Smith Happy to Hear Opposition Moans Monday, 4th Jan 2016 06:00 Tommy Smith says the moans of the home support were music to his ears as he and central defensive partner Christophe Berra got the better of 15-goal Championship top scorer Andre Gray and Sam Vokes during Saturday’s 0-0 at Turf Moor. “The gaffer said straight after the game that he’s delighted if we’re coming off the pitch and the crowd are moaning at us rather than taunting us when we’ve been beaten,” Smith said. “He loved that and we love that, obviously it means we’re doing our jobs properly and well.” The New Zealand international put in an outstanding display as the Blues’ backline recorded their eighth clean sheet of the season against the Clarets, who are one point and one place above the sixth-placed Blues. “Any game in which you keep a clean sheet as a defender, I’d say you’d enjoy that game,” the 25-year-old added. “Nothing different today and we’ll crack on next Tuesday night [against Leeds] after the FA Cup on Saturday. “We knew it would be a tough game, Burnley play in much the same way we do and try to grind teams down and try to use that little bit of quality to get the goals. Both teams defended really well so it ended up a 0-0 draw. “We know they’re a good side, they only came down from the Premier League last season and they want to be back up there. “They’re just above us in the table, so it was always going to be a good game between two tough teams and that proved to be the case.” Having come through an uncharacteristically wobbly period during September and October, the Town back four and keeper Dean Gerken have provided the foundation for the Blues' return to the play-off places over the last couple of months. “We’re back at it, we had a bit of a dodgy spell earlier in the season and we had to go back to the basics of what we did that made us successful last season and at the beginning of this season,” Smith continued. “We’re looking solid again and that’s the platform we can build from, which is why we’re doing so well away from home at the moment.” Smith’s central defensive partner Berra was again in the wars at Burnley, the Scotland international requiring lengthy treatment after a clash with his former Wolves team-mate Sam Vokes within the opening minute. “I think he just needed to man up!” Smith joked. “No, he was in a bit of pain but he showed great character to get up and continue on and get that clean sheet. “It seems that he’s taking the brunt of it and I’m getting away scot free at the moment, so I’m sure I’ll have some coming my way shortly.” The academy product had praise for keeper Gerken for his recent performances: “Over the last number of games he has probably come out as man of the match in a couple of them, if not more. “He’s a top quality goalkeeper, he’s doing really well for us at the moment and long may it continue. “It’s unfortunate for Bart because he’s just as a good a goalie and he found himself in the unfortunate position of missing out on a game for personal reasons and has struggled to find his way back into the team, which is a credit to Deano.” While Town were unable to secure a club record sixth successive win on the road at Burnley, the Blues have now gone seven away games without a defeat since losing at Hull City on October 20th. Smith says this remarkable run of results was very much required with form at Portman Road not having been of the same standard. “It needed to be because at home we haven’t been as good as we had been last season, so we needed to pick up the points elsewhere. “It’s great to pick up points away from home but we also need to focus on picking up wins at home as well. “Hopefully we’ll be looking to take our away form into the two home [Championship] fixtures [against Leeds and Preston].” Regarding Paul Digby, who joined on loan for the rest of the season from Barnsley at the weekend, Smith added: “He’s been training with us for a couple of weeks now. He seems a good young player and hopefully he can stamp his mark and improve the quality of the squad overall. “When he’s been training with us he’s been training at the back, but I believe he’s quite a versatile player. We’ll have to see how he gets on but I’m sure he’ll be a good addition and I’m sure he’ll be grafting to try and impress. “I think all the background checks will have been done to make sure that he’s the right type of character to come into the squad. He seems a top guy so far.” Smith says he doesn’t yet know whether he’ll be involved in next Saturday’s FA Cup third round tie against League Two Portsmouth at Portman Road. “I’m not sure, that’s up to the gaffer, it’ll be his decision,” he added. “But a lot of the team have played every single game so he may see that as an opportunity to rest some players. But it’s a cup competition that we want to go as far as we can in.”
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