Blues boss Kieran McKenna admitted it felt like Town had given the game away following their 2-1 defeat at Oxford United, rueing missed chances and conceding two poor goals.

Mark Harris put the U’s, who climbed out of the relegation zone following the victory, ahead in the 24th minute following an error from Azor Matusiwa, then Leif Davis levelled on 53.

The Blues looked the more likely winners at that stage but Town were caught on the break in the 77th minute, Przemyslaw Placheta scoring what proved to be the winning goal.

“It’s a frustrating one for us. It feels a bit like we’ve given the game away tonight,” McKenna admitted.

“I think there are two main elements to it, really. I think we weren’t clinical enough in the phases of control that we had.

“Started the game well and had real control and a couple of good chances and got to some great positions but we weren’t clinical enough to go and get the early goal.

“And the same at 1-1, we had a couple of big chances to go and take the lead, so we didn’t manage to take the lead in either of those periods when we had the chances to do so.

“And then we’ve given away two poor goals, no doubt about that, that changed the momentum of the game and the energy in the stadium and everything and it took us a bit of time to respond to both.

“After the second one, it gives the opponent and the crowd all the energy they need to try and get through the game.

“Having said that, there was plenty in the performance that was fine. We got to lots of good areas, we had chances across the night, the players never gave up.

“Even at 2-1, even with a couple of blows, we had two big chances to get to 2-2, which you would have said was really good character to get back into the game in that way.

“We’re really frustrated, it feels like we’ve given the game up, have given it away a little bit tonight, which is frustrating from our point of view off the back of a pretty good run.

“But we knew there were going to be bumps along the way, especially in this period of games coming in really quick succession.

“We’ve taken a knock tonight, so we’ll learn from it quickly, we’ll review it in the morning and we’ll get ready for Tuesday.”

Having gone six games without defeat, winning their last three on the road, the Blues appeared to have eradicated the type of errors which led to the losses at Middlesbrough and at home to Charlton.

“I think in terms of the second goal, that’s probably fair,” McKenna reflected. “But I know where we’re at as a group and we’re going through things and experiences for the first time for this group of players together.

“It’s not going to be as consistent as we would like it to be at the moment and there are going to be some errors in there, and we just have to limit them as much as we can and we’ve done that pretty well lately.

“But tonight, in terms of the second goal, it’s probably fair to compare to those games in terms of us pushing to try and get the winning goal.

“You have to give yourself until the 95th minute to do it and it felt like the only way Oxford were going to score was on a counter-attack or maybe by winning a long throw.

“So then you need to be really, really switched on to those situations whenever they arise because that’s what the opponent is waiting for.

“So to not defend the second goal in that situation better than we did, we’re really frustrated with that and it’s something that we’ve generally been doing well.

“We make a mistake on it tonight and we get punished, so it’s another reminder for us and the players and we all feel that pain tonight, so we’ve got to make sure that really sticks in our heads for the games coming up.”

Town had plenty of chances at 0-0 and then again at 1-1 and 2-1 but with Davis’s excellent volley the only opportunity taken.

“I think you play the game over, on the balance we should get something from the game, but that’s not football,” McKenna continued.

“Football’s a low-scoring sport and goals change games. You make mistakes or they take their moments and you don’t take your moments and the game’s never dead, and that was the case tonight.

“It’s a frustrating one for us, but I think we’ve been really clinical in our last few away games and went and got the first goal. We weren’t tonight and it’s cost us.

“I don’t think there’s any lack of effort or intent and even after the couple of blows right at the end we still created a couple of big chances to get the game. We’ll dust ourselves down and we’ll get ready for Tuesday.”

Town had 73 per cent of the possession and McKenna was asked about facing teams who largely sit back.

“I’m pretty sure if you spoke to Gary I don’t think he’d say he set up to defend deep. I think that’s sometimes easy to fall into,” the Northern Irishman said of his opposite number with whom he studied for his UEFA Pro Licence.

“If you look at when Christian Walton had the ball or when our defenders had the ball in the early parts of the game, they were trying to press us.

“I thought we moved the ball well and built well and we pushed them deep, but, of course then, in Oxford’s position, whenever we get to the final third, you want to get the bodies back and defend the middle of your goal and make it hard and have bodies there to defend the crosses and stop a good team trying to play through you.

“They did that well tonight and it’s an area that we still need to keep improving on, which I think is normal for any team in the world, any team at this level and any team with a lot of new players.

“We need to keep working on our play and how to break down a team whenever they’re deep, but I think across tonight in different ways we had more than enough chances to win the game, I don’t think that was the big problem tonight.”

Regarding Jens Cajuste, who didn’t travel, McKenna added: “He’s rocked his ankle. It’s not big ligament damage, but was nowhere near it for tonight, so we’ll have to just assess him day by day at the moment.”

Photo: TWTD