Town boss Mick McCarthy says the Blues need to get back to basics and to doing what they’ve done for the past few seasons when they travel to Leeds on Tuesday looking to bounce back from Friday’s 5-1 thrashing at Reading.

Asked after the game whether it will now be a case of getting back to basics following what he called an “embarrassing performance” against the Royals, McCarthy agreed.

“I would think so, being hard to beat, being tough and resilient. We’ve not been, maybe we have been too open,” he admitted.

“Get back to doing what what we do and what we’ve done best over the last few years and that’s getting at teams and being hard to beat.

“That’s not anything like us on [Friday’s] performance so we’ve got a bit of work to do for Tuesday.”

Reflecting on the Blues’ worst defeat since the 6-0 loss at Leicester in November 2012, his first month in charge at Portman Road, McCarthy continued: “It was awful from my perspective, I would never have seen that coming.

“Maybe I take some of the responsibility, I had a very attacking team, maybe we were a bit too open, but I think there’s a fair bit of responsibility which lies with some of the lads as well.”

Changes seem inevitable at Elland Road after back to back defeats to Brighton and the Royals in which the Blues - who have kept only one clean sheet in 17 games in all competitions - have shipped eight goals and have dropped to eighth in the Championship.

However, with a much bigger squad at his disposal this season, McCarthy would probably have switched some of his personnel regardless of Friday’s result with games coming thick and fast.

Speaking on Friday prior to the visit to Reading, the Town boss said there would be players left out who could count themselves unfortunate not to be in the XI or the even amongst the subs at the Madejski Stadium.

“You feel for them that aren’t playing because they could all play,” he said at his pre-match press conference. “It’s easier to pick the team when you’ve got the best XI and there’s not much behind it. Well, now there is, there’s real competition for places. We’ve got plenty of games coming up.”

He added: “There were times in the first season when I came here when I’d be looking over my shoulder thinking about making a sub and I knew it wasn’t going to make too much of an improvement.

“I think what we’ve got now, the strength of the bench will tell you the strength of the team. The selection of the team becomes harder, but that’s a great problem that, a nice problem to have.”

Meanwhile, the Blues’ U21s are in action at Birmingham City this afternoon (KO 1pm).

Speaking last week, McCarthy said Kevin Bru and Teddy Bishop would be involved as they continue their comebacks after hamstring injuries.

Photo: Action Images

oldelsworthyfan added 11:41 - Sep 14 Agree with so much that has been said above. There are very, very obvious problems in our defence (a pity we couldn't have got hold of Stearman!) 1. Chambers is NOT a Right Back which has been obvious for MONTHS. Particularly to opposing teams who love to attack us down our right hand side. 2. Gerken is NOT a Premiership standard Goal Keeper. (Probably not even a Division One standard one either). Not even worth a place on the bench. Barts has to come back and MM needs to look around for something much better. 3. Smith, a great servant to the club, makes too many mistakes which lead to goals, particularly late in the second have - after he has run his socks off for an hour. He's NOT a 90 minute player. 4. Stick with Berra and Chambers at the centre of our defence to give them a chance become, together, rock solid. There are several good options for other places which have been well discussed above.

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dirtydingusmagee added 12:20 - Sep 14 dont like seeing people moaning already,sure we have just suffered a thumping,but its not the end of our season !.People were slating MM for being to defensive,and being happy with draws last season.alright ,i think Mick got a bit carried away against Reading ,and should have played to draw with possibility of nicking all three points. we really need Bal,back in goal,and although Smith has been a good servant and does have the heart,i just dont think he thinks / reacts quick enough now.A couple of changes, and a decent result will get us back on track im sure .Hopefully we can take 3 points from Leeds. COYB

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MathieandMarshall added 12:29 - Sep 14 Friday night was as bad a display as we have seen for a long time however... before the Brighton game we were all on here talking about the amazing start, new exciting style and looking forward to booking the open top bus for the inevitable end of season promotion party! One game has not killed off our season. Hopefully it has come at the right time to get everyone focused again on what a tough job promotion is going to be and make Mick realise that he cant stick on all of his attacking players to try and keep them all happy. Pick your strongest 11 and those left out have to force their way in. Simple.

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MathieandMarshall added 12:31 - Sep 14 forgot to mention... I couldn't understand why Gerken started against Brighton and was even more confused to see him start Friday. Bart had been playing well up to the point he had to nip home. Deserved to get his place straight back again and MUST start against Leeds.
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NSL added 12:34 - Sep 14 We were bad on the night for sure, but we shouldn't forget that Reading's front '3' were exceptionally good. Vydra for me unlocked it, picking the ball up in midfield and either feeding it out wide to Blackman who was having all sorts of joy against Knudsen or straight through to Sa who is clearly a quality finisher. Dare I say it but Reading's attacking options seemed much better quality than our, supposed, "best front line in the Championship". Sears: played out of position but did ok, McGoldrick - class touches and had a lot of time on the ball but with little end-product, Pitman - I forgot he was playing before the couple of chances he had in the second half!!

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StowTractorBoy added 12:34 - Sep 14 Friday was a disaster and we have to revert to being solid as a unit but not just the back four and goalkeeper although I agree we have serious problems in those areas. We all get fed up of the Chambers scenario but will reverting him to centre back help the cause as he looked awful in his last appearance there and moving him to right back seems to have messed him up completely. I get tired of the goalkeeping situation and I agree with others the goalkeeping coach has to be held responsible in some part. What does the bloke do except kick a few shots at them before the match. Neither keeper has improved under him. If he does work on them in training and I am sure he does - well it is not working. Will probably take some stick for this but I would rather we were boring and tight at the back and squeeze out a result than open expansive football and get hammered. I go to watch ITFC win however we do it not play open football and lose so for me it has to be back to basics and will take a boring 0-0 draw tomorrow.

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bluefeast added 12:37 - Sep 14 There will be changes ,expect Tabb in the team in midfield. Dropped will be douglas ,knudson gerkin . It should be douglas , chambers and gerkin dropped or douglas smith and gerkin.
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Lightningboy added 12:40 - Sep 14 It's not all doom..Friday could've easily ended up 5-5..just about everything they hit went in (thanks to our useless GK) and we had a few very good chances,hit the bar and McGoldrick should've had 2 nailed on pens. Not making excuses but the ref Roger East was appalling...almost as bad as Gerken. Maybe this result will do us good in the long run?
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planetblue_2011 added 12:48 - Sep 14 Team selection against Leeds BIALKOWSKI MALARCZYK - if fit BERRA YORWERTH KNUDSEN MAITLAND NILES SKUSE TABB FRASER MCGOLDRICK SEARS SUBS GERKEN CHAMBERS SMITH COKE OAR PITMAN MURPHY Would give oar a run out at some point, prob Murp & pit will come on if needed. Think Yorwerth should get a start he's no worse than what we have. If MALARCZYK is fit then he's worth a start. Keeper has to be changed. It's time for Tabby he gets stuck in, so does Skuse & u still got your pacey wingers who will hopefully track back & catch Leeds out on the attack. COYB we can bounce back!!

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essexbluey added 13:19 - Sep 14 Back to basic's? I was hopeing we where moveing forward mick. I try not to moan but i as a fan i felt humiliation when i left reading friday night. Iam going to leeds tomw only because iam working in barnsley for the week so please make an effort for the sake of the fans who go.
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Surco72 added 13:26 - Sep 14 NSL ... I disagree that Readings attacking options looked or are better than ours , they simply had more space and time by our total shambolic display of defending . Vydra was allowed to drop deep because Skuse doesn't do enough hard tackling for a defensive midfielder protecting the back four . Blackman was allowed to get the ball down cut inside or outside at will and put crosses in and Sa was so poorly marked by Smith he had free headers , was allowed to turn run and shoot and allowed to roam free when ever he wanted . Our front options are fine for this league and will continue to score with ease for the rest of the season but we cannot have the worst defensive record in the league and expect promotion it doesn't happen . Derby and Burnley spent money and were still losing because they were soft in the middle so went and got Johnson and Barton exactly what we need . MM can say what great players Skuse , Tabb and Douglas are forever, but to me they will only be lower championship standard and have been outclassed so many times by better players Boro, Norwich, Derby,Blackburn Brighton ,Reading games to mention a few in last 20 games

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weevil added 13:38 - Sep 14 MM sometimes seems like he's scared. He's done it his way for so long he doesn't know how to do it any other way. Football has changed a lot of 10 years, MM's methods haven't. Don't get me wrong, he is exactly what we needed after the past few managers, we needed a stable foundation upon which to build on, which he has done. What needs to happen now is an expansion and for a house to be built upon that foundation. Pace in midfield, fullbacks that run down the channels are both top on the agenda for me. Not to mention a new GK. I always prefer Bart over Dean.

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TimmyH added 21:20 - Sep 14 We were better defensively when Mick took over after 'the bad ol days'...only took a month or so to sought it out and now 2 season later we're worse - work that out!!
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