Town captain Sam Morsy reflected on a ‘disappointing’ afternoon as the Blues were beaten 4-0 by Leeds United at Elland Road, but stressed the importance learning lessons from defeat.

The Whites had the game wrapped up by half-time courtesy of goals from Pascal Struijk, a Leif Davis own goal and a penalty from Crysencio Summerville, before Joel Piroe completed the scoring in the second half.

The Blues fell to only their third Championship defeat of the season and biggest under Kieran McKenna in West Yorkshire, as the third-placed Whites closed the gap to Town to seven points heading into Christmas.

Morsy acknowledged the strength of the opposition but was left frustrated with the manner in which Leeds scored their first half goals.

“It’s disappointing,” he said. “I don’t think they had to do much for the first three goals, which is really disappointing on our behalf but that can happen, they are a good team with a good home record.

“The first one was a clear foul but that doesn’t necessarily mean the game is done, then an own-goal and a penalty in quick succession makes it very difficult to get anything out of the game.

“We’ll focus on what we can do, we’ll review, analyse and get better from it and there’s a chance to put it right in a few days.

“It’s not a nice feeling but that’s football and I’ve been there before. The more experienced players will have had days like this and it’s always about how you bounce back.

“It’s not a good feeling, you don’t want it to be a good feeling, you don’t want to forget about it straight away. You want it to hurt because when you analyse things you get better.

“Even if we’d have won today there would be things to improve on. That’s just the journey we’re on, keep improving and getting better. That’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Morsy believes McKenna’s squad principles are key in keeping their heads up and learning their lessons from such defeats, with the opportunity to put things right in the upcoming matches.

“First and foremost, we’ll take stock of this one,” he said. “It’s not good to just forget about it so we’ll take stock of it, it’s another game in a 46-game season. The teams that do well have that bouncebackability.

“We certainly won’t be dwelling on it, we’ll analyse it and then we’ll put it to the back of our heads and go for the next one.

“You’ve got to keep going, we speak about resilience all the time. It’s okay being resilient when you’re winning every week but it’s more about in those moments and we kept going.

“They were the better team today and sometimes that will happen, it hasn’t happened too many times this season but it’s happened today. We’ll pick our heads up, learn our lessons and go again.

“That’s what it’s about, not trying to gloss over it, but actually trying to improve from it and see where we can get better. That will stand you in good stead.

“It’s just one game at a time. It’s a marathon, it’s a 46-game season, a 10-month season with lots of twists and turns.

“There’ll be days like this where we’re well beaten and they’ll be other days like Southampton and Watford away where you feel on top of the world. That’s football, we’ll keep a level head and keep going.”

Morsy currently has nine yellow cards this season, one away from accumulating enough to warrant a two-match ban.

With the result beyond doubt, the Blues captain was substituted for Dominic Ball on 67 minutes, something he said was an understandable decision.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “We didn’t get many decisions our way today, so I think that was the right decision to rest up for Leicester.

“You have to play your game. There were a few strong tackles I put in where I felt I got the ball and got a free-kick against. You’ve just got to play your normal game and see what happens.”

Asked if he feels he is a marked man by referees, he said: “I don’t need to comment on it, you can judge that for yourself.”

League leaders Leicester City are the visitors to Portman Road on Boxing Day, with the Blues taking on another of their promotion rivals.

Asked if the game against the Foxes is a chance to prove yourselves against the top opposition, Morsy said: “It’s just the next game. It’s a great occasion, we’re going to enjoy it and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got.

“It’s just another game. It’s how many points in 23 games, we haven’t got to put anything right as it’s been a phenomenal start to the season. It’s top of the league coming to our home and we’re going to embrace it.”

Notably, Davis struggled having scored an own goal and conceded a penalty after regularly finding himself high up the pitch.

Morsy said: “Leif’s been amazing this season and it was a tough afternoon for everyone, to be honest. He’s been amazing and we’ll get around each other.

“It can happen, he won’t be the first player to score an own goal and give away a penalty. It happens sometimes, especially when you’re playing in that position.

“We’re not going to dwell on what he did wrong, he’s got the top assists in the league, having a great season, he’s growing and getting better all the time. The player he was when he came in to now is a completely different animal. He’s doing great and we’ll tell him that.

“It’s done now for him, tough afternoon but we go again. He’ll have more of them in his career, I’ve certainly had them in my career and the majority of the lads will have had them as well.”

The gap between the Blues and Leeds is still a relatively healthy seven points. While there is little time to reflect on the opening 23 matches of the season, Morsy is delighted with Town’s current position.

The 32-year-old said: “It’s a really good first half of the season. In the games we have lost this season we’ve always bounced back in a really good way.

“We don’t just put things to the back of our heads, we analyse it, see where we can get better and we move on. It’s a really good way of doing things, it’s a real process of what we do. Hopefully in the next game we’ll be better.”

With the games coming thick and fast – Town having now begun a run of four games in nine days – fitness levels will be crucial.

Morsy says his own fitness is good and paid tribute to the staff for maintaining levels across the whole squad and reducing the number of injuries the Blues have suffered this season.

“I feel really good,” the Egypt international said. “We’ve hardly had any injuries this season, the medical team have been amazing.

“Everyone is playing their part, all the staff are doing a great job and we’re looking after ourselves to the best we can to give ourselves the best opportunity to win games.”

Photo: Matchday Images

Tractorboy58 added 17:03 - Dec 23 Well said Sammy ..heads up and we go again ! COYB
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del45 added 20:45 - Dec 23 Have many games Have we lost when playing at 12 30 and on sky.?
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Marinersnose added 22:29 - Dec 23 Very level headed assessment from our Captain.
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Blueknight85 added 02:40 - Dec 24 Unpopular oppinion... Iv been saying Walton needs to come back in for weeks.. not because Vladky has done bad obviously, his distribution and shot stopping have obviously been different class, But Walton was Clear No.1 for a reason and one of those reasons was how he commanded the defence. Without him it reminds me of when we first tried to play without Mowbray and then had to bring him back out of semi retirement.

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ArnieM added 11:29 - Dec 24 Blueknight85, my humble view is perhaps if our defence could defend balls in our box better the keeper (any keeper) wouldn’t be picking the ball out of the net so often. I’ve been banging on about our weak defence for 3 or more seasons now. Being told I don’t know what I’m talking about. IMHO, The weakest side of our defence is down the right. The best of our CB’s currently playing regularly is Burgess , but in truth for a team looking for promotion he’s average. Axel needs games to get up to speed and recapture is undoubted high pedigree. Just when are we going to give Baggot a go? He’s potentially the best of the lot. Woolfie? Improved but rarely challenges for the ball, preferring to jog alongside his opponent. Has a 50p for a head regarding headers. I don’t class walking out of defence with the mandatory sideways pass right, “ defending”. Sorry but that’s how I see it. You want Walton in. He might command his box with crosses coming in ( I could probably find several miscalculations concerning that aspect if his gsme), but ball to feet building an attack from the goal mouth. A train crash I’m afraid. We all see it differently. This is my view. The problem with this forum is you have to hold the same view of the inner sanctum on here, or suffer abuse. I’m finding it an unpleasant experience posting on the forum these days and get sick of the abuse levelled at me by a few. I finish by wishing you and your family a very Happy Christmas and 2024. Who knows we could be celebrating another promotion ( which I have predicted on here months ago). But if we don’t it’s been a brilliant season for Town.

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