Fuller Flavour: Five games in, here

But should that be the case? As we find ourselves at the first international break of the season, I think we can reflect positively.

Sitting in 11th place in the league at present is about as good an outcome as we could have wished for. It has been a good start to our league campaign.

Last week’s defeat to Arsenal’s second eleven had its moments too. Our own second string were not of the same quality and at times it showed.

At 4-0, one could suggest that Arsenal relaxed and were not as relentless as the game wore on. But they will not have wanted to concede two goals. We gave it our best and we could not ask any more.

Town fans at the Hill Dickinson Stadium (Image: Ross Halls)

Then, successive Saturdays could not have been more different. From the quintessential old ground of Selhurst Park, to the shiny new Hill Dickinson Stadium.

From the raptures of a last-minute winner to the gut-wrenching frustration of a single-goal defeat. We experienced both sides of life as a football fan.

A 5.20am alarm is nothing to the travelling fan. It is what we do. A drive from Clacton to Ipswich first to meet my friend Jason Bennett before he then chauffeured us to Crewe.

A train to Liverpool and an Uber later, we arrived in good time at Everton’s impressive new ground.

Don't get me wrong, I love the old traditional grounds, and Selhurst Park certainly falls into that bracket. I do not like soulless bowls. But I would place the Hill Dickinson into the same group as Tottenham and Arsenal’s stadiums. They are all equally impressive.

Naturally, there were plenty of Town fans present and mixing with Everton fans around the open-air concourse was how it should be.

Jack Clarke on the ball at Everton (Image: Ross Halls)

At the start of this three-game block that started at Palace and will end when we return to action at home to Fulham, I felt that four points would be a good return. Five would be excellent.

With three in the bank already, the hope was for at least a point on Saturday. By the time we were on our two-mile walk back to Liverpool Lime Street station, I was totally confused as to how I felt.

Frustrated, disappointed and reasonably content all came to mind. It was the feeling of frustration that won the day.

Ipswich fans will say we did not deserve to lose. Everton fans will say they should have won by more. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

If Thierno Barry had been on better form, he would have scored a couple more. I wish he had scored one of the gilt-edged chances he missed rather than winning the game with a deflection!

Leif Davis laments his missed opportunity (Image: Ross Halls)

Equally, if Leif Davis had his recent scoring form switched on, he may have put his chance away. Do not forget Emersonn was denied by Jordan Pickford too. We had our chances. We also had some good moments of territory.

Despite this, I felt our central trio had an off day overall and the sending off was a moment of madness by Abdul Fatawu. I can only assume he had forgotten he was already on a yellow card when he clearly dived.

Yet, we still grew into the closing stages of the game and had a couple more chances to salvage a point.

As for Everton’s disallowed goal, the letter-of-the-law came into force again and we got away with one. But remember, we were on the wrong end of a letter-of-the-law decision when Harry Maguire handled the ball in the build-up to his goal against us at Old Trafford.

These things come and go for all of us. I must repeat the huge thank you to Everton and their fans for the tremendous support shown for the minute applause for Noah Woods. They were a class act. My thoughts and deepest sympathies are also with Noah's family.

Finally, good luck to anyone taking part in Sunday’s Ipswich Half Marathon. I will be running in support of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and will be wearing one of their shirts kindly donated to me. Give me a shout if you see me running past.