Trevoh Chalobah insists the confidence boost generated by manager Paul Lambert’s arrival still remains, despite Ipswich Town suffering a fourth successive defeat at Stoke yesterday.
The Blues were beaten 2-0 at the bet365 Stadium following goals from Tom Ince and Joe Allen, but the visitors controlled periods of the game and out-shot their hosts and forced more corners without managing to find a way past goalkeeper Jack Butland.
Two draws in Lambert’s first two games in charge have been followed by four successive defeats, but Chalobah insists heads have not dropped despite the Blues now sitting eight points adrift at the bottom of the table.
“I think we stuck in well after the first goal, which rocked us a bit, but heads didn’t drop and we kept playing,” he said.
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“The manager told us to stick at it and keep going and that’s exactly what we did. He’s got us believing in ourselves.
“We’re a team who stick together, on and off the pitch, and the manager’s brought in a different style of play which suits us and that means everyone is more comfortable on the ball.
“Our wingers are getting on the ball in good positions and that helps us and shows the confidence we have.
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“We just keep going because this month is really important with a lot of games, so we just need to think ahead and go into the next game.”
Chalobah lined up in a three-man Ipswich midfield alongside Jon Nolan and Flynn Downes, opposite a Stoke trio of Ryan Woods, Sam Clucas and Allen.
“It was a very big test for me,” the Ipswich loanee said.
“Those players have played at the highest level in the Premier League but I think I and the rest of the midfield did well against them and it was a good battle.”
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Boss Lambert was impressed with Chalobah’s display, which saw him drop into the deeper midfield role previously occupied by Cole Skuse, who now faces two months on the sidelines after suffering cartilage damage in his knee in training.
“He’s going to be out for a couple of months I think,” Lambert said of Skuse.
“I put Trevoh (Chalobah) in there and I thought he was excellent, but that’s one area of the pitch where I think we need a little bit of help.”
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