Defender Danny Collins says tiredness has played a part in this week's under par performances against Portsmouth and Crystal Palace. The Blues were fortunate to gain a 1-0 victory over Pompey last Tuesday but lost by the same scoreline to the Eagles on Saturday.

Collins said: “Maybe one or two of the boys were looking a little bit leggy. The manager certainly told us that we looked tired.

“We were a bit scruffy on the ball, I felt. In fact, I don’t remember us stringing four or five good passes together.

“Credit to them though, they caught us on the break. They’ve got pace out wide and they were quite direct.”

The on-loan Stoke man thought the Blues might have been awarded a penalty in the late incident which led to Aaron Cresswell speaking out of turn to referee David Phillips and receiving his second yellow card of the game: “I think Grant Leadbitter’s got there before the lad, played the ball and he’s gone through the back of him.

“You can see the referee has gone to put the whistle towards his mouth but has then realised it’s in the box and thought ‘I can’t give it’.”

Collins is on a 93-day loan with Town which is up after the Barnsley game on December 10th. The 31-year-old could return to Portman Road in January with both club and player having said they would be interested in continuing the arrangement.

Photo: Action Images

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