Town defender Leif Davis says he fully understands supporters’ frustrations after the Blues lost further ground on the Championship’s top two following a 5-3 defeat to Wrexham on Saturday.

Coventry City returned to the top of the table with victory at West Bromwich Albion, while Middlesbrough extended their lead over Town to eight points with a goalless home draw with Oxford United.

The fourth-placed Blues also find themselves behind Millwall, but do hold two games in hand on the trio of sides directly above them in the Championship table.

Davis admitted the number of goals conceded at Wrexham was uncharacteristic, and that the game was not managed well after Cédric Kipré had given Town the lead early in the second half.

“That’s not a thing for us, conceding five goals,” he said. “That’s not our game and we know better than that. In my time at the club in the Championship, we haven’t conceded that many goals.

“We shouldn’t with the defensive record that we’ve got, how good we are defensively and how good we’ve been defensively. It was those moments in the game where you can’t switch off and everyone’s got to be together in that part of the game.

“We can’t leave the game free and wide open, especially when we go 3-2 up. We have to be together, compact and do everything we can to stop that.

“We knew how much of a counter-threat they are with Kieffer [Moore], who we’ve had and we know how he likes to play. That’s his strength — he’s a big target man, good player and can get the ball to feet. His first goal was a great strike but the second goal, we looked lethargic and we like we weren’t at the races.

“We can’t dwell on it too much because if we dwell on it then it’s going to affect that game on Tuesday night against Watford.”

One of the biggest criticisms of Kieran McKenna’s side this season has been their ability to respond to in-game setbacks, with it being nearly two years since the Blues won from behind.

Town have failed to win any of the 15 matches in all competitions in which they have trailed, but Davis insists there is enough character within the group.

He said: “I would say there is. That’s why we came from behind, scored that third goal and went 3-2 up.

“You can’t take your foot off the pedal, which I feel as though we did a little bit in the second half when we scored the third goal. We’ve got to keep driving each other, reset and think the game is still 0-0 and do everything we can to be out there as a team and push together.

“There’s 11 players on the pitch, we’ve all got to do a job and help each other along the game. Even the lads that come off the bench, they know what job they have to do and they’ve got to bring the energy off the bench as well.

“It’s the first time in the Championship for some people, still learning and adapting to it. It might take a few seasons, it could take a season to fully understand it.

“This and the Premier League are two of the toughest leagues in the world. You’ve seen teams come down and struggle to get back up to the Premier League because it’s a very tough league.

“That’s the heart you’ve got to show to get out of this league, you’ve got to fight for every first and second ball and whatever it’s got to take on the pitch.

“It could be one of the rashest games you’ve seen, but you’ve got to work for it and fight for it like we did at Derby. We didn’t give up on that game until the final whistle blew.”

Next up for the Blues is another quick away trip on the horizon to Watford, who remain in the play-off hunt themselves despite recently going seven Championship matches without a win.

Davis reiterated that the immediate focus will go no further than Tuesday’s clash at Vicarage Road.

“It’s a good group that know not to look at the table,” the 26-year-old said. “We’ve got to take it game by game, you can’t look too far ahead of yourself.

“We’ve been in a similar position before where we are the chasing team. Personally, I would rather be in that position chasing than all the pressure being on us up there, but that’s our job to do that on the pitch.

“We want to do it for the fans as well, who have been incredible all year. There’s still 15 games to go, a lot of games and a lot of points to play for. We’ve just got to take it game by game and do everything we can to get the game put right on Tuesday night.”

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