Boss Paul Jewell says it’s a concern that Town rarely draw a game and generally lose heavily if they don't win comfortably themselves. The Blues’ fourth win on the trot, last week’s 3-0 victory over Cardiff, was followed by Saturday’s loss to Brighton by the same scoreline.
Jewell said: “It’s a cause of concern for us that we don’t seem to be able to draw games. I was speaking to Lennie Lawrence [the assistant manager] at Crystal Palace the other day and he said they very rarely lose heavily and very rarely win heavily.
“We look at our results and we either win well or lose badly. Again on Saturday it looked like a bad defeat, although it wasn’t as far as the football was concerned, but the goals against column tells you where we’ve got to be better.”
The Town manager dismissed suggestions that the number of games had caught up with his young side with Luke Hyam substituted in the second half: “It’s not as if they are babes in arms, we’ve got a few 21-year-olds and Luke, who has done terrific.
“I just thought he had been yellow-carded and made a couple of tackles and I didn’t want us to be reduced to 10 men. It wasn’t a reflection on his performance, more to make sure he didn’t get another yellow card.
“We’ve done really well of late and I thought we did well in large periods of the game but we’ve been punished for basic errors and bad mistakes by a good team, a team who are quite rightly on the edge of the play-offs and who can give anybody a good game.
“It’s not all doom and gloom, we’re disappointed, more in the result than the performance. The only thing that was missing, certainly at half-time, was a goal.”
Asked whether the defeat would end mentions of the play-offs, Jewell added: “I don’t think too many people were seriously talking about the play-offs. It’s a question that your editors are always asking you to ask, I guess.
“We were in a relegation battle a month ago, so to be in a play-off fight a month later is madness. It’s a tough league, there are no easy games and anybody can beat anybody, everyone knows that. We know where we are, we know where we need to strengthen to move forward for next season.”
Meanwhile, Josh Carson has flown to Northern Ireland for their friendly against Norway at Windsor Park, Belfast on Wednesday. The 18-year-old, who signed a new contract last week, has previously won two full caps.
Defender Tommy Smith has arrived in New Zealand for their friendly against Jamaica in Auckland on Wednesday after a gruelling three-leg flight which he will repeat in reverse in time for Town training on Friday. Smith has previously been capped eight times by the All Whites.
Story syndicated from TWTD.co.uk