Boss Mick McCarthy is determined to take the same level-headed approach now that Town’s form has dipped as he did during the better spell which took the Blues into the top six over Christmas.

McCarthy repeatedly said he wasn’t getting carried away as a nine-match unbeaten run took Town into the play-off places and he aims to stay similarly grounded after three successive losses, only one win in nine games and with the Blues having dropped to 10th in the Championship.

“That’ll be the test, won’t it?” he said after Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Millwall. “We got into the top six, I think deservedly, because of the way we’ve played, and now we’ve dropped out deservedly because of the way we’ve played.

“It happens in a season, we’ve had our good spell, we need to get back to a good spell. We’re having a tough time, at the minute. We’ll just try and work and get ourselves out of it.

“We gave goals away against QPR and we’ve given one away today. And they could have had others, but they didn’t, and the one goal was a mistake that’s cost us.”

While he admitted that Town played as poorly as at any time this season at the Den, he gave credit to Ian Holloway’s Lions: “It’s always me or us we talk about, but I think Millwall were full of energy and played well. They deserved to win.”

Meanwhile, Arsenal are reported to have turned down loan offers from the Blues and an unnamed League One side for 18-year-old central midfielder Kristoffer Olsson.

Swedish U19 international Olsson, who joined the Gunners’ youth set-up from IFK Norrkopings in 2011, is yet to make a senior appearance, although was with the Arsenal first-team squad during pre-season.

Photo: Action Images

mrmorisato added 07:45 - Jan 20 In Mick I trust :)
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Surco72 added 08:07 - Jan 20 What I will do is pick the same side and see what happens ,doesnt matter who plays well or who the opposition is
7

Keaneish added 08:23 - Jan 20 Where are the Sunday paper links to incoming players????
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thebeat added 08:40 - Jan 20 I think this sums up our problems at the moment. Win lose or draw everything stays the same. Sometimes you need to switch things up a bit to try and get out of a bad run. A new face or new approach to things.Its all a bit ploddy for me.
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bluemingood added 08:46 - Jan 20 NASA: "Gentleman, do not panic, keep thinking and do not resort to pure guesswork" Apollo 13 near disaster!
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ericgatesrules added 08:49 - Jan 20 Everyone knows we were absolute rubbish on Saturday. I have faith MM and TC will get us back to winning ways. Lets hope we can get some creativity in midfieldn on loan.
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bluefeast added 09:06 - Jan 20 Why would Arsenal lend us a player to help his development. We dont play football ,our players have bad habits like not looking after the ball , no pass and move and we dont get midfielders into the box. This is not soley MMs fault. Players need to take responsibility.
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ormey75 added 09:14 - Jan 20 I can see why attendances are dropping, who wants to spend their hard earned cash watching that dross everyweek, investment needed, Evans out!!
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calypso_blue added 09:35 - Jan 20 why trust mid table mick? we'll all die of boredom or take up knitting or gardening
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Mr_Jingles added 09:41 - Jan 20 Does wind me up when people keep spouting out the 'In Mick I trust' phrase. Cheesy to say the least.... Maybe try something a little different like.... 'Who's the man ???.... Micks the man !!!'
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muccletonjoe added 10:10 - Jan 20 If he wants to play 18yr olds , surely we have plenty of our own ?
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jalapenosteve added 10:27 - Jan 20 Horrible performance at The Den and unable to beat Preston, home or away. Sadly, our inflexible ugly style + dodgy keepers + a wafer thin squad = a bottom 7 finish this season.
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bluefeast added 10:38 - Jan 20 Holloway is the man , he puts bums on seats , excites his players and supporters , has a cute eye in his transfer dealings and does not just buy or borrow those he has worked with before. If we do not offer a threat to the opposition then we get worked over on our weaknesses. Put simply full backs need to offer an attacking dimension. Chambers for all his endeavour is a centre half , nervy about going forward very clearly. What happens then is we are forced to sit deep as a unit and ultimately opposition create things. This is one reason why we have surrendered more leading positions than any club in our division. This one dimensional mentality will sometimes work and sometimes not. Net result non progressive defensive football with no wingers with pace , and no midfielders centrally getting beyond our strikers and driving into the box. If we can see this a mile off my only assumption is Mick can too but hands tied in terms of recruitment.

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Langdon_Blue added 10:52 - Jan 20 Who's the cat?? Mr Jingles's the cat!!
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calypso_blue added 11:18 - Jan 20 We trust Mick, not.
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bluefeast added 11:35 - Jan 20 What gets me off my seat with excitement at our matches. The desperate need for the toilet is all i can think of . The mentality of not entertaining has seen our gates plummet.People will spend 30 or 40 quid every couple of weeks if they are going to get entertained. But seeing a load of 5k per week pros running around a bit headless , with no pressure on attacking , strikers in isolation 30 metres from the nearest midfielder when we attack just does make me get off my seat in order to get out of the ground. Frustrated dot com.

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bluefeast added 11:41 - Jan 20 we will not make top 6 , so get hewitt marriott back and give them time on the pitch with us. Lets build for the future. I watched a Leeds Uni game before Christmas , thee were 18 and 19 year olds in that side with class , skill ,pace ,touch control and movement that puts our 1st team apart from cresswell and DM. I tell you we lack the basics , cant remember the last pass and move. I suspect he will change things and ask for more offensive football from this point onwards.

1

MrDiddle added 11:50 - Jan 20 My god, some of you ought to be ashamed of yourselves. Only a few weeks ago everyone was saying how great it was to see town in the top six blah blah blah. The minute theres a dip in form the moaners come on with the usual 'Evans out', MM and the team play boring football etc. Sort it out people, your posts are doing nothing more than exposing the fact that some of you are fickle glory hunters.

5

Lightningboy added 12:05 - Jan 20 3 defeats in a week doesn't make us a bad team all of a sudden. We've got a very good back 4 (on their day) but I just do not have much faith in Gerken or Loach behind them..maybe we should be looking at Hennesey of Wolves or maybe even Kelvin Davis?..it's blatantly obvious that we need to sort that position out once and for all.
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Michael11 added 12:27 - Jan 20 @lightningboy Spot on. You don't become a bad team over night. I think the reason Mick played players like Tabb and Edwards is because we have such a small squad we need to keep players fresh or they'll be burnt out by March. Hopefully Marcus Evans pulls his finger out of his back side and gives Mick something to play with. A goalkeeper and a natural right back should be top priority.

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bluefeast added 12:53 - Jan 20 Weve been a bad team more than overnight. MM has simply been brilliant up until the end of december in getting more out of this team than i thought possible. That was then and this is now. One win in 9. 3 defeats on the bounce .If you ignore the fa cup weve still got 1 win in 8 lost the last two , only scorer was smith ,great goal but as is often the case with us from a corner. Open play we have DM who is class but carries the burden of creativity as well as goals on his shoulders. When you play defensive football the onus is on midfield to protect defence , hence the huge gap between midfield and strilers and nobody ever drives into the box. Sorry , poor team ,great manager but he needs help recruiting fresh blood to improve us.

6

NoelTheDub added 13:10 - Jan 20 Michael 11.. I dont agree with you at all burnt out by march we are burnt out already from defending all game.8 or 9 players have this job to do every week the way Micks tactics go.Its very simple the best way to defend is to try go forward we just dont do it or are told not to.Why are we not attacking the teams like us other than waiting for an ordinary team to go in 1up.Our back four as said is not bad on their day we also have 2 holding mids so why does Mick play tunners out wide not a winger and carlos a full back in my eyes at best the other wing.There is clearly no danger in our team other than eddy up top.If our season is fading away and Mick is not getting carried away why is taylor,hunt,tabbs, marriot, hewitt,not getting a start because its the way MM sees the game.I know those players are not the greatest but excite the ground for godsake we can all take a defeat but itsthe tactics and shape the killing us.

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kerryblue added 13:21 - Jan 20 Come on Mick,lets show some passion,bring back the likes of Hewitt and Marriott and give them their chance instead of using Tabb(disgrace) Edwards and Lee who are all past it,lets not see another season go T*ts up were sick of our season being over in January
5

Beattiesballbag added 14:27 - Jan 20 You don't need a big squad unless you have injuries. you should play your best team with square pegs in square holes, & full backs should be able to get forward! Don't blame the Players! the idea of the game is to get the ball in the other net ........well at least try! If every week your main instructions are to stop the opposition it can't be good for team confidence as all you can look forward to is nicking the odd goal. The end of last season the defence was good, midfield solid but the forward line lacking, All Mick did to improve the weakest part of the team was sign the same forwards on permanent contracts. There are lots of players being signed without big transfer fees ......but you have to go out and look for them! You wont get many options if you just sit back waiting for ex players you've worked with to become available or to recover from injuries. Millwall post match comment from MM "it took us a while to work out their system" SAFE ...match the opposition line up to stop the opposition playing . SAFE...sign players you know SAFE...don't risk losing the odd match while young players gain experience. A hard working team that's hard to beat is not what fans want, or the players! Mick you stopped the rot last season now you have to move on if not the players will lose their fighting spirit.........no one wants to defend all the time.

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ericclacton added 14:38 - Jan 20 I've been trying to be level headed all my life for dogs sake.
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