IPSWICH Town's David Norris insists the Blues will be the better for Saturday's 2-0 Championship defeat at Preston North End.

Elvin King

IPSWICH Town's David Norris insists the Blues will be the better for Saturday's 2-0 Championship defeat at Preston North End.

The 28-year-old midfielder revealed in Monday's Evening Star that Town are, in his opinion, involved in the middle of a relegation scrap.

But he said today that the Deepdale despair could prove to be a blessing in disguise.

With a vital match against Middlesbrough at Portman Road on Saturday followed by four successive away matches, Norris knows the tough road ahead.

But he said: “Maybe there's a deeper-lying issue that we need to look at and Saturday's defeat has concentrated our minds on this.

“When we go behind we haven't shown the ability to keep ourselves in the game - to fight back and go on.

“If we can take this onboard and act positively on it maybe Saturday's display will turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

“Maybe some failings have been tucked under the carpet.

“Saturday's game highlighted them and they are now out in the open.”

Norris is looking for the whole team to buzz at the same time so that a move away from the drop zone can be made.

“We're not a good enough team to be carrying four, five or six players,” added Norris.

“We all have to be at it every game.

“We've got good enough players to perform well all the time. Now we must do it.”

Norris stresses it's all not doom and gloom with after all just two league defeats in 16 games, and he went on: “It's looking bad at the moment but Saturday wasn't that bad. This was until Preston went ahead.

“It's a fact that once a team goes ahead we pretty much give it to them afterwards.

“That's what we've got to work on.

“You can't only be good for one game, even then only picking up one point from it, and then not the next game.”