James Bree has praised Town fans for their support in Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Norwich in the East Anglian derby.

Bree, 21, is on loan from Aston Villa until the end of the season and the game at Carrow Road was only his second outing after he made his debut in the narrow 1-0 defeat by Sheffield Wednesday, having signed on the last day of the January transfer window.

Bree said: “It was nice to be involved at Norwich. Everyone at the club was speaking about it during the week leading up to it and I realised how important it was to the players and the fans, and basically everyone involved in it. It was a good experience and I’m proud to say that I played in the game.

“I played in some good derbies for my first club, Barnsley, but I haven’t been involved in the Birmingham one yet, although hopefully I will be in the future.

“It was good and the atmosphere was really high. I don’t think there was any trouble in the crowd and that’s always good to see. It was a good day, except for the result of course.”

Asked how much it hurt that he and his colleagues failed to land the win the 2,000 away fans craved, he replied: “We were all trying to get the win, for the fans as well as ourselves, but it showed how proud the supporters were of our efforts.

"We may have lost 3-0 but they stuck behind us and were still singing at the end of the game. That was a big thing for me.

“I’ve played two games now and it’s a good place to be. I like the place and the lads have really helped me to settle in.

“I’m just moving into an apartment this afternoon, actually, so that will be better than hotel life.

“I’ve been thrown in at the deep end a little bit, not knowing I was coming on loan and then obviously playing after just one day of training with the lads. But, overall, it’s been good and I’m getting settled and looking to kick on.”

Bree reflected on how his Town debut came so quickly after he travelled down from the Midlands to have a medical and sign the necessary paperwork. “It means you don’t have much time to think about it,” he added.

“You’ve just got to go out there and play your game, although you don’t know the rest of the players and how they like to play.

“I’ve had a bit of time now and I appreciate there are some good players here, which I hope will enable us to get some wins and improve our position. When I was coming down here I didn’t really know what to expect with the club being bottom and so many points from safety.

“The reality is that the lads have been class and everybody is positive. It’s been a nice change to be here.

“I think a lot of the positivity comes from the gaffer and what he has implemented on the training ground and in the training itself.

“From what I’ve heard he has really lifted the place and the lads are backing him 100 per cent. Hopefully we can still get the points for him.

“It’s tough down there at the bottom and clearly we need to be winning games really if we’re going to get anything out of this season. The lads are staying positive and hopefully we can start getting the results.”

Town’s precarious position did nothing to put Bree off and he added: “I’ve seen Ipswich play this season and I know the quality they have.

“It’s just the results that haven’t really been there. For me it was just a case of getting out and playing football because I haven’t played much for two years, at a good level and for a good team, so that was the thinking behind it.

“The opportunity came a bit out of the blue. I played six or so games for Villa and it was mentioned at the start of the window that Ipswich were interested in taking me on loan.

“That never developed but it’s happened now and I’m just happy to be here. There were a couple of other teams but there was nothing certain until I was offered the opportunity to come here.”

Photo: TWTD

BlueBlood90 added 16:22 - Feb 12 Although he seems like a very nice young lad, I completely lost interest after seeing him say how he was happy to play and would like to play in a Villa/Birmingham derby in future. Really can't be bothered to keep seeing players at our club who are only interested in the short term and using us for a bit of experience. I really hope Lambert is given enough funds to create his own permanent squad full of players who are desperate to be here for the long run.

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TractorCam added 17:50 - Feb 12 Blueblood, that is what he was brought in for. He is deemed good enough to try and help get us out of this, Villa fans rate him highly and wish they were starting him. He obviously isn't going to be here next season whether we go down or not, but the big picture is we want to stay up. Lambert isn't just going to throw in the towel and start chucking all the youngsters in.

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Dissboyitfc added 19:25 - Feb 12 i would rather see Josh given a fair crack. Although spence is out of the picture which is good, still want Josh given a go!
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good_at_COD added 22:10 - Feb 12 Is that the same Josh who couldn't get in the Shrewsbury team?
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SouperJim added 07:23 - Feb 13 No, that's the Josh who played virtually every game until a new manager came in and wanted to play his own players rather than loanees. Same as will happen here next season. Emmanuel will get his chance.
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