Town boss Mick McCarthy says Saturday’s home defeat to Derby is no huge setback for the Blues, who remain one point off the top of the table in third behind the Rams and leaders Bournemouth.

“We’re one point off the top still,” McCarthy said. “I keep reminding people, when we won the league at Wolves we won one in 11 at one stage.

“It was the same then, we came off after matches and I think Reading and Birmingham were vying for the top spot with us and it would be Reading nil and Southampton, who got relegated that year, three. You’d think ‘where did that result come from?’. And it was the same with Birmingham.

“It’s what you end up with on May 2nd, so getting too high when you’ve won or too low when you’ve lost is not my bag at all.

“I thought we played well on Saturday. The goal came against the run of play and it was just a mistake, and all teams make them.”

He says the Blues will be looking to get back to form as soon as they can: “That’s what we’ll be trying to do. It’s not guaranteed, is it? We don’t know.

“I said before we played Derby it could be a stroke of luck, it could be a stroke of genius, it could be a bad decision or it could be a mistake which costs you the game and we’ve not had much of that, we’ve been really consistent.

“It is just getting back to winning ways. We’ll see where that starts, whether it’s Wednesday night or Saturday.”

The Town boss says the defeat won’t have an impact on the team he selects on Wednesday but may have on the side he picks at the Den on Saturday.

“Not the selection of this team, maybe the selection of the team at Millwall, bearing in mind we’re operating with about 17 fully fit players who have got to play Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday. The saving grace for us is that Millwall are playing at Bradford on Wednesday as well.

“I can’t envisage Millwall going up there and picking a weakened team, they’ll want to go and beat Bradford and stay in the FA Cup.

“It’s not like I’m picking a weakened team, they’re all first-team players, whoever plays.

“It’s not easy having to play on the Wednesday night. I was thrilled when I heard that they were playing on Wednesday night and not on the Tuesday, I’m not sure why that is. Ours is because Southampton played on Sunday.”

Meanwhile, Town fans for once might have been pleased to see a Norwich City victory on Saturday with the Canaries beating the table-topping Cherries 2-1 away to keep the Blues within a point of the top of the table.

“That just tells you everything about the league that we’re playing in,” McCarthy said. “They go down to 10 men and everybody says ‘here we go, they’re going to get battered’ and Cameron Jerome comes up with a wonderful strike.

“It doesn’t bother me what Norwich do. It’s what we do that bothers me. But I was quite pleased they beat Bournemouth.”

Regarding the appointment of 33-year-old former Hamilton Academical boss Alex Neil as Norwich’s new manager, he said: “It’s just a managerial change. Bob Peeters has gone [from Charlton] today.

“Good luck to him. He’s had a great start, that’s for sure. I don’t make much of anything, it’s just a club that’s changed their manager.”

Asked about Neil’s lack of experience, he added: “I think it’s always the same, why are people too young or too old, who’s to say?

“What they have got is a very, very experienced coach there, who got a great result at Bournemouth on Saturday with 10 men, in Mike Phelan.

“Any young manager who is inexperienced coming in has got a great sounding board and somebody to help in Mike.

“Good luck to him, Alex Neil, he’s new into the game, he’s now a fellow manager of the LMA and good luck to him. Except when he plays us.”

Photo: Action Images

bluefeast added 06:41 - Jan 13 This is our best chance in the last 12 years of automatic promotion. I wouldnt dismiss strengthening our squad as i see a bit of burn out , we play with such energy and intensity that injury ,illness suspensions drop in form are all inevitable. We were not at the races vs Derby ,we could not control that game. It should act as an amber warning that to get every last drop of blood and sweat from players week in week out is not possible. Fine lines , look at the rest of the top 8 ,all adding to their squads. We need to.

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Steve_M added 07:32 - Jan 13 Mick McCarthy. Level headed, a manager who has seen it all and won't over-react to results be they positive or negative. It's a great thing to know that he's in charge of our football team.
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Gilesy added 08:11 - Jan 13 I agree with his comments and his long-term view on things. I don't agree that we played well on Saturday though, not that it matters now; I thought we were pretty poor really.
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DurhamTownFan added 09:25 - Jan 13 Gilesy: he's got to say that though, just to keep everyone's heads up. If he said oh we were rubbish and well not go up if we play like that every week, he then puts more pressure on the team
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RaymondovicBlue added 11:54 - Jan 13 What Mick says to "us" will so often wbe different to what is said in the dressing room - but what we DO know is that Mick is a realist. He knows what's what - what needs saying to who and when. He also knows that his squad is "too small" and that he risks losing players to injury / suspension / illness as per this week. But he also knows that for the money he has available he can only afford "ok" players - and OK players who are happy to sit on the bench if the injury/suspension/illness does not come .... Can we all remember what we thought of the loan players we used to have who were happy to warm the bench or walk around the pitch - not so long ago ? It is a really hard job to get players in with our situation - unless you are going to drop / rotate Murph and McGoldrick then no other striker would get a look in - so why would a good one come? Mind you - once we gain promotion, Mick will have all sorts of budget to play with for next year - and all sorts of headaches to know who is good enough and who needs to go .... and who to bring in to complement his excellent squad To be fair to Mick - he has a really tough job pleasing us, doesn't he ? But a win on Wednesday (against the odds) and then 3 points at Millwall and that's a start ! Seriously though - Thanks for all the efforts Mick and Terry We're right behind you !

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TractorBoy85 added 12:13 - Jan 13 Although it was disappointing that we lost against Derby, for me it didn't really bother me as much as it did others when you consider the fixtures we've got commingled up. We've played a lot of the top sides and won and yesterday was just unlucky in my view, but we could easily be back at the summit after our next 5 or 6 games as long as we continue to show the spirit and determination that's made this season a memorable one no matter how it ends come May.

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TractorBoy85 added 12:15 - Jan 13 * comming up
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RRanger added 13:19 - Jan 13 I would like to see Bajner being used as a sub. - say for the last 20 minutes if we are 1 or 2 goals up. We know what Sammon can do -work hard and defend from the front but I don't see a lot of goal potential there. Bajner has hardly had any game time at all although he is nearly always on the bench. It is hardly fair to pass judgment on his ability when we haven't seen him.

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Portman51 added 13:22 - Jan 13 Not a huge setback, but a setback nevertheless, given it meant a six-point switch against a team who seem almost certain to finish in the top two. My mind goes back to defeat at Wigan in 2005, from which we never fully recovered, although fortunately this time there are more matches to go. A no-score draw would have been a fair result on Saturday. Remarkably, a win would have seen us top and five points clear of third place. A good points haul from the next four games will restore the momentum, hopefully with no injuries, particularly up front. But whatever happens, we've already exceeded all expectations at this stage of the recovery from Keane/Jewell.

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Seasider added 17:06 - Jan 13 Think this 'bug'may have affected 3 of our players on SaTurday bearing in mind that Tabby was subbed as he felt unwell Teddy Bishop now alsonot training and Tyrone tweeting that he is now under the weather!
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Warkys_Tash added 21:24 - Jan 13 Glad to hear this from Mick Mack - it was a blip, nothing more. We can't lose them all, Mick & TV won't let a rot set in, it's never happened since they came here.
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runningout added 21:35 - Jan 13 no more of the over the top MM love-ins please, they are too much, even for MM to take I'm sure
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