Town winger Wes Burns reflected on a ‘bad day at the office’ as the Blues’ unbeaten run came to an end as they were comfortably beaten 4-1 by West Ham United.

Michail Antonio’s goal inside 49 seconds got the Blues off to the most disastrous of starts, but Liam Delap’s fourth goal of the season levelled things up just five minutes later.

But further goals from Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta ensured Town’s wait for a first Premier League win continue after a disappointing day on their first-ever trip to the London Stadium.

With the second international break of the season now upon us, Burns says the squad will learn their lessons and come back stronger ahead of Everton’s visit to Portman Road in a fortnight.

“Just a difficult afternoon for us as a team, there’s definitely lessons to be learned out there,” he said.

“We’re still a squad that’s very young, we’re still knitting together with a lot of new lads coming in.

“There’s lessons learned and we’ll put them right over the international break.

“It’s never ideal conceding early. It is a bit of a mountain to climb, especially away from home. They were a team looking for their first home win of the season so they were always going to be doubly up for it today.

“There were periods of the game where we were on top and created a lot of chances. On another day the momentum probably swings in our favour and we go on and win the game. It’s a frustrating day for us in the end.

“We conceded at the start of the first half and the second half which is not ideal, but it is a process of cutting those mistakes out and we’ll be fine.

“It's one of those ones where on another day we get that little rub of the green and we possibly nick another goal, go into half-time at 2-1 and maybe the tide swings in our favour.

“We dominated the first five or six minutes of the second half and then another unfortunate goal to concede.

“I think all the goals were quite soft in all honesty, it’s just a bad day at the office.”

Burns will be heading off on international duty with Wales next week, but the 29-year-old says he does not feel it has come at a good time, instead maintaining the importance of not spending too much time dwelling on the result in east London.

He said: “It’s never a great time to go into the international break, really, but as professionals you always want to put the game right as quickly as possible.

“We’ve got a long period until we play Everton, but the group will bounce back from this as we always do from a bad result. The lads will just be champing at the bit to get back.

“One thing this group is good at is getting over bad results and not dwelling on things that have gone by, so I have no doubt the lads will be fully focused for the Everton game.”

The Blues’ mistakes were punished by the Hammers on an afternoon where their own winless home run was ended. Burns says the timing of the second goal just before half-time was crucial and denied suggestions that similar errors would not have been punished last season.

“The mistakes we made weren’t great,” he said. “Even at Championship level we’d have got punished with those and I think it’s amplified even more this season with the quality that they possess in the wide areas. They capitalised on us being a little bit sloppy at times today.

“Goals change games, ultimately. Had we have weathered the storm and got into half-time at 1-1 we may not have had to chase the game as much in the second half. We knew in the second half we needed to score, so conceding early didn’t help either.

“But there were periods in the second half where we dominated and created chances, Liam [Delap] had a chance to score and that might have changed the game even at 3-1. It’s a great save from their keeper [Alphonse Areola] to be fair but had that gone in it might have swung the tide.”

On Town’s wait for a first win of the season, Burns added: “It’s not really something that we focus on, to be honest. We have a process for every game and we know if we stick to our processes then that win will come eventually. It’s not something we worry too much about.”

Photo: Matchday Images

TimmyH added 18:35 - Oct 5 God not that phrase!...
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RobbieBobson added 18:51 - Oct 5 Honestly, I don't understand this playing out from the back, we got caught a few times today, once in the 6 yard box, it's just invites pressure, also there was very little press in the top 3rd. We were well off the pace today, and West Ham weren't that great... as with Man City, we pretty much gifted them 3 goals.
11

SoCalTownFan added 18:59 - Oct 5 A poster said Burns wasn't premier league quality. I beg to differ, he is an international level winger. Playing out from the back, isn't working out so good in the faster paced premier league, I agree. Dangerous.
4

Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 19:17 - Oct 5 I don't think we will abandon playing out from the back as most PL teams do this, but sometimes it's as if we're stuck in the system when occasionally it would be more prudent to hoof it clear. Play out from the back if it's safe, ok. But any doubt or in a tricky situation, then get rid of it!
3

herobobby added 19:23 - Oct 5 We were awful today
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grinch added 20:08 - Oct 5 Burns just let his player walk goal 4 in and did not support Johnson throughout game he was better coming off the bench ohdene is better defending then moving into attack in fact today Clark Hutchinson and Burns were very poor lost ball and didn't close down as a unit Delap tried and was good Morsey poor game aswell must stop telling Muric to pass to him when the ball isn't on...maybe the train ride to a game doesn't suit ?

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ITFC_Singapore added 20:20 - Oct 5 Great chat Wes but maybe managing more than a light jog to get back and defend the back post for their last goal might have been nice. Still.....park that one and move on......personally would love to see Omari switched to the right and put Sammy in he 10. Onwards and upwards.
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Tractorboy1985 added 20:28 - Oct 5 Burns and Clarke “homers” then and Sammy and Ogbene away? We are still learning.. our poorest performance by far but we go again! Disappointed tonight but still remembering/enjoying the journey we are all on! COYB
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raycrawfordswig added 20:41 - Oct 5 We haven’t got the players to play out from the back.
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blueboy1981 added 22:10 - Oct 5 WHY ? - Is it now seemingly so important to play out ‘from the back’ — many players obviously struggle with it, including Goalkeepers ! It invariably leads to capitulation ! - how many times have we all seen that ?
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KiwiTractor added 22:19 - Oct 5 You also need to lift your game Wes, you are an international winger you need to start to show that in the EPL. You have pace but very rarely take the ball to the byline and whip it in (trust your team mates to get on the end of it), 9 time out if 10 you will turn back and give the defence time to organise. Pace scares defenders and we are not making the most of what we have at the moment. You were also one of many today that didn't bust a gut today to get back when West Ham continually broke.

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Linkboy13 added 19:27 - Oct 6 Burns dosent play regularly for a very poor Wales team and isn't quick by Premier league standards. I've always been an admirer of Burns he's been a great signing but like many of the current squad he's finding the pace and physicality of the premier league tough. Leif Davis is one exception who has adjusted well possibly because he is a much younger man.
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