Town goalkeeper Alex Palmer believes the Blues need to replicate their home form in their away matches in order to turn their improving performances into results.

Following a 1-1 draw at Bristol City, Town remain without a victory in their three matches on the road this season having won their last two games on home soil.

Jack Clarke’s third goal of the season, and second from the penalty spot, shortly after half-time earned the Blues a share of the spoils after Rob Atkinson headed the Robins in front on 18 minutes.

“A tough test, I think it was always going to be,” Palmer reflected. “They’re a team that are well organised and have got good players. It was definitely mentioned how tough a game it was.

“We’ve probably not worked the goalkeeper enough tonight, but I felt like we played pretty well and kept the ball in their half but struggled to create those clear chances and get that win.

“Like everyone keeps saying, every game in the Championship is tough. Everybody wants to come and beat us, everyone wants to make it hard for us and we know that.

“That’s why we’ve got to be better on the ball sometimes, be more patient and try and drag people out of positions. We limited them as well, and like I said they’re a good team with good players so there’s plenty of positives in there for us.

“The performances are getting there. We want to try and replicate our home form that I feel like we’ve found, and come to each and every game to try and win.

“That’s what we try and do, I think you can see it. We’re not trying and playing for points and stuff, we want to win and get those three points because we know how important it is.”

Kieran McKenna made six changes to his starting XI from the victory over Portsmouth at the weekend, with midfielder Marcelino Núñez and striker Iván Azón making their full debuts for the club.

Palmer says the ability to make alterations to the team emphasises the Blues’ strength in depth.

He said: “That highlights how good the squad is that players can come in and rotate. It’s a tough league with lots of games, especially with a three-game week where changes are going to have to be made.

“A special mention to the boys making their debuts and some of them that played really well.”

The Blues can now focus their full attention on matters at Portman Road on Sunday, where arch-rivals Norwich City visit for the first East Anglian derby of the season.

Town will be aiming to end their drought of 16 years without victory against the Canaries, and Palmer insists the squad are under no illusions as to what the fixture means to everybody connected with the club.

“All the build-up and all the training will be the same as every other game,” he said. “We know what it’s going to be about, we know the support is going to be incredible from our fans and it’s a game to look forward to.

“It means a lot to them and we know that. It doesn’t affect our preparation, but we know going into it it’s going to be a good atmosphere and a feisty affair.

“They’re good for the fans, they’re good for everyone. It’s a good atmosphere, it’s a good affair for football. It’s only one that you can look forward to and enjoy.”

Photo: Kallum Brisset

Portman_Pie added 23:02 - Sep 30 Any chance we can give Walton a run now?
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budgieplucker added 23:50 - Sep 30 Alex, I think you are more than a half decent goalie, but don't plan on becoming a pundits.
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armchaircritic59 added 00:34 - Oct 1 No question teams want to make it as hard as possible for us to play, but then, why shouldn't they? It's time to make it hard for our opponents to play against us, home and away.
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PortmanTerrorist added 09:14 - Oct 1 Our GK, 2 CBs, RW, and no.10 are on paper far superior players to what we had last time in the Champ, but in reality none of these are upgrades in terms of performance compared to the players from 2 years ago which comparitively cost nothing. Think if we had Wolfy/Burg at the back and Chappers and Burns on the field; those were our most ineffective positions last night from an attacking point of view....again. We all know what it takes, and these players and Palmer need to grasp that they must siginficantly improve for us to get promoted, and it bothers me he is talking about things being good at home when we have just been OK so far with just glimpses of what we might become. In other words, be quiet and look to significatly improve on the pitch, starting Sunday as if they do not then it could get messy.

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JewellintheTown added 09:57 - Oct 1 At the moment, "home" form isn't really relevant when many of the payers aren't used to PR being "home". Much of the advantage isn't there yet for some other than the larger crowd behind them, but our away support is a credit too. We've lost many people who've spend years, some home grown boyhood club players, and have font memories of "home" being PR like Wolfy. That will all take time & will come. Let them settle.

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