Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna says he doesn't need to see a reaction from his players after their defeat on Saturday - he just wants them fully-focused and ready to go again.
The high-flying Blues were beaten for just the second time in the league this season at West Brom on Saturday night, but get a chance to bounce back as they host Millwall tomorrow night (8pm).
Asked if he'd seen the reaction he wanted from his squad in training, he told Town TV: “I don’t think it’s so much about getting a reaction to be honest.
"Look, we just lost our first game in a long time against a really good team.
“It’s about full focus for the next game – and that would have been the same whether we’d won on Saturday, drawn or lost.
“It’s not necessarily about a reaction, certainly not in the context of where we are.
"It’s just about being ready for the next game and this challenging month, 100 percent focused for the next game, prepare ourselves as well as we can and try and go and perform.
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“Whichever way the outcome goes, we move on really quickly to the next one.”
Town have two straight home games now - Millwall tomorrow and Coventry on Saturday - as they embark on the most challenging run of the season so far.
December sees clashes with league-leaders Leicester City, third-placed Leeds United, fast-improving Middlesbrough and the likes of QPR and Watford.
There's also the small matter of the East Anglian derby at Portman Road on December 16th, too.
And McKenna said the Blues have to relish that robust run, rather than recoil.
“There’s a big challenge ahead, but it’s something to look forward to," he insisted.
“December fixtures, Christmas fixtures, all the games we have – these are things to embrace, it’s a period to really look forward to.
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“We would have loved to have had this run of games and been back in the Championship with two home games coming up this time last year.
“It’s great, so let’s look forward to Millwall now, we’ll prepare the performance as well as we can and go out there in front of a great crowd again and try and play as well as we possibly can.”
Millwall are now managed by Joe Edwards, who's overseen a 4-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday followed by a 3-0 home defeat to Coventry so far.
McKenna said: “Joe’s someone I know well. He came through the academy background at the same sort of time as me – when I was Tottenham youth team coach he was Chelsea youth team coach.
“He’s a good coach and a good guy.
“Millwall are a really experienced Championship team, they’ve been really competitive at this level for a lot of years and have got a lot of players who’ve done well for them across that period, brought in some good players this summer as well.
“So it will be a really tough game. I’m sure Joe will be trying to out his imprint on the team.
“He’s had one big loss and one big win, and that’s football sometimes.
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“I’m sure he’d probably say, having watched the games, that they didn’t play as well as a 4-0 win against Sheffield Wednesday, and they certainly didn’t play as bad as a 3-0 against Coventry, so that’s football.
“We know they’re a really experienced, tough Championship team and we’ll have to be at our best against them, and against any team in this division, to be competitive and have a chance to win.”
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