Two goals from Alexander Isak and a powerful strike from Jacob Murphy saw the Magpies take a 3-0 lead into the break, with the former completing his hat-trick less than 10 minutes after the restart to wrap up the game.
“It was a tough day,” Chaplin said after the match. “It’s one that we’ve got to take on the chin and accept that we were second best.
“We’ve had tough days before, come through it and taken the learnings, which is what we need to do again. We’re not naïve enough to think that we’re to have a season in the Premier League and not have tough days as a newly-promoted team.
“We know that’s something that will come up in the season.
“I don’t think we’ve had many, that’s probably the hardest it’s been so far. That’s something that we need to rectify and look to improve going into the next one.”
Asked what went wrong, the 27-year-old replied: “Decision making, at times. Our game management wasn’t good enough for maybe a 15, 20-minute spell where it felt like the game was getting away from us.
“I don’t think a 2-0 scoreline would have been bad for us going in at half time because I felt like we actually were a threat going forward and that we had a few chances and moments where we felt like we could hurt them.
The 27-year-old made his seventh start in the Premier LeagueThe 27-year-old made his seventh start in the Premier League (Image: Ross Halls)
“2-0 at half time isn’t a disaster in terms of getting back into the game. The third goal is obviously a very poor goal to concede. We need to do better in moments.
“Even the second goal, we can look at as well. There are individual moments and actions that we need to own – own as individuals and own as a team – and do better.
“I don’t feel like we weren’t a threat. They played through us probably a similar amount of times that we played through them, but decision making at certain times wasn’t where it needed to be.”
The absence of Liam Delap clearly hurt. The physical striker was suspended for the game after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in the aftermath of last week’s 2-1 win at Wolves.
Against Newcastle, Town missed him. Eddie Howe’s side were able to win key battles with Ipswich’s attackers, which helped them take all three points.
“The way he’s been playing, the physicality and attributes that he has in a game like that, especially where their press is so strong,” Chaplin explained. “It was a full-cop press, one of the most aggressive presses that we’ve played against.
“Obviously you can look at that. It’s an area where he probably would have helped, but we didn’t have him today, so it’s something that we needed to deal with on the pitch and in the prep. It felt like we were prepped to do so.
“On the pitch, we didn’t do our part. We’ve got to own that.”
This was the first time that Ipswich have truly been outclassed so far this season. Even in disappointing defeats to West Ham and Everton, or against top-six sides like Liverpool and Manchester City, they remained competitive.
That wasn’t the case against Newcastle.
“It’s one that if we’re ever at 95 percent of our capacity, it’s never going to be enough in this league,” Chaplin admitted. “We need to be at 100 percent capacity every single day, especially on gameday.
Chaplin believes that the Blues could benefit from a 'reality check'Chaplin believes that the Blues could benefit from a 'reality check' (Image: Steve Waller)
“If we come off one, two, three, four percent, it’s not going to be enough.
“It’s a good reality check and maybe’s it’s needed. Maybe this game will help us down the road, maybe this game will help us in the next tough away day.
“You need to take the learnings from it. It’s one that we’re disappointed and angry about, but we know that we’re going to have tough days at times this season.”
Of course, the wait for a home win continues as a result. While there has been confidence that the frustrating run will end soon, there’s only so long where that can be said. Sooner or later, it has to lead to a victory.
“We feel like we’ve been good at home,” Chaplin argued. “Today wasn’t one of them, but we’ve been competitive in every single game.
“Today wasn’t that. I think that’s clear for everyone, but we know our form at home will be important and we need to start picking up more points here, definitely.”
Ipswich have experienced the highs and lows of the Premier League a lot recently. One day, you can show yourself as a top-quality team. On another, you may feel like you don’t belong at the level. Going from the win at Wolves to the defeat against Newcastle is a prime example.
Ipswich head to title-chasing Arsenal in their next Premier League matchIpswich head to title-chasing Arsenal in their next Premier League match (Image: Steve Waller)
For Chaplin, however, it’s a case of never being too high or too low.
“Premier League, football, sport in general,” he said. “I don’t want to repeat myself, but we knew that we’d have good days and bad days. We had a good day last week, it’s a very bad day today.
“It’s not about getting too low on these days, it’s about sticking together as a group and believing in what we can do next.”
It doesn’t get any easier for Ipswich, but some of their better performances have come against the strongest teams in the league. Perhaps the underdog mentality will help them against Arsenal and Chelsea in the two matches after Christmas.
“I think we have been [heavy underdogs] in every game this season and rightly so,” Chaplin stated.
“It’s not new territory for us, so we know exactly what that entails.”