Looking back at last week’s Easter fixtures, manager Mick McCarthy was still pleased with Town’s haul of four points even if some other sides enjoyed a more lucrative holiday period.

In fact, a league table based on the two Easter fixtures would see Town third behind only Saturday’s opponents Derby and Wolves, who both picked up six points. Six other teams amassed four, but none matched the Blues’ +3 goal difference.

“We had a great Easter, fantastic, winning at home and drawing away,” McCarthy reflected. “It’s just unfortunate that some of them had a bigger Easter egg than we had - they got six points.

“But we can’t do anything about that. We did our job, I feel. I looked at Millwall and I thought in the game, ‘Could I have made substitutions to win it?’. But I was damn sure we weren’t going to lose it, because we could have done.

“The things that they were causing us problems with were freekicks and corners and we had to keep our stature on the pitch and it was important that we took something out of that game.

“It’s all well and good changing it and trying to win it. If you change it and lose it then you do look a chump. I’d have taken four points before we started and I’m still happy.”

During the home victory over Leeds, McCarthy was pleased with the way the fans got behind his players, as he says they’ve done since he’s been at the club: “The support has been great, which was part of the reason I came here. I think we’ve got good support, 20,000 every week potentially, probably more if we’re doing well.

“I think it’s been unwavering in terms of the numbers coming. I know people look at us getting 16,000 but 16,000 for what we’ve been doing is pretty good.

“Leeds brought a good few, made it a good atmosphere. It was lovely. It was nice to have a good crowd and a nice atmosphere.”

Looking to Saturday, the Blues boss admits he’d be happy with another away point at Pride Park, although insists his side isn’t negative in its outlook: “I think if we come away with a point [I’d be happy].

“We could do with something more because everybody’s winning, but I can’t do anything other than prepare for it.

“We turn up, we play 4-4-2 everywhere we go with two wingers on the pitch, two strikers, we’re not playing defensively.

“We went to Huddersfield and played 4-4-2 against their one striker and it ends up as a 0-0 draw. I’d take a point. If I get three points from the next three away games I’d be delighted.”

The 4-4-2 formation has been an established feature of McCarthy’s Town team, but he says he has thought about other systems, such as the 4-3-3 he switched to at Millwall on Monday: “I’ve considered it and I’ve changed in games, I changed on Monday to stop them playing as much as anything.

“Jay went and played in behind Frank and it didn’t have an adverse effect on Chops, as he had two really good chances, there was a header at the far post and a side-footer.

“But I had to change the game because of the way they were playing. I’ve considered doing it [from the start] but we’ve played against everybody 4-4-2 and if you look at the league table since November 1st we’re fourth, so what’s the point in changing it and doing something else?

“Why would we try and be anything else in the last six games?” he added. “We’ve got Derby and then we’ve got two of the top three or four teams coming, Hull and Palace.

“We’ve done well against all the teams that have come here and have been doing well, Bolton, Millwall, Nottingham Forest, Leicester.

“They’ll be really big, exciting games because they’re pushing for promotion, but we’ve got to concentrate on this one.

“That’s really the mantra, just get on with this, go and play the way we’ve played over the last 10 or 12 weeks and we’ll be fine.”

Despite being aware that those tricky home games are coming up, he’s says they’re not in his thoughts as he prepares for Saturday: “I’m not even thinking about them. I have done, I’ve looked at them, they’re two really tough games coming up.

“But it doesn’t alter my approach to Derby so that we think we have to go up there and win and go up and be wide open and get beaten by two or three by a good team at the moment and we’ve then got to come back and then take on Hull and Crystal Palace.

“We need to keep on doing what we’re doing and how we’ve done it and don’t waver from that, don’t change.

“Derby’s the game we’ve got to play, we’ve going to go and try and win it. Would I take a point? I don’t know too many that think an away point’s bad.”

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