IT'S a sign of how far Town have progressed in the last couple of years that the Blues end September level on points with the team third in the Championship and yet there’s a palpable feeling of disappointment amongst supporters.

When Mick McCarthy first took over just under three years ago, being level with the team third from bottom would have been seen as an achievement, but expectations have grown significantly.

Having made strides forward year on year, Town’s excellent start to the campaign saw them hit the top of the table in August but September saw what was, in the overall scheme of things, a minor stumble.

With hindsight, perhaps reaching the summit so early on inflated expectations slightly too much. Anyone who thought that from then on the season might be a rip-roaring romp to promotion was always going to be disappointed.

I think most of us have experienced enough Championship football to know that that rarely happens in what’s usually a tight division and looking at the current table – Town are eighth on 15 points, as are Reading in third with Middlesbrough second on 20 and Brighton top on 21 – it’s shaping up to be much the same as ever.

However, having taken 10 points from the first month of the season, it was probably reasonable to anticipate the Blues picking up more than five in September.

And, after making 11 changes for the Capital One Cup exit at Manchester United, the vast majority of fans turned up at Portman Road expecting Town to beat strugglers Bristol City on Saturday. But it was to be another frustrating afternoon.

The Blues started slowly but got on top and, having gone in front via skipper Luke Chambers’ header shortly after the break, seemed set to go on and win, only for ill-fortune and bad defending to hand the Robins the lead.

Luke Freeman’s strike was no threat until it took a couple of deflections, but the second goal was the result of what manager Mick McCarthy admitted was “appalling defending”.

While he was far from the only player to make an error, Christophe Berra was caught on his heels as Jonathan Kodjia received a pass, broke into the area and scored.

It was an uncharacteristic mistake from Berra, who has been a rock at the back since joining the club, but not the first in recent games. At Reading in particular it looked like he had returned from his hamstring injury too soon.

The progress under McCarthy has been built on defensive solidity but the Blues have now kept only two clean sheets in 21 matches in all competitions and only four teams have conceded more than their total of 15 in the Championship this season, none of them in the top half.

The Blues spent much of the rest of the match encamped in the Bristol City half but were unable to find a way through until four minutes from the end when Ryan Fraser finished a swift break down the right.

McCarthy said they had enough chances to win but in truth they didn’t create many clear-cut opportunities.

The Blues quickly got over the thrashing at Reading and were more like their dogged selves when they won at Leeds but still aren’t firing on all cylinders at present.

In addition to the frailties at the back, the midfield doesn’t seem to have quite the right balance, while the rotation policy up front isn’t getting the best from last season’s 27-goal Championship top scorer Daryl Murphy in particular.

The Irishman, who is yet to get off the mark, is having a stop-start campaign, in part due to injury, and needs a run of games to get up to speed.

Like Berra, Murphy has been a key element in the Blues’ resurgence under McCarthy and it’s perhaps no coincidence that the September stumble has come when they’re, temporarily I’m sure, not quite at their best.

Saturday sees the Blues face Blackburn where they don’t have a great record, their last win was the FA Cup replay in 1996, while their most recent victory in the league was back in the 1991/92 Division Two championship season.

Jordan Rhodes will inevitably score his now traditional goal against his old club, but even so, with Rovers in 18th having won only once so far this season, the Blues have a good chance to get over the stumble and get October off to a winning start.