Midfielder Flynn Downes says the dressing room remains positive that the gap to safety can still be bridged, despite the 3-0 Boxing Day defeat at QPR stretching the divide to seven points.

“It was a tough one to take, we were right in the game and obviously a few mistakes just killed us and on the day they were more clinical in the box. We’ll just have to move on to the next one,” the 19-year-old said.

In addition to the defeat at Loftus Road, results elsewhere went against the Blues, adding a further three points to the gap to safety.

“It’s a bit of a blow,” the academy product admitted. “But all the boys and all the staff are still positive.

“We’re still in the fight and when January comes and the gaffer gets some new players in we’ll go from there."

Asked whether seven points might be too much to make up, he insisted: “No, the changing room after the QPR game was still very positive and it’s football, anything can happen. Mistakes at any level will cost you so we need to cut them out.”

Midfielder Jon Nolan made the error which led to QPR’s first goal and Downes says he feels for the former Shrewsbury man having made a costly mistake of his own at Hull earlier in the season.

“That’s football,” the Brentwood-born schemer reflected. “Anything can happen. I did it earlier on in the season and I know how it feels. You just have to look forward and go again.

Downes believes Nolan has what it takes to establish himself at Championship level: “Definitely. All of the new lads have been unbelievable and I think when the gaffer’s come in he’s got everyone playing which makes it that bit easier. I think everyone’s playing well at the minute.”

Despite his youth, Downes has been a regular in central midfield since Paul Lambert took over as boss.

“Personally I’m buzzing because this is the best football I’ve played in a long time, especially at first team level,” he added.

“I’m very thankful for him and all his staff for the trust they have put in me."

He says having a run of games makes a big difference: “Match fitness and little things like that are very important.

“When you’re on the bench you lose a lot of fitness, sharpness, so playing a lot of games does help.

“I feel a lot stronger and a lot better in myself and I think the gym sessions we’re doing are great.

Downes says he’s enjoying the football Lambert is trying to instil in his team: “I’m absolutely loving it.

“I think I’m speaking on behalf of all the boys when I say that. Everyone’s so positive now and we go into games believing we will win.

“We went into the QPR game thinking we were definitely going to win and we have that mindset. The table is a tough one to take but we can’t let the table dictate how we feel.

“[He takes the pressure off the players] and he’s a pleasure to play for. There’s not pressure out there. Mistakes happen and he lets us play with freedom. That’s the key with getting the best out of your players.”

Lambert has said it’s been unfair that youngsters such as Downes, Trevoh Chalobah and Jack Lankester have had to take on so much responsibility.

“We are young players but we need to step up to the mark,” Downes continued. “We’re one team and it doesn’t matter how old you are, you have to step up and perform.

“There isn’t a lot of pressure on us. We go out and play with freedom and enjoy the responsibility."

The midfielder admits losing the significantly more experienced Cole Skuse to a knee injury has been a big blow.

“Cole is experienced and knows how to play the game having done it for so many years, so obviously he’s a big loss at the minute,” he said. “We just have to keep going.”

He says he enjoys playing alongside Chalobah, a team-mate at England U20 level as well as at Town.

“An international level he plays at the back, so it’s a bit different with him in the middle,” he said. “He’s a good player, I love playing with him, athletic, gets on the ball. That’s all you can ask for."

Downes is pleased to see 18-year-old Lankester having made his mark in the first team in recent weeks: “Jack puts in a lot of hard work so it was always going to happen.

“You can tell by watching him that he’s lively, nippy and sharp so he’s got a big future ahead of him."

Like Lankester, Downes is yet to find the net at senior level: “I know, I know! My mum tells me every week that I have to score and I do try to be fair. They’re coming… one day.

“The gaffer says to me and Jon Nolan, because we’re playing higher in midfield, that we need to get into the box and get shots off. I’m working on it.”

Despite the defeat at QPR and having won only twice this season, Downes is confident that the team is capable of going on a run of victories, something they’ll need to do in order to avoid the drop.

“Yes, 100 per cent,” he insisted. “Obviously we lost 3-0 but I don’t think that reflected the game. We had a lot of the ball and had them on the back foot second half, which says a lot about us and the way we play. It’s positive.”

He says January additions should help the team to push up the division: “I think the squad we have is very good but we didn’t have the best start which has impacted us a little bit.

“But in January, if we can strengthen up a few areas, then we can get some help and be fine.”

Downes says he’ll have no problem if experienced midfielders are among those recruited during January: “As long as it improves the team then I’m happy.”

Looking ahead to Saturday’s game against Middlesbrough, who are fifth in the table despite having lost 1-0 at home to Sheffield Wednesday on Boxing Day, he added: “We’re a good team, we can use the ball and we know what we’re doing. We won’t go there with any fear and we’ll go there believing we can get the three points.”

Photo: TWTD

Carberry added 06:33 - Dec 28 Now the 19 year olds are being thrown out to the press to explain an embarrassing 3-0 defeat and tell us how good the squad are, where are the senior players? But still, we just need a little bit of help in January....
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terry_butchers_twin added 06:42 - Dec 28 What we need at the heart of the defence is my twin brother Terry Butcher even though we're both 60 today!!! Happy birthday Terry!!
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ITFCsince73 added 07:15 - Dec 28 Terry butchers twin. No worries. You'll still be head and shoulders above calamity Chambo.
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Cakeman added 07:23 - Dec 28 For a club that is adrift at the the foot of the table the spirit appears to be remarkably high. This is pleasing and credit to Paul Lambert for achieving that. It is important that the younger players such as Flynn Downes remain positive if there is any hope of survival. The worry however is that all the players that have spoken since the season began and that is nearly all of them have continued to say the same thing along the lines of we are upbeat and positive but must cut out the mistakes. I am sorry to say the entire squad are not capable of cutting out mistakes which is why we are at the bottom of the table. January may give us one or two new players but they will still be playing alongside the ones that make the telling mistakes week in and week out. My conclusion is that we shall go down but with a fight which is all that can be asked. We then need to make sure we are ready and equipped for what will be a difficult season in league one. This is when all of our youngsters should be given a run of games. Sorry for the negative take but can anyone honestly see us winning nine or ten games out of the remaining 22?

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bobbyramsey added 07:26 - Dec 28 What a load of carp, never read so much nonsense. Poor kid obviously hasn't a clue and is just toeing the company line....
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Northstandveteran added 08:29 - Dec 28 Oh to be 19 and have that wonderful combination of optimism and naivety. The only positive I can find from certain relegation is visiting knackered old stadiums, being able to stand in a cow shed and creating some atmosphere like in the good old days. Because there won't be much of that at Portman road with 8,000 home fans and 23 from Walsall.
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OwainG1992 added 08:51 - Dec 28 We have a few decent results then a disappointing defeat where we actually played well just sloppy defending the main issue and the doommongeres are back again. Chill out.
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bobble added 08:55 - Dec 28 how much team positive propaganda can we put up with ?
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Len_Brennan added 08:58 - Dec 28 We need at least 4 players that can come in & perform immediately. Bridcutt would be a great addition, especially with Skuse out for another month or more, but how close is he to match fitness I wonder. The same with Gestude. In theory, 2 quality signings that would be promotion chasing standard players if fit & on form, so hopefully they'll come & hit the ground running. After that a new centre half & full back please, oh & a surprise too.

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brittaniaman added 09:20 - Dec 28 Unfortunately the damage was created in the Summer by a certain Mr Hurst and his sidekick, we did not see it coming But the Bookies did, We have not reached the stage of a point a game yet, which probably might have saved us.
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adeblueboy added 09:25 - Dec 28 Slowly all the players are coming out and saying this, get real, most of us fans can see the quality in our players is not there. We are not all deluded!
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pennblue added 09:26 - Dec 28 The only person that can stop this football going down is Marcus Evans. The question is, will he?
3

dirtydingusmagee added 09:31 - Dec 28 dont give up yet , didnt expect anything from QPR OR BORO, a point would have been a welcome bonus though, What we MUST DO is beat Millwall and Rotherham to give us any chance, lose either of them and thats it im afraid . VITAL to bring in the right players now, i dont envy Paul Lambert.
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trncbluearmy added 10:13 - Dec 28 All of the new lads have been unbelievable and I think when the gaffer's come in he's got everyone playing which makes it that bit easier. I think everyone's playing well at the minute.” Yeah right!
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TimmyH added 10:18 - Dec 28 I have not given up on the club by far escaping relegation - there are other poor small budget teams in there scraping about as well - Rotherham, Millwall, Bolton, Preston as others...so to a degree if we get some recruitment's come January we're still in with a chance - GK, CB, box to box midfielder and proven striker (minimum for me) but with the track record of Evans don't expect him to spend big as he'll largely get in loans. As regards to the positivity aspect and hauling almost every player out in front of the cameras /press it is getting a bit tiresome now...

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carlo88 added 10:39 - Dec 28 We'll have brought in more players in this season than Booby Robson did in fourteen years.
2

ernie added 10:40 - Dec 28 "I think everyone's playing well at the minute.” Heaven help us if they start playing badly then
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Razor added 10:43 - Dec 28 "All the new lads have been unbelievable". I think this is where the problem lies!!!
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Dissboyitfc added 11:11 - Dec 28 Downes believes Nolan has what it takes to establish himself at Championship level: “Definitely. All of the new lads have been unbelievable and I think when the gaffer's come in he's got everyone playing which makes it that bit easier. I think everyone's playing well at the minute.” Give me strength, no they haven't all done well at all, what's happened to Edwards? He started well but has gone off the boil! In fact as it stands at this moment in time I can't think of any of the permanent signings who have been unbelievable! It's great that there is still positivity around the place, we need it, but I feel these type of comments are a little insulting. Lets go back to there first goal; yep a major howler from Nolan, but Gerken should have done better, then the defenders should have done better! That Wszolek ran 60 or 70 yards from deep within his own half to pounce on Gerkens failure to hold onto the ball.He ran through 3 of our defenders who just watched. We might be lacking quality but there is no way excuse for ball watching defenders should be there if The keeper spills! The players might not feel the pressure, I do and it will be unbearable living in Norfolk if we go down and they go up!

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Blue_Moses added 16:12 - Dec 28 Frankly I would have more respect for the players if they came out and told it like it is...we haven't been good enough, too many mistakes, not enough passion and we need to win something like 12 games out of the remaining 22 to stay up (which is promotion form)
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runningout added 16:25 - Dec 28 No signings at all, rather than desperate ones. We have a decent squad. They just need to give their heads a good shake
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ITFCsince73 added 20:47 - Dec 28 On current trend. Paul Hurst got the more out of this poor squad of players. Which is a concern. And Paul Hurst had a bang out of form Freddie and injured Harrison to deal with. It's also concerning that Paul Hurst , it appeared, looked at Spence as awful. Where as Paul Lambert, it appears, thinks totally different.
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BcarefulwhatUWish4 added 20:48 - Dec 28 The only thing that's unbelievable is the way QPR players ran through our midfield like they weren't even there.
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runningout added 21:41 - Dec 28 Midfield has been disappointing for years. I could create more and I'm poo
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Dissboyitfc added 10:35 - Dec 29 itfcsince1973... not quite right PH amassed 6 points from 10 games and no victories PL has amassed 6 from 9 games and a victory, but yes very concerning none the less! As usual looking forward to seeing/hearing how we do today! needs to be much improved from Boxing day, almost an oxymoron, there was no fight! still cant believe there 1st goal. Nolans pass Gerkens spill and no protection from the defence, you cant teach ability but you can teach the basics! Lets just hope that today goes unpredictably well and we are all positive going into the millwall game! COYB's

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