Town boss Kieran McKenna has been pleased with the energy around the training ground over the last couple of days following the disappointing performance in the 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday.

Sindre Walle Egeli’s last-gasp equaliser claimed a point the Blues really didn’t deserve from the restaged game at Ewood Park with McKenna citing the impact of the 2-1 loss at Oxford United on the preceding Friday as a factor which led to the flat display.

McKenna, whose side won 2-0 at Hull City a few days prior to the loss at the Kassam Stadium, was asked whether the last two games have seen setbacks in terms of the performance and progress.

“Oxford, no, to be honest,” the Blues manager insisted. “We lost away to Oxford and people will see it differently, but I don’t see Oxford as that.

“I thought we made a couple of big mistakes to lose the game, an individual mistake, a tactical mistake on the second goal and we weren’t clinical with the big chances that we had.

“And when you give away goals at key moments, it becomes really, really hard to score against a team with 10 men on the edge of their box. That doesn’t matter if that’s us or Liverpool, Man City or anyone.

“In the general performance in that game, I thought we started really, really well and I thought we had good spells in the game, we just made some mistakes that cost us the game, so it was a frustrating night. But not a performance that I thought massively off-piste.

“I spoke enough the other night [at Blackburn], so I’ve not too much different to add. I thought the other night was different, I thought it was a poor performance from us and we were happy to get the point.

“I think in general there have been three games this season in which we haven’t had better chances than the opposition. Birmingham on the first night, Middlesbrough away, which even having said that we missed a penalty to 1-0 up and then we conceded some counter-attacks, and there was the other night.

“If we’re creating chances and not giving too much away in general, I still count that as the base of the performance.

“Of course, we want to be better. Of course we’ve had a few frustrating games where it’s been hard to break down stubborn opponents, but I think the other night was probably different and that was the first time that a game has really got on top of us and the opponent were stronger than us on the night.

“I don’t think that’s been the case very often. We spoke about it after the game. When we came back in the building as a group we addressed the reasons why and I’m looking forward to seeing the boys go out there tomorrow as I think the energy’s been really good in the last two days at the training ground and we’re going to look to put in a really strong performance tomorrow.”

McKenna says he is confident his squad has what it takes to get the better of high-flying Championship leaders Coventry.

“We fully believe that and, of course, that’s with humility because that’s against a team who are in great form,” he added.

“But we believe in ourselves, we believe in our capabilities. We know we would have liked to have had a few more points on the board. Having said that, we’re a few points off being right at the very, very top end of the league.

“I believe in the group of players. Performance-wise on almost every metric we could measure, apart from points, we’re there or thereabouts in the top two in the league. On goals scored, on goals conceded, on shots, on shots against, on chances, on our style of play, on most things that you would measure a good team by.

“But we’ve left some points out there across the games so far and we want to try and catch up those points as quickly as we can.

“We know and believe that we can compete and I think we’ve shown that at this level, and that should be the bare minimum requirement for us. Tomorrow we get a test against so-far the best team in the division across the first 18 games and a really strong team in top form, so that’s a great challenge for us.

“That’s a challenge which gives is a chance to take a big step forward and give ourselves a big boost.”

Regarding that positive reaction, he continued: “That’s typical for the group. I spoke after the game about Tuesday and my feeling from training previously. I think that’s atypical for us. In all of my time here there haven’t been many days where I had that feeling. But Tuesday was one.

“Players are human, they want to do really, really well. When you have a disappointing setback like we had in terms of the result on Friday night, it can knock you a little bit and it’s important just to remind everyone that they are going to come over the course of the season and it’s about the response, and the only way is to push on to the next game.

“We spoke after the game on Tuesday. The energy around the building has been really good in the last two days. Players have been pushing and getting around each other and we hope to bring that into the game.

“There’s no guarantee, same way as on Tuesday night, it’s easy to say with hindsight what the issues might have been, but all you can do is prepare as well as you can and give the right energy to the team as an individual, and I think the boys have been really, really good in the last two days, and that gives us a platform to go into Saturday.

“From there then, we have to go and deliver a really good performance and if you do that you have a chance of a result.

“That’s been the direction of travel in the last couple of days and I’m looking forward to seeing how we come out tomorrow.”

McKenna is pleased to be at home for the next two matches, fourth-placed Stoke visit next Wednesday, following three away in eight days.

“That’s been good, I think my neck’s had a few different hotel pillows at this point, so a few nights at home has been appreciated,” McKenna smiled.

“It’s good to come back to two home games and especially the type of games that they are.

“They’re games that everyone is going into wide-eyed, especially with Coventry’s form, but Stoke are having a really good season as well, knowing it’s going to be a big challenge and we’re going to be tested.

“We back ourselves in every situation against every opponent, but it’s not going to be easy, so we’re going to need to be together with it.

“We’re going to need the crowd, we’re going to need to bring the crowd to the game. We’re going to have to create a real, proper Portman Road atmosphere to give ourselves the best chance to win the game.

“It’s good to be back home and good to have the type of games that we have as well.”

Photo: TWTD