaney for long spells he's bound to cave in!
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RichOBlue added 11:31 - Nov 5 Oh Mick McCarthy your the love of my life, oh mick mccarthy your grumpy like my wife, oh mick mccarthy i want silver hair tooooooo!! Lets get on a roll now start enjoyin watching town again.
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DanLyles added 11:35 - Nov 5 If you look at Mick's record purely in the Championship with Millwall, Sunderland and Wolves then he has a win rate around 47%, then draws and losses were fairly even, slighly favouring the draws I think. IF, and it's an almighty IF, this is repeated for the last 32 games of the season we would win 15, draw 9 and lose 8, giving us 54 more points and 64 in total (adding the 10 we already have). Going on last seasons table this would put us about 11th or 12th

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irishtim added 11:37 - Nov 5 Reports in irish media. Conor Clifford to be MM 1st signing from Chelsea!!?
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Michael11 added 11:46 - Nov 5 @irishtim What position is he mate?
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