Town forward Conor Chaplin believes the nature of the Blues’ 3-1 defeat to West Ham United was synonymous with their season.

Despite Nathan Broadhead scoring his first Portman Road goal for more than a year, the Blues fell to their ninth successive home defeat after James Ward-Prowse, Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus struck for the Hammers.

Defeat means Kieran McKenna’s side finish the season in 19th place, 16 points adrift from safety with UEFA Europa League winners Tottenham Hotspur 17th.

While there have been occasions this season where Town have felt outclassed, Chaplin maintains the belief that the Blues have been competitive in the vast majority of matches during their one-year stint in the top flight.

“It probably summed up a lot of our season in a lot of games,” he reflected. “We competed really well and the game was even, obviously a mistake for the first goal but it’s just a moment.

“We got back into it with Broady’s goal which was a really good goal, well taken and showed the quality that he has.

“Then it’s just moments again. You can’t let a player like Jarrod Bowen, we know his threat when he comes inside and the big thing about the game is stopping that.

“It’s probably too similar to how the season has gone and ultimately it’s why we couldn’t get the job done and why we came up short.

“I don’t think it’s through a lack of being in games or being competitive. I think both teams were quite good with the ball today, we had a lot of final third entries. It’s just moments, really.”

Chaplin says manager McKenna has given the playing squad a similar message.

“There’s a lot of things that are for us players and for no-one else to hear,” he said. “But it’s probably similar to the way I’ve described the season that we’ve been in an awful lot of games.

“To really bridge that gap is not that far. It would be a lot easier if we were second best football-wise every week, but that’s honestly not the case and not the feeling that’s in the dressing room.

“It's our execution in the final third and our stifling of some of the best players in the world at the other end. Probably in both boxes is something that’s been a big learning curve.”

Chaplin, who has spent the majority of this calendar year sidelines with a knee problem, started 10 Premier League matches across his debut year at top flight level.

The 28-year-old has now played 150 league games for the club across three different divisions, and discussed his biggest learnings between playing in the Premier League and in the EFL, where he had spent his entire career previously.

He said: “It would be a lot easier to take if we were second best every weekend. Losing games would be a lot easier to take because you can just say we’re not at the level, but I don’t feel like that’s been the case at all.

“We’ve shown we can compete with these teams on a consistent basis, I don’t want to keep touching on it but it’s just about moments.

“I always thought before coming to this league that, in the EFL, tackles, duels and coming out on the right side of that was really important. The Premier League has proven to me that it’s even more important than it is in the EFL because if you lose those duels it’s going to people with really good quality.

“We lose the duel on the third goal which we can’t lose and they end up scoring off the back of it and that happens a lot.

“That’s been one of my biggest learning curves is the horrible side of the game is even more important because if you don’t win it then the ball is going to people with a lot of quality that can hurt you.”

On the physicality in the division, Chaplin added: “It hasn’t surprised me, I think we all knew the challenge and the running statistics that we needed to get to. We’re there with the running statistics, we’re one of the best teams in the league with it.

“The physicality hasn’t surprised me, it’s one we knew was there before the start of the season.”

Photo: Kallum Brisset

warfarinman69 added 20:13 - May 25 I didn't think Chaplin did too badly today, he was always looking to make something happen. Shame Greaves didn't read the bit about closing people down, or perhaps he was one of those with a bug, in which case Burgess should have played
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BrandonsBlues added 20:53 - May 25 Finally, Is Chaplin the only one that got it.
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BrandonsBlues added 20:53 - May 25 Finally, Is Chaplin the only one that got it.
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Churchman added 21:15 - May 25 Chaplin did alright. A real team player
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Scuzzer added 21:26 - May 25 Wish he was able to be used more this season. He is ideal for linking the midfield to the attack. Nobody does that as well as him.
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SouperJim added 22:22 - May 25 Physicality is about far more than just running stats. We were the smallest side in the division and lacked the physical strength and presence to compete. Every team in the prem is full of big strong athletes who dominate the ball. Unfortunately we just couldn't match them.
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Gforce added 23:46 - May 25 Is that Cresswell on the phone, behind Chappers,perhaps he's talking to Mckenna about a 2 year deal ,lol
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armchaircritic59 added 00:01 - May 26 SouperJim, spot on. The times we've had players knocked off the ball by physically superior opponents must be in the hundreds. Add to that in a lot of cases a superior technical ability too, and it spells trouble with a capital T! The one upside is, we've learned the hard way what it truly takes to compete at that level. Hopefully a lesson learned for two seasons time, and no, I'm not taking anything for granted, but in my opinion anything less than promotion back to the PL at the end of next season would be an absolute disaster and would be a far greater failure than many think this season has been. It will be interesting to see how we cope with the pressure of having a target on our backs for the first time since KM has been here. I've absolutely no doubt whoever we have playing here next season will be technically good enough, but they will need to be able to show it under constant pressure.

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