McKenna: Proud of the Players and Proud of the Supporters Tuesday, 7th Feb 2023 22:51 Town boss Kieran McKenna said he was really proud of his players and of the fans after the Blues had held Championship leaders Burnley until injury time in their FA Cup fourth-round replay at Turf Moor, the Clarets netting a 94th-minute winner through on-loan Southampton striker Nathan Tella to take the tie 2-1. Earlier, Tella had put the Lancastrians ahead in the opening minute before George Hirst levelled for Town two minutes later with his first goal for the club. Just over 1,000 Blues fans made the long trip to the North-West and made themselves heard throughout and particularly after the final whistle. “Really proud of the players and proud of the supporters,” McKenna said. “I thought it was a very good performance against an outstanding side. “We went toe-to-toe, we played bravely with them without the ball, we represented ourselves how we wanted to, especially after conceding so early in the game where we just got caught out by the speed and quality of the opponent that we don’t face very often. “To show the response that we did, I think the players can take great pride in it and that’s across both fixtures. “The key bit for us now is how we can use this tonight and use the lessons and the level of the opponent and the level that we showed across the two games to give us a boost and help us for the rest of the season.” One or two Town players protested after Tella’s winning goal after Ashley Barnes had clashed aerially with Luke Woolfenden as the ball over the top was played forward. “I thought it was a foul,” McKenna said. “It’s what Ashley Barnes does very well, to be fair, he uses his body very well. I thought he played the man and led with his arm a little bit, but it could certainly have been given. “But in the end it’s a great finish and it was such a tight tie, both teams had their moments. I thought we had some big moments in the first half, a couple of moments in the second half, but they were getting stronger later in the game and were able to bring on really, really good substitutes as well. “We were going to get knocked out of the FA Cup at some point, it was unlikely that this was going to be our year to win it, so the way to do that for me is representing yourself and the club very, very well in terms of the performance going out to a very good team higher up the pyramid than us and showing that we can compete in a tie and we want to continue in the direction of the travel to be playing in this level of game more often.” The Blues manager made nine changes from the weekend draw at Cambridge - only skipper Sam Morsy and George Edmundson remained - and says a number of those who came into the team gave him something to think about ahead of Saturday’s big League One clash at home to Sheffield Wednesday. “Plenty,” he said. ”I thought there were excellent individual performances as there were across the two games. “I think there are lots of players who played tonight who can say they’ve put themselves in a place to compete for minutes, not just on Saturday but we have another league game on Tuesday, we have some Saturday-Tuesdays coming up in the league. “It shows we have a squad who are fit and ready to play, and I think lots of them can take pride in their individual performances tonight.” At this morning’s press conference, McKenna said three or four players hadn’t travelled due to knocks with Wes Burns, Massimo Luongo and Lee Evans all absent from the 20-man squad. “Wes, Massimo and Lee Evans,” the Northern Irishman confirmed. “All with injuries that we’re going to have to assess through the week.” Having gone behind so early on, Town might have struggled to get back into the game, particularly after the disappointing result and display at Cambridge, but they hit straight back showing a spirit which pleased their boss. “We had to show resilience in that moment, especially with the weekend not having been one that we were happy with, so in the face of a very strong team away from home it would have been easy to wilt,” he reflected. “But I thought we showed great courage. Courage in football can be physical but it also can be in terms of how you’re playing and I thought we showed great courage to want the ball, to try and take the ball in difficult situations all night and showed courage to try and push a very good footballing team high up the pitch. “When you do that, that opens the game up to a really intense game with spaces, which we like and which we managed to use those spaces for the goal. “I really liked how brave we were tonight. I thought Cameron Humphries probably epitomised that as a 19-year-old again, the positions he was willing to show for the ball, accept the ball, take the ball in tight areas and the way he was ready to put his body on the line for the team and the club was representative of what we want to be about.” Hirst opening his Town goals account was another positive aspect of the evening and McKenna felt the on-loan Leicester man put in his most impressive display for the Blues so far. “I thought it was his best performance as well by some way for us,” he said. “I thought he showed the attributes why we really like him and why we wanted him here. “I thought his all-round game was excellent. A really good goal, I thought Kayden [Jackson] was excellent again, but there were a lot of good individual performances. “Nice for George to get the goal, lots of individuals can be proud of their performances, but for me the key bit is how we use the lessons and the feelings from this game, how we use that going into the games we have coming up.”
Photo: TWTD Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
You need to login in order to post your comments |
   Blogs 295 bloggersIpswich Town Polls[ Vote here ] |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
