Town defender Darnell Furlong admitted that the Blues lacked the quality to overcome their early deficit in the 3-1 defeat to Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s long-range effort had the Foxes in front after just eight minutes, with Town falling further behind before half-time thanks to Abdul Fatawu’s stunning strike from deep inside his own half.

Having beaten Coventry City and Stoke City on home soil in the previous seven days, the Blues failed to record a third straight victory for what would have been the first time this season.

That added to Furlong’s frustration, who believes Town started the match on the front foot prior to Leicester’s opener.

“We can definitely be better,” he said. “We’ve shown better this season and we’re still growing. I think they score against the run of play at the start, we were doing well up until that point.

“Then we concede another goal which we won’t concede again this season and that puts us massively on the back foot. We tried to come back. It was a tough step going 2-0 down, but we always believed.

“I don’t think we managed to show exactly the quality to get back and score three goals.

“It’s a goal that we won’t concede again this season. It’s a one-off, you might get a couple of those scored against you in your whole career.

“It’s one of them that was a real sucker punch, but at the same time it happens and we wanted to bounce back and we tried everything to do that.

“Very frustrating. We’ve had a great week up until now, we wanted to make it the perfect week but things went against us today and it was difficult.”

Asked what the message was at half-time, Furlong said: “Just to stick to what we believe in, to keep going and make it tough for them. It was about trying to get the next goal and that didn’t happen which was a setback.

“But the boys tried and gave everything. It’s been a good week up until then. It was frustrating not to cap it off and finish it fully.”

Defeat at Leicester marked the final match during a hectic run of seven matches in just 22 days, a run which has seen the Blues claim 11 points.

After another tough week, Furlong refused to blame fatigue as a cause of Town’s lack of energy and disappointment in the East Midlands.

“I don’t think so,” the 30-year-old said. “We’ve got a great squad with great players, we’re fit and we train hard.

“This is what we prepare for, this is the Championship. It’s just one of them that didn’t go our way today and we know we’re capable of better.”

Leicester have struggled for the most part this season, with the Foxes inside the bottom half of the table prior to the start of Saturday’s play.

Martí Cifuentes’s side have clear quality, though, with Furlong insisting they will be among the division’s leading sides come May.

He said: “A great side, great quality, up there with the best squads in the league. On our day, we’re easily able to match it. A couple of things went against us and that’s not us being at our peak performance. It’s one of them.”

For Kieran McKenna’s side this season, it feels as though it is two steps forward and one step back.

A patchy pair of results on the road were followed by the superb victories over Coventry and Stoke, with Town’s brief momentum coming to an abrupt end at the King Power Stadium.

It leaves the Blues fifth in the Championship table, but now with an eight-point gap to the automatic promotion places after a high-flying Middlesbrough recorded a fourth successive victory.

“To be honest, we don’t take too much notice of the league,” Furlong claimed. “It’s more about turning up and beating the opponent.

“When we face Coventry and Stoke, we know that they’re teams that are up there and Leicester will be at the end of the season. It’s irrelevant really, we just go out there and try and do the best we can against whoever is in front of us.

“We’re never short of belief. We know we’re capable of coming back in games, winning games and beating the best teams in the league. We saw that against Coventry and Stoke, teams that are up there.

“It was a tough one and a few things went against us today, but we’re capable of more and we won’t be too down about it.

“We had a little bit of a tricky spell and have managed to bounce back and get some great results against great teams. We’ve shown what we’re capable of, it’s a case of washing our hands with this one and going again on Saturday.

“The key is what we’ve done against Stoke and Coventry, a game at a time. We weren’t thinking that we’ve just won one, we’re going to win again, it’s just a game-by-game situation.

“You take confidence from wins and good performances, but at the same time the next game is Sheffield Wednesday and that’s all we’re looking at. We don’t care who is after that, but we will as soon as that game is done. It’s just about cracking on.

“The squad is more than good enough, it’s just about putting things together. We’re a new group still learning each other and learning exactly how we want to be.

“I have no doubt that come the end of the season we’ll be up there. We’re too strong not to be.”

On his own personal game time, Furlong added: “I’m enjoying it, I’m just trying to get into the flow and keep playing. The Championship is relentless, keep going, keep churning the games out and try and contribute to the team.”

One positive for the Blues has been the return of Sammie Szmodics, who came off the bench at Leicester for his second substitute appearance since undergoing minor knee surgery.

With long-term absentee Wes Burns also nearing a comeback, Furlong says the clean bill of health is important ahead of the busy festive period.

He said: “It’s always a boost. The squad is strong already and it’s only getting stronger. It’s a massive boost and we’re looking forward to having those players back.”

Photo: Kallum Brisset