If you lose your opening game of the season away from home, it is like a fist landing on your arm; you feel it but the pain soon fades and is quickly forgotten about.

But if you lose that first match on home turf, against unfancied opposition, then it is like having a punch thrust into your gut, which drops you to your knees and leaves you feeling sick.

The painful effects of losing to Preston at Portman Road on Saturday instantly evaporated the Blue Army's high hopes for a bright start to the campaign.

For a vocal minority this meant the club was in crisis; the new signings are useless and ultimately Jim Magilton has to be sacked.

The more reasonable of us could see this defeat for what it was, just one defeat out of a league campaign of 46 matches, where we still have 135 points to play for.

Three years ago, Reading lost their opening game of the season at home to an equally unfancied Plymouth side and managed to win 106 of those remaining 135 points in their record-breaking march to the Premiership.

So any talk of a 'crisis' after 90 minutes of football is ridiculous.

Yes, Jim's decision to field youngsters Tommy Smith and Pim Balkestein in defence backfired but it is highly unlikely this will be the same line-up once the transfer window closes at the end of the month. Ivan

Campo has already been signed to shore things up and at the time of writing, Ben Thatcher is close to doing the same.

That's not to say the signing of Campo has had me jumping for glee.

The Spaniard would seem to be the obvious answer to who should partner Gareth McAuley in the heart of the Town defence but it seems a risk when he has rarely played in this position during his six years in English football at Bolton.

If the Champions League winner is destined to play in the midfield anchor role he made his own at the Reebok, then it brings into question what role Veliche Shumulikoski will fill?

The midfield Jim put out against Preston will certainly be bolstered by David Norris, when he's fit, and Jon Walters, if he stays at Portman Road.

While the re-emergence of rumours about David Nugent and Shola Amoebi signing, indicates Town are still in the hunt for a new striker.

Even Magilton's harshest critic should at least wait until the transfer window closes on January 31 to make their judgement.