Town midfielder Stephen Hunt has insisted Saturday’s defeat at home to promotion rivals Derby will not have a knock-on effect.

The Rams edged to victory, the game’s only goal enough to see them leapfrog Town into second place and put them level on points with Championship leaders Bournemouth.

Hunt, 33, said: “It was disappointing not to get a result because we possibly deserved something out of the game.

“In fairness to Derby they came and did a good job in terms of how they played, although I don’t think either team would have been particularly happy about their performance level on the day.

“It’s definitely disappointing that we didn’t get something out of it. But Derby knew what they were doing and slowed everything down. They did what I call a ‘Tony Pulis’ by taking 30 seconds over every throw-in and they did a very good job because they won the game.”

But Hunt pointed to Town’s response to their previous home defeat, by Norwich in the East Anglian derby, when they went on a 10-game unbeaten run at Portman Road, collecting 26 points from a possible 30, as proof that they can put the Derby setback behind them.

He added: “The ideal scenario would be to do it all over again and go on another great run. We have plenty of strong characters and we will be looking to bounce back straight away by going on another run.

“It might be that we win one and lose one before we go on a run but it’s just about trying to find the consistency during what’s left of the season to hopefully get us in the automatic promotion places or at least the play-offs.

“The defeat to Derby was just one of those things. It was going to happen at some point and now the bouncebackability word is key. We’re used to another game coming up fast — that’s how it is in the Championship most of the time — and I’m sure we can pick ourselves up.”

Given the absence of ill trio Cole Skuse, Jay Tabb and Teddy Bishop for tonight’s FA Cup third round replay at home to Southampton, the Republic of Ireland international is almost certain to play against a team who were triumphant at Old Trafford on Sunday and, as a result, climbed above Manchester United into third place in the Premier League.

Hunt said: “Hopefully we can get a boost from the FA Cup game and take it on to Saturday’s league at Millwall. You can leave your league form, good or bad, behind you when you have an FA Cup game. We want to get the place rocking and I think the manager will be saying to us ‘Right, let’s have a go and see where it gets us’.

“I hear it’s going to be a full house and the more fans we have in the stadium during the remainder of the season the better. There has been a good atmosphere this season because everyone has been happy with what they’ve seen. We appreciate the loyal support we receive and if others come along, great.”

Meanwhile, ex-Blues boss Paul Jewell has left West Brom after a brief spell acting as new manager Tony Pulis's assistant.

Photo: Action Images

Warkys_Tash added 14:19 - Jan 14 Agree, it is just a blip. Lets get straight back on it and give the Saints are real good game..
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HARRY10 added 18:00 - Jan 14 maybe Hunt will find a pair of shorts that fit - rather than shuffling about in a pair that look like his grandma's old bloomers
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