Town boss Kieran McKenna admitted it had been a frustrating night after the Blues were beaten 1-0 at home by Crystal Palace, seeing too many similarities to Saturday’s loss at Nottingham Forest by the same scoreline.

Jean-Philippe Mateta’s goal just before the hour was enough to give the Eagles the three points and continue Town’s wait for a home win.

“A frustrating night, probably too many similarities to Saturday for our liking, in terms of a really tight first half,” he said.

“Not fantastic in terms of the flow of the game, lots of stoppages, we didn’t manage to create the game we wanted, didn’t manage to create as many opportunities as we wanted, but having said that, neither did the opponent. We were solid, there was very little in the game, very few opportunities at either end.

“Second half, we came out much better, we were in the ascendency, we felt like we could really push on in the game, we got ourselves in a pretty good position and some momentum and then we conceded a really poor goal and in a tight game like today, that ends up decisive.

“We tried at the end to break them down, they were defending and counter-attacking well and we weren’t able to find the solution to break them down.”

Regarding what he had said at half-time, McKenna continued: “They’re a really solid team. If you look across the physical strength and the individual quality of their back five, they’re really hard to break down.

“We couldn’t quite get superiority in any individual duel, we got into some good areas but we weren’t able to produce the quality we needed to create a clear chance and both teams probably cancelled each other out a little bit in terms of the system, and we weren’t really able to impose ourselves on them.

“We knew at half-time we just needed to get more intensity in the game one way or another, so we needed to be more aggressive, needed to be more positive, we needed to play forward quicker, even if it wasn’t perfect, but just to create some atmosphere in the game and in the stadium and put more pressure in their final third.

“And we did that at start of the second half, to be fair, and started to get in some more good positions.

“The first half was controlled and solid, but without creating clear-cut chances because they’re not an easy team to create clear chances against. Newcastle have a top, top forward line and I think they didn’t have a shot against them on Saturday. With the back five they’ve got in place now, they’re going to be hard to break down.

“But even taking away clear chances, we didn’t create as much pressure, as much intensity, as much atmosphere in the game in the first half as we wanted.

“And then when the goal went in, the whole dynamic of it changed and you have possession and territory but a solid team who defend well and counter-attack, and with individual quality and the physicality that they have, they’re always in a much better position.”

Asked whether struggling against the more physical sides is becoming a recurring issue, McKenna said: “I think it’s a little bit different when I say physicality today to maybe Everton, who are probably more dominant on set plays.

“But if you look across [Tyrick] Mitchell, [Daniel] Munoz, especially [Marc] Guehi, [Maxence] Lacroix and [Trevoh] Chalobah, that’s a physically really, really dominant one-v-one backline.

“So when they match you up as they did and when they go man-to-man against us, like they did when their side centre-backs jump out and mark as tightly as they did and they’ve got that physicality in the team, it’s not easy to create chances against them. I think lots of teams will find that difficult.

“I think today was different than most of our home games. In most of our home games we’ve managed to create intensity, atmosphere, chances, pressure, play more like the game that we wanted to in the majority of our home games, but we certainly didn’t today.

“I don’t think that’s necessarily a trend, I think you have to give Palace some credit for it, but at the same time they didn’t create much or have many good passages themselves.

“I think up until the goal, we were actually the team growing into the game and starting to put some moves together, but we’re up against a lot of Premier League quality, experience and physicality, and it’s a big challenge.”

Quizzed on skipper Sam Morsy again not wearing the Rainbow Laces armband, McKenna said: “I think in line with what the club statement said, we want to be an inclusive club, the club are working really hard on that. Within the club and within the playing group there’s a lot of good work being done and we want to continue that work.

“But at the same time, the club has respected Samy’s individual decision based on his religious beliefs and I think that’s a fair assessment.”

TWTD

bluesince76 added 20:38 - Dec 4 Clarke and burns clearly not up to it.
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Telford_Blue added 11:35 - Dec 5 I've not given up yet... Yes we clearly do not have the quality of some other teams but having now watched us in 10 games this season with the exception of Liverpool and Man City (I did not think we were totally outclassed in the 4-1 at West Ham and think we can turn them over at our place) I have felt we were in every game. A few of these falling our way and momentum can shift...The reality is yes we don't have the points but I think we are better than we were in August and our players don't look like they've given up at all. We were hit by injuries to the likes of Greaves and if we can get a settled run then I think we can turn it. My personal view is that my jury is still out on Muric, Clarke, Morsy (yes I know but I think he's too slow) Burgess, Burns and Woolfy at this level. What do I know.... However, I still believe. COYB

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hyperbrit added 11:43 - Dec 5 Town lacks speed in almost every position. Tuanzebe (sp) was always running flat out to keep those speedy wing backs from turning him so the hamstring injury was inevitable for starters. There are other examples.
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