Ipswich Town: Sam Morsy on Ipswich Town's derby defeat to Norwich City

The Blues travelled to Carrow Road sitting top of the Championship, knowing that three points would see them beat their rivals for the first time in almost 15 years. However, Marcelino Nunez’s long-range free-kick saw the Canaries seal the win, with Kieran McKenna’s men unable to claw their way back into the match.

“The magnitude of the game, it’s our closest rivals and we know how much this game means to our fans,” Morsy said after the game. "It’s bitterly disappointing. It’s three points lost, it’s losing to a rival, it’s really disappointing. But our biggest strength this season has been how we bounce back.

“We bounced back from Cardiff with a couple of wins on the spin. We bounced back from Preston with a lot of wins on the spin. Ultimately, we’ll be defined by how we bounce back.

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“I thought we were quite flat. It was quite cagey from both teams, which it’s always going to be. These sorts of games, sometimes you expect a phenomenal game and you don’t get it. It certainly wasn’t that today.

“We weren’t at our best, we needed to be better in a lot of different areas, which was disappointing.

Marcelino Nunez's free-kick helped the Canaries take all three points at Carrow Road (Image: Pagepix)

“In the second half, we came on strong and had a few decent chances, but it wasn’t our day today. We’ve got to come back better and stronger.”

Asked why he thought his team were unable to play the fast, free-flowing and clinical football that we’ve seen from them so often this season, the skipper admitted that it was just one of those days.

“It’s just going to happen sometimes,” he explained. “I’ve played in other big games where, again, you can really want it. If there’s a game which you’d want, it’s this one against Norwich, to beat your rivals, but it just didn’t turn out like that – for both teams, really.

“There wasn’t much in the game, there weren’t many chances. They score a long-range effort, we probably had the better chances, to be honest.

“I don’t think it was a great game and we weren’t at our best today.

“We came on strong late on and I thought we were going to get one, but we have to look at the whole performance and come back better. That’s what we do, really.

“We’re not going to win every game, but how we’ll be defined is how we respond.”

It’s also important to remember that it hasn’t been an easy period for the Blues, who’ve had to deal with an illness in the camp. Factor in the travel to Blackburn Rovers and the emotional rollercoaster of the win against Southampton, and it shows how much the group have been through in this period.

Morsy managed to avoid his 14th booking of the season (Image: Pagepix)

That being said, Morsy doesn’t want to use that as an excuse, especially for a game like that.

“It can happen,” the midfielder admitted. “I didn’t want to use that one, but undoubtedly there’s been illness and injuries, whatever.

“I don’t know if they’ve had injuries and illness – they may have done as well. I thought the level of performance was probably similar from both teams, to be fair, but obviously they score a 30, 35-yard free-kick.

“We don’t score that. We had good chances at the end, some good cutbacks, and we came close. Again, the game was edgy and didn’t flow for either team.

“I’m sure the stats are very similar for both teams – I think we probably edged it. We needed to do more, so we’ll need to look back at the performance and look back on how we can improve.”

Setbacks happen. This isn’t the first time that Ipswich have lost a game this season and there’s no guarantee it’ll be the last.

The same can be said for Leicester City and Leeds United, who are also vying for a top-two finish, and Morsy believes that there are plenty of twists and turns still to come.

“If we thought we were going to win every game until the end of the season, football doesn’t work like that,” he argued.

The midfielder believes that Town will be able to bounce back next week (Image: Ross Halls)

“It’s always about how you respond. It’s about how you come in on Monday morning with a fresh head. What can we do better? What can we improve? How can bring it into Wednesday and two home games?

“Let’s enjoy it.”

The supporters, as always, played their part. Ipswich fans made themselves heard in a ferocious atmosphere at Carrow Road, but they also stood with the team despite the defeat, applauding them as they walked over to the away end after the full-time whistle.

“It’s brilliant,” Morsy said. “They were there in full voice, always supporting us and clapping us off at the end. We know how much it means to them and I think they know that they’ve got a really honest group.

“The goal is to perform every week. We haven’t performed today, and the only thing to do is put it right on Wednesday.”