Town captain Sam Morsy believes the squad have learnt a lot from the opening two matches of the Premier League season, despite falling to defeats against Liverpool and Manchester City.

Having been handed one of the toughest starts possible, the Blues remain without a point on their return to the top flight ahead of a fixture against Fulham at Portman Road before the first international break.

But Morsy says Town have benefitted from the lessons they have had from the league’s elite, particularly in game management after conceding, with both matches seeing the Blues concede multiple goals in damaging periods.

“That’s always the goal,” he said. “We look at everything and try and improve in every area. Obviously the goals in quick succession is not good reading, sometimes there’s nothing you can do about it and other times you can.

“It’s something we’ve looked at and it’s something we want to improve, definitely.

“Again, we’re going to try and improve in all areas. For the majority of us it’s our first season at this level, so we’re going to be learning all the time.

“I think that will be the biggest thing we can do to become a good team in this league, we have to be really studious and learn from all our mistakes. If we can do that, we’ll keep getting better so that’s definitely something to do.”

While being on the wrong end of the results, Town’s performances have been encouraging, particularly in the first half against the Reds in the season opener two weeks ago.

Morsy says the squad have taken belief from their early showings and believes the Blues will continue to improve as the jigsaw begins to slowly piece together.

He said: “We’ve played the best two teams in the league over the last decade. They’re two great teams and top teams will lose both against them, so we’re certainly not going to judge ourselves against the absolute best.

“But there’s lots of new players settling in and settling into the style of play, the system and the culture. Our goal is to be a good team in the division, and slowly but surely we’re going to improve all the time.

“Man City are the best team in the world and at the Etihad it’s a different game, albeit I think we could have done better with the goals. I think that’s probably a fair comment, as a team we could have done better but obviously they’re a top team.

“Liverpool we went toe-to-toe with for 60 minutes, really, and there were world class players as well. When you go up every division there’s small nuances which are better, but I think we’re adapting, showing we can play our game, impose ourselves and be a threat and put our stamp on the game. We’ve got to continue to do that.”

Among many of the huge step-ups in quality from the Championship to the Premier League has been the speed and intensity of matches, which the Blues will continue to adapt to as the season progresses.

The Town skipper says he feels the team are getting closer to matching those levels, admitting he has already started to sense the required intensity from the division.

“There’s definitely something in that, undoubtedly,” he said. “Probably after six or seven games you’ve played the best in the division, the mid-table and the lower teams, so you probably get a really good gauge on that.

“The more you play, the more you’re going to get a feel for what the level is. Other than the lads who played there last season, we just have to adapt and take our level higher.

“That’s got to be our aim, not to be intimidated by anyone’s level but actually showing our high level which is why we’re here.”

On the Etihad atmosphere, Morsy added: “It’s brilliant. You have to enjoy it, you have to savour it, you have to step into it.

“There were some great lessons and it was great to compete against the best. Next time we play them we’ll try and do better and get a result.

“You’re growing all the time. Once you’re in that environment, soon enough it becomes normal. In the meantime, we have to up our level individually and collectively, keep being better and keep growing.”

But it is the atmosphere at Portman Road that will play such an important role in the Blues’ chances this campaign, with Town’s home record likely to be a significant factor in their bid for survival.

The Cottagers are the visitors this weekend, and Morsy is hoping for more of the same from the Blue Army who created a special atmosphere when Liverpool came to Suffolk a fortnight ago.

The Egyptian said: “It was a brilliant atmosphere. It was incredible for the players, it gave us a really good lift and I’m really looking forward to it again tomorrow.

“It’s been a great journey and we’re still on that journey, we want to go higher and get better. The fans know they’ve had a huge part to play in that.

“It’s really important to [manage the emotions] because if you’re really emotional that won’t work for you. You’ll end up being zapped of energy, not focused and not concentrated, so we have to remain really professional.

“It’s feeling the energy, going off the energy and the crowd behind us but, at the same time, being ice cold, really professional, knowing and doing our jobs that we work hard on every day. We feel if we do that we can get a good result.”

Photo: TWTD

Bluemike31 added 17:11 - Aug 30 Irrespective of all the signings this guy is a must in our team, the driving force.
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