LET’S not forget the positives from the Christmas period.

So said Blues boss Paul Jewell yesterday when quizzed about the return of his side’s defensive frailties in Monday’s 3-1 home defeat to fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest.

Steve Cotterill’s side had failed to score in ten-and-a-half hours of football since beating Ipswich 3-2 at The City Ground last November.

It took them just five minutes to score at Portman Road though, their win dragging them to within three points of 20th-place Town.

“We have to be careful here,” said Jewell.

“The defending on Monday was very poor – I agree with that – but getting beat at Reading (1-0 on New Year’s Eve) can’t be put in the same bracket.

“The performance there for long periods was good, as it was against Leicester (1-1 draw on Boxing Day).

“We created a lot of chances on Monday and probably played better than when we beat Derby 1-0 at home just prior to Christmas.

“Prior to Monday’s game we’d turned a corner according to some people, remember.”

He continued: “Certain players did make basic errors, there’s no pussy-footing around that.

“At the end of the day bad defending – and bad finishing as well, by the way – cost us the game.

“We work on our defence every day, it’s not as if we just throw the team together at five to three.

“You can prepare your team all week, but if someone misses a penalty or makes a defensive mistake then it’s a game changing event.”

He added: “It’s been said that Monday’s result was embarrassing, but Forest are a side that have been in two play-offs recently. That’s how tough this league is.”

– See tomorrow’s EADT and Evening Star for full match preview of Hull v Ipswich.