Ipswich Town defender Issa Diop believes the Blues showed improvements during the second half of their 3-2 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Erling Haaland’s double proved decisive as City secured a seventh successive Premier League victory to maintain their 100 per cent start to the league season and extend their lead at the top of the table.

The Norwegian hotshot added to Phil Foden’s opener to establish a two-goal buffer after Daizen Maeda had struck his first Town goal to equalise only 155 seconds after going behind in the first half.

Zian Flemming came off the bench to score a late penalty, awarded after VAR ruled Marc Guéhi to have fouled Abdul Fatawu in the area, to set up a grandstand finish before ultimately falling short.

“Our first half wasn’t as good as we wanted,” Diop reflected. “But then we came back better in the second half and I think we showed a better face. Unfortunately we couldn’t get back on the scoresheet and get points.

“We know the quality they have. They have big players, they’re on top of the league for many years, so we knew what to expect today.

“We did alright, we could have done better, but now it’s too late, so we focus on the Friday game (against Nottingham Forest).”

While there was obvious disappointment at losing the game, the Blues could find plenty of positives at the competitive nature of the contest away from home against one of the most successful sides in world football.

Diop says those sentiments were echoed by Town boss Gary O’Neil in the dressing room after full-time.

The 29-year-old said: “I think it’s a bit of both. When you lose a game, straight after you’re always frustrated and sad. But when we’re going to have a look at it, we’re going to see stuff that we did well.

“There’s always good stuff to take from the game like that, especially against a team like this and I think we can work on it.

“He was obviously disappointed with the result, but he was happy with the second half we predicted. The face that we showed in the second half was better and he was happy with that. We have some good stuff to take from this game for the ones coming.

“It’s the group mentality. We have good players and a good mentality. Also the gaffer, it’s something that he wants to put in the group, stay together until the end.

“I think we showed some resilience in some of the games. We’ve scored some late goals, and I think we’re going to score more. If we can score early goals also, it’s better, it’s a good group.”

At Friday’s pre-match press conference, O’Neil hinted that the Blues would adapt their tactical approach heading to the Etihad in preparation to face Enzo Maresca’s star-studded side.

Town added Jacob Greaves to their defensive unit and appeared to switch to a back five, an adjustment that Diop says came naturally.

“It was okay,” he said. “Most of the players have already played in a back five before, so it was just some small adjustments to do. It wasn’t something really different, because we’ve all played before in a back five, so it was just small adjustments.”

Next up for the Blues is a Friday night clash with Nottingham Forest at Portman Road, looking to add to their nine points collected from seven Premier League matches so far.

Diop said: “We’re looking forward to getting back at Portman Road against Forest. It’s going to be another tough game, and we’re ready to play on Friday.”