McKenna: It Doesn’t Come Without Bravery From the Boys at the Back Tuesday, 7th Mar 2023 23:08 Boss Kieran McKenna praised his team’s bravery on the ball from the back following the Blues’ 3-0 home victory over Accrington Stanley. Nathan Broadhead put Town in front in the first half with Kayden Jackson and Kyle Edwards netting in the second to secure the victory. “A good result, some good things about the performance,” McKenna said. “Another clean sheet, three goals at home. A couple of very good team goals and a wonderful individual goal, so lots of positives to take.” Broadhead’s fourth home goal in four games saw the Blues on their way to victory, Massimo Luongo and Jackson having caught the eye in the build-up but McKenna says it went back further than that. “I haven’t had a chance to watch it back yet, but there was lots to like about the goal,” he said. “I think for me, the first point to make on the goal is that it starts from the boys’ bravery on build up. “We’re playing against an aggressive team tonight, who came to press against us and the players starting with Christian Walton onwards have had to be really, really brave on build-up and we know that if we do that, it creates the space higher up the pitch and we have the players and the set-up and the organisation to go and exploit that space. “But it doesn’t come without the bravery from the boys at the back. From Christian to stay on the ball, to entice the press, to be willing to play it into tight areas to people who have pressure on them. “It takes a lot of work and a lot of development and a lot of time and effort and a lot of commitment and a lot of bravery from the players, and a lot of organisation behind it to make sure that we haven’t, so far, conceded a goal from it and we concede the least chances in the whole league from building up. “I think the bit of the goal that probably goes unseen is how we create that space and the bravery that we showed all night tonight and that we’ve shown all season to play in that way, and the way that creates space higher up the pitch for us to connect through and utilise that space and be the top scorers in the league is probably something that the boys probably don’t get quite enough credit for. “But the final ball and the finish is great to see and great for the forward players to get those numbers.” McKenna had praise for Jackson as well as Janoi Donacien, who came into the team: “I thought he and Janoi coming into the team both having not started in the last few league games were both terrific. Both such good professionals, train and prepare right every day, ready to help the team. “Kayden I’ve spoken about so many times, he’s such a fantastic human, such a team player, such a learner. I think he’s such an asset to the football club and such a dangerous player. “He’s probably been unlucky because of the form of Wes [Burns] and the other people in different positions that he can play in, but I think he’s a big, big asset to a team, certainly a team that plays our style of football and every time he gets his opportunity in a number of different roles, he knows how to take those opportunities as long as the team is set-up to utilise his strength, which we’re trying to do at the moment.” The Blues boss was also pleased with Edwards’s late free-kick and says the former West Brom man remains an important member of the squad, despite his fleeting involvement. “I’m delighted for him, everyone’s delighted for him. He’s a popular man in the dressing room and he’s got a part to play for us,” he said. “He’s different to other players in the squad, he’s our best one-v-one player, he’s unique in his skillset in our squad in that way and he’s got a role to play, and I think he’s shown that. “He had a massive impact coming on against Cambridge when we might not have got the point in that we did in that game without his impact and he knows he’s got a part to play. “Of course, he wants to start more games as everybody does but he knows it’s a big and strong squad and we need players with different strengths and he knows what his strengths are and he knows how we can utilise them at different stages in different game states to help the squad to the end of the season, and he’s really buying into that.” Elsewhere, Plymouth, ahead of the Blues in second, came from a goal down to beat Derby 2-1 at Home Park but McKenna says Town can only concentrate on their own matches. “Our focus, of course, is on our results,” he said. “We can’t control what’s going on around us. Our points total is really good. I think that leaves us one point off our total for last season with 11 games still to play. “We’re in a really healthy position in terms of points and the results we got. There are two teams above us who have had fantastic seasons in terms of accumulating points. There are a lot of teams below us who would love to be where we are. “And all we can do is keep trying as best we can to win games. There are still 33 points to play for. “The pressure is going to be on Plymouth in front with the pack behind them chasing, but credit to them at the moment, they’ve picked up a lot of points and they’ve come out on the right side of an awful lot of margins and an awful lot of decisions and credit to them for that, and all us or any of the other teams can do is concentrate on ourselves, keep performing and try and pick up results.” Looking ahead to Saturday’s trip to Bolton, who have dropped to fifth, having won four on the spin and having kept five successive clean sheets, McKenna added: “It’s a nice way to go into the game. It’s a really good game, one of the most challenging games that we had last year in my first five months to the end of the season. “And they’ve improved this season. We had a really good match with them on the first day of the season and we’ve both gone on to have strong seasons, as a lot of people would have predicted watching that match on the first day. “It would be good to go there to test ourselves, to challenge ourselves against a good team and we’ll go there with belief, but also humility knowing that we’re going to have to work really hard and probably play better than we did tonight against a good team. But if we do that, we know we’ve got a good chance to go there and win.”
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