Town boss Kieran McKenna felt his team were relentless until the final few minutes as they comfortably beat Forest Green Rovers 4-0 at Portman Road.

Conor Chaplin netted twice and Nathan Broadhead and sub Freddie Ladapo once each as the Blues defeated the bottom club with relative ease, Chaplin having got them up and running in only the third minute.

“Good start, early chances, early goal,” McKenna said. “That gives you a bit more of a feeling of control in the game because you know you’re ahead so when you’re facing a lot of bodies you can afford to be a little bit more patient, knowing that more opportunities will come because they’ll have to come out.

“And that was the flow of the game really. I felt we showed a nice balance between being patient but also being really aggressive and created a lot of chances in the game and had good concentration at the back.

“[The early goal] definitely helped. Of course, you always want a fast start and if you do that you give yourself a better chance to get an early goal and once you get the early goal, the feeling of the game is different because when you’ve got domination of the ball and they’re defending their box, you have that cushion and you know you can afford to wait for the right opportunities to come.

“It gave us a good boost in the game but I think the mentality of the group and the way they approached the game was really good and we were set for the game today, and whether we’d have scored early or late, I’d have had full confidence in the players.”

And having got their noses in front, the Blues kept going for the full 90 minutes looking to add to their goals.

“When you bring on subs that helps as well because they’re eager to get amongst it and Freddie managed to do so and I thought the subs did really well,” he continued.

“That helped give us a freshness and legs late in the game as well and we were pretty relentless until the last minutes.”

In addition to his classy volley, Broadhead created Chaplin’s opening goal with a clever first-time pass.

“I think he’s a fantastic footballer,” McKenna said of his £1.5 million January signing from Everton.

“We need to build him up in the right way, build him up from a physical point of view to where we think he can get to, help him understand his qualities and how he can be effective but he’s a very, very good footballer and we should enjoy having him here and seeing him improving.”

Chaplin has now scored 17 goals in all competitions, 14 in League One, and looks set to become the Blues’ first 20-goal man since Daryl Murphy in the 2014/15 season when the Irishman netted 27, all in the league.

“That’s good for him, another couple of good goals,” McKenna reflected. “He’ll be the first one to say that for a player like him who is effective in the box, it’s the quality of the service and the chances that you create for him and the players as a team performed very well in terms of breaking the opposition down and putting the chances there for him.

“And we know he’s a very good finisher in the box, so if you can get him on the end of things in the penalty area, there’s a good chance he’ll score.”

McKenna says January signings Broadhead, George Hirst and Harry Clarke are all increasingly integrated into the team.

“Him [Hirst] and Harry [Clarke], I thought today was a good step forward for both of them,” McKenna said.

“It’s not easy joining a team in January when you’ve not been playing regular minutes. Harry played good minutes but was a little bit in and out of a different team and in and out of different positions and different systems and George hasn’t played too much, and Nathan was in and out of a team which has been struggling a little bit playing a different style.

“So it’s not easy to adapt to this club, our style, our intensity straight away. It was always going to take a few weeks minimum but I still think they’ll improve over the next couple of months as well.

“But I thought today was another good step in that direction. You could see an increased understanding from the other players of how we can utilise them most effectively and an increase in understanding from them of what the requirements are from the team and their roles.

“Good to get the three of them making another step forward and good to get Massimo [Luongo] on the pitch as well, his first league minutes for us and we’ve missed having that option over the last few weeks, good to get him going as well.

“He’s got a really good feel for the game. I think you’ve been able to see that the couple of times he’s come on, in the first game against Burnley he came on as well.

“He’s got a really good game sense, he’s got a really good feel for the game, where the ball’s going to land, what needs to be done in any given moment and that’s why he’s able to get to the feel and the speed of the game straight away. You can see that in training, so it’s good to have that option for us now.”

Having ended a run of three successive draws, the Blues now need to back up today’s win with victories in their next three games, all against sides in the bottom seven with a trip to MK Dons up next.

“Yes, we want to try and win the next game next weekend,” the Northern Irishman continued. “That’s five games unbeaten, two wins, three draws and we want to go and try and win the next game, but all we can do is take it a game at a time like we did going into today.

“We’ll have a little bit of recovery time and train well next week and get ready for the next challenge.”

While the Blues were picking up three vital points, Plymouth dropped two as they drew 0-0 at home to Fleetwood and Bolton were beaten 1-0 at Wycombe.

“I haven’t checked, to be honest,” McKenna said. “I’ll see the results later on. We need to focus on ourselves. Today’s a good win, another good performance at home and we need to think 100 per cent just about the next game.”

The game saw the club and fans pay tribute to Sir Bobby Robson on what would have been his 90th birthday.

“It’s an honour to be here on a day like today,” he said. “I think it was a great addition to the day. It’s an honour and a privilege to be in charge of the team on that anniversary and nice moments when the crowd were applauding.

“I think we scored in the 78th minute, which was brilliant, and then Leif [Davis] I think hit the post in the 81st at the end of a fantastic flowing move from Christian Walton that I’m sure he would have enjoyed, so if that one had gone in that was the only other thing we could have asked for today.

“But it was nice that the fans and the club honoured that landmark and nice that the team could contribute to the day as well.”

Photo: TWTD

WeZBurnZ added 18:33 - Feb 18 8 points adrift at the end of Feb . Looks tough from here.
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Saxonblue74 added 18:43 - Feb 18 Good to see us keeping the tempo til the final whistle, it really aggravates me when we're winning comfortably and take our foot off the gas. Fans want to see goals.
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Gforce added 18:49 - Feb 18 Have to admit I wasn't sure about Luongo, when he first signed, but he certainly proved me wrong today.Very comfortable on the ball and his general link play was excellent.He could make a real difference alongside Morsy in the remaining games. Millsy was also giving him high praise on the radio. Hopefully Mckenna will give him the start he deserves next week.
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cornishnick added 18:51 - Feb 18 Listen. We won, we won comfortably. Played well. Top two might be difficult, but we're still in with a decent chance. Who thought Plymouth would drop 2 points home to Fleetwood? And if it is the playoffs, so be it. That Wembley day out against Barnsley all those years ago was one of the best days of my life (after my wedding and the birth of my kids of course). So let's park any negativity and rock on.

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ArnieM added 18:51 - Feb 18 Very good performance today. The early goal is everything, and gives us a platform to build up9m. Don't score that and the longer the game goes on the more it gapfavours the opponent. WeZBurnZ …have you seen Plymouth's next 4-5 games? Lol
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Gilesy added 18:59 - Feb 18 The day at Wembley was much better than my wedding day and to be honest, the kids are all bitterly disappointing.
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ringwoodblue added 19:16 - Feb 18 Despite his recent critics, I continue to real like McKenna and the way he goes about his business. He is a very modern manager but is also veryrespectful of our history.
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Bert added 19:20 - Feb 18 Calm and reflective from the boss. SBR stand unusually flat today and not a song for KMcK.
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Saxonblue74 added 19:20 - Feb 18 Cornishnick, it's illegal to start a sentence with "listen" unless you're a manager or a pundit! ;-)
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Bazza8564 added 19:38 - Feb 18 We moved the ball far more quickly today, we have 3 games coming up we must win and Massimo had a blinding 20 minutes. Lets go smash MKD
5

jas0999 added 19:48 - Feb 18 Good result today. But tougher tests to come. Let's see how we do at Barnsley, Bolton and Derby. With the significant investment KM has had, we must do well.
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Lathers added 20:21 - Feb 18 Let's be relentless at MK…
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ThaiBlue added 21:56 - Feb 18 Everyone getting excited we beat fgr and everything is rosy lets beat the teams up the top no we dont.
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Bluejake added 02:57 - Feb 19 As ArnieM says Plymouth's next few games are tricky but so are SW's with Charlton (a), Posh (h), Portsmouth (a), Bolton (h) and Barnsley (a).
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Len_Brennan added 08:10 - Feb 19 Plymouth have 3 tough games out of their next 4, but they should win all 10 of the final games in their run in. Now of course they won't, & teams fighting for survival often pull out some surprising results, but objectively speaking we'd have to be looking at a very unlikely collapse from them to allow us finish above them; we have more difficult games to play. We have to accept the reality of where we are now, stop dropping points carelessly, pay more attention to those behind us to ensure that we keep a buffer to 7th, & then hope that Plymouth completely blow it. (It's the hope that kills you!) Derby can go level with us if they win their game in hand, Barnsley can go above us if they win theirs & Bolton are only 1 point behind, albeit with an extra game played. But crucially, Wycombe would only be 4 points behind us if they win their game in hand, & are in good form. It would have been better for us to have Bolton beating them yesterday, just to keep a healthy gap to 7th. I know we don't want to be thinking this way, but the reality is that Wycombe are a bigger threat to us than we are to Plymouth (7 points with a game in hand v 8 points).

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Saxonblue74 added 08:44 - Feb 19 Plymouth should win their last 10 Len? They should beat Fleetwood at home but they didn't! There's plenty more twists and turns to come.
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Len_Brennan added 08:52 - Feb 19 @Saxonblue74 I think I covered all that in my post.
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Saxonblue74 added 09:43 - Feb 19 Indeed you did Len. Bit early for me on a Sunday!
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inghamspur added 10:01 - Feb 19 Did what we needed to do against what were effectively a pub team yesterday. Can't let up and let things drift again now, as anything can still happen ("It's a funny ol' game"). Couldn't believe Ladapo's miss at the end!!
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Gforce added 11:43 - Feb 19 It's not over until the fat lady sings ! (If I'm allowed to say that in our new woke world)
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Marinersnose added 13:51 - Feb 19 Entertaining game and a decent performance against poor opponents. Some very good goals and good individual performances especially Broadhead. My concern remains that we aren't clinical enough in front of goal . Two players missing the target from inside six yards which at any level is poor. Against better opposition we may only get a couple of opportunities to score. A good confidence booster and Massimo back on the grass. Three winnable games now before tough away games . A chance to build .

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Toronto_Tractor added 15:55 - Feb 19 The top two are setting quite a high bar at the moment. The likelihood is that the average point per game will drop off below 2.125 for second place... something thats happened in all previous seasons. Its part of the reason we are frustrated because those two teams are doing so well. 10 wins from 14 would be tough, but would probably see us promoted.
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Linkboy13 added 10:20 - Feb 20 It was a very special day celebrating what would have been Sir Bobby's 90th birthday but i was disappointed to hear on the radio that his family decided to attend the Newcastle home game. What people fail to remember is Newcastle sacked him. Im sure if it had been Bobby's decision he would have been at Portman road where he's incredible managers career kicked off RIP Bobby.

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