Town captain Carlos Edwards believes the Capital One Cup could hold the tonic that’s required to recover from Saturday’s 6-0 thrashing at Blackpool.
The Blues take on League One side Carlisle United at Brunton Park having spent the last four nights in the north west.
A win would set up a potential third round tie against one of the Premier League big guns and renew the confidence which was building following encouraging performances against Blackburn and Watford.
“We have to bounce back quickly,” said Edwards. “It is only a cup game but we have to get our winning mentality and hard-to-beat mentality back.
“If you look back at the first two league games, it was very difficult for opposing teams to get anything from us.
“We just have to stick together as a group. There is no point sulking or dwelling – it has already gone. As a group, we need to regroup in a positive way.”
There is currently a feeling of deja-vu surrounding Town, with the start of their new campaign drawing worrying similarities with that of last season. This time last year, the Blues had started with a good away win at Bristol City but soon came crashing back down to earth with a 7-1 humiliation at Peterborough.
The Blues were also knocked out of the League Cup by lower-league Northampton Town last August. And Edwards believes a run in the much-maligned competition – like the one which saw them reach the semi-final stage under Roy Keane’s management – would do wonders for confidence.
“Every time you win in the cup, you progress and that sets you up in the league because it gives you an extra buzz,” said the Trinidadian right-back.
“You do take that positive into a league game. We have Huddersfield after Carlisle (at Portman Road on Saturday) and we need to shrug that 6-0 defeat off and look forward to the next two games.”