Blues boss Kieran McKenna paid full credit to Maidstone following the National League South side’s 2-1 FA Cup victory over the Blues at Portman Road and admitted it was “a horrible game to lose”.

Goals from Lamar Reynolds and Sam Corne sandwiched Jeremy Sarmiento’s first home goal for the Blues to see the non-league side to a famous victory.

“First of all, it’s full credit to Maidstone, it’s a fantastic day for them, they worked ever so hard for it,” McKenna said.

“Of course, they rode their luck as well, but they were very, very clinical and they showed a fantastic spirit to get the result.

“It’s a bad day for us and it’s a lot of disappointment and we’re going to have to live with that and produce a response next week.

“I thought we started ever so well, I can’t really fault the attitude. We prepared the game well, we started terrifically and that’s irrespective of the level of the opponent.

“I thought it was a really good start to the game, we had big chances, we hit the woodwork a couple of times, the keeper produced some fantastic saves and the longer the game goes on like that, our belief drops a little bit.

“They defend with more resolution and at that stage they’re hoping for a moment and they got it with the corner.

“We had an injury on the edge of the box that we should have communicated better on the pitch. They broke away and got the goal that really put the tie to life for them.

“I think we’ve had 38 shots on goal, the opposition have had two, we need to be, of course, much more clinical than we were. They were incredibly clinical with their two and they defend with great resolution in their goal and full credit to them for that.”

McKenna felt Sarmiento was fouled ahead of Maidstone’s second goal: “I thought there was pretty clear foul that led to the ball being given away.

“Having said that, their reaction was faster than ours to break for goal and again, it was a really good finish. But I thought it was a foul.”

Town also appeared to have a very good shout for a penalty in the second half when George Edmundson looked to be tripped, Premier League referee Anthony Taylor instead booking the Blues defender for a dive.

“I haven’t seen the replay, it looked like it live, to be honest,” McKenna said. “Maybe the fall can sometimes go against you, but it looked like his foot was kicked at the time but I haven’t seen it back.”

The result illustrated that the magic of cup is still alive with shocks still happening every round.

“We really didn’t want to be on the end of one and we prepared the game well and respected the opponent and did some good things in the game,” McKenna reflected.

“But that’s cup competitions, it happens every year, it happens all over the world, it’s happened to better teams than us before in terms of being knocked out by a side in the lower reaches, and it’s Maidstone’s day.

“Of course, We’ve had lots of good days over the last couple of years here, we’ve not had too many bad ones, but today is their day and they deserve to enjoy their celebrations and we wish them all the best for the next round.”

McKenna made 10 changes, as he has so often in cup matches, but felt that wasn’t a factor in the defeat.

“We’ve been consistent with that,” he said. “We did it for Wolves in the Carabao Cup this year, for example and won the game.

“We utilised the squad in the cup competitions, it’s a necessity for us really with the competition and the level that we’re competing with in the Championship this year and with how much of a stretch that is for our players.

“We need to utilise the squad, we utilise it every game in the league, to be honest, we make five subs pretty much every game and we utilise it in the cup competitions.

“We’ve been consistent with that. I think the team today, certainly had the quality to win the game.

“I think we created more than enough chances to win the game. Many aspects of the performance were good enough to win the game, apart from the most important bits, which is putting the ball in the net and stopping them doing it. That’s why we’re out of the cup.”

Quizzed on his emotions, whether he was angry or frustrated by the result, McKenna responded: “Anger usually comes if there was a lack of effort from the players and I didn’t think there was that. I didn’t think they showed any lack of respect for the opponent, I didn’t think there was any lack of effort on the pitch.

“I thought we tried, I thought we created lots of opportunities. Nobody planned to not take them, their goalkeeper had a fantastic game, they made fantastic blocks.

“The goals, and certainly the first goal, is something that we need to learn from. But I think it’s more disappointment at this stage, disappointment for the supporters mostly and for everyone at the football club that we’ve not managed to go through to the next round of the cup, which the club hasn’t done in a long time [2007] and we’ve been knocked out at home in front of a full stadium to a lower league team.

“Of course, it’s a horrible game to lose and it’s a bad day for us, but, honestly, I don’t have too many complaints about the efforts of the players.”

Looking ahead to next week’s Championship match at Preston North End, McKenna was asked whether it was important for his side to block out this result.

“We’ve certainly got to find the right response,” he said. “I don’t necessarily think it’s just about blocking it out because I think every experience we go through, we go through taking something from it.

“Of course, it’s a bad experience to go through but we have to go through it as a group, taking something from it. We have to take the lessons from it and try and find a way to utilise it to make us stronger.

“That’s what the next few days will be about at the training ground and we need to re-find our focus for Preston next weekend and prepare well again to try and go and deliver a performance there and make sure that we’re competitive in the last 18 games in the league.”

Asked if he is confident he can add a striker before Thursday’s deadline, McKenna confirmed he wants to add two.

“We want a couple, to be fair,” he said. “We’ve lost bodies over the course of the transfer window and we needed to add in that area anyway.

“That’s still the target and we’re still hopeful. I’ve said many times, January is a tough window, we have limitations in terms of what we can access but we’re going to work hard as a club to do that over the next few days.”

Photo: TWTD

Stato added 16:50 - Jan 27 KM is a talented fella on his way to the prem but we lost today because their manager wanted it more than KM did. Bobby & Alf lost their fair share of shock results but nothing coming even close to this. KM has plenty to learn before he can be spoken about in the same breath as our great managers and has Burley also above him in the list of best Ipswich managers.
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ricardo55555 added 16:54 - Jan 27 This is football and that is why we love it. We dominated the game, and 9 times out of 10 if we played in a similar vein , it would have been a victory. The weaker team can always win if fortune favours them.They had 2 shots to our 38. Clearly the better team lost. But in football the worse team always have a chance. This day we were very unfortunate to lose. Particularly as VAR would have spotted the foul for their second. To be honest the match should have been about 4-1 to us on balance of play and chances. If we had scored early as we deserved, they couldn’t just sit and park the bus. McKenna is a very intelligent man. His reaction was spot on. Not getting cross shows poise and thoughtfulness and acceptance of probabilities going against you on occasions.

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Suffolkboy added 16:57 - Jan 27 I suppose it’s only very natural for ITFC fans ( or any disappointed group) to feel it necessary to publicly vent emotion : totally understandable ! Not acceptable ,however, is to totally lose perspective and feel it right to demand or determine the approach and attitude of the Club’s most successful Manager for decades . He’s a job to do , a business to progress and ,as many have said he’s not one to publicly take any staff to task in front of media outlets . We can ,equally, be certain that with his analytical approach not much , if anything,will have gone unnoticed . The everyday at ITFC features self analysis, team critique and renewed focus ; why should any one somewhat recklessly think one ( sad) loss will change all that’s so admirable about our smashing ITFC . Personally I’m upset at some of what I saw, disappointed in the outcome ,but also would ,in a confidential setting, be furious with the often apparently uncoordinated ,and uncertain . I admire K M’s appreciative and compelling respect for M U , just wish it’d have been us going forward ! COYB

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blue86 added 16:58 - Jan 27 @Mccarthy is God, your name sums you up! Let alone your comment lol, what about the whole picture? and what McKenna has done since he has arrived? Go and have a word with yourself.
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Saxonblue74 added 16:59 - Jan 27 Groundhog, that's one of the most absurd things I've ever read on TWTD! Are you seriously suggesting that this one game defines McKenna as a mansger?!
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NorthLondonBlue2 added 16:59 - Jan 27 A real embarrassment for us today and great credit must go to Maidstone. Let’s hope this provides the impetus, or kick up the rear we need to get back on track for the remainder of the season.
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NorthLondonBlue2 added 17:00 - Jan 27 A real embarrassment for us today and great credit must go to Maidstone. Let’s hope this provides the impetus, or kick up the rear we need to get back on track for the remainder of the season.
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stevieiriswattii added 17:05 - Jan 27 As always the embarrassment is with the over reaction of some of our fans. Disgrace, abysmal! Give me a break. Have you watched any other games of the last couple of years? Did you watch todays game? 38 shots v 2. . It’s a once in a lifetime result and stats. Lucky, unlucky, that’s about the short of it. Onwards against Preston, where the real supporters will be. Uppa Towen. Congrats to Maidstone.

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TimmyH added 17:11 - Jan 27 I thought we started the game well but where McK says he can't fault the attitude I thought we went quite pedestrian at times thereafter. He should also know going by that a number of players aren't up to the standard required or have gone off the boil - Aluko, Taylor, Ball, Broadhead. Also is it me or are we generally poor from corners, strange that we have such a good assist to goals ratio from Davis, but not a fan of his out swingers. We could of played for another 20 minutes today and not scored and certainly not from a corner.

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Europablue added 17:13 - Jan 27 KM said it perfectly. The players put in the effort so he's not angry at them. It's not effective to show anger every time you lose if they didn't do anything to get angry about. As a fan I took the weekend off. I wanted to win, but our focus is on the league so I really don't care how embarrassing it is to lose one match if it means we refocus for the league.
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HopefulBlue69 added 17:22 - Jan 27 I think it's true to say we probably weren't going to win the cup but the added prize money would have helped in the Financial fair play situation. Focussing on the league is the sensible thing but the thing is @Europablue, do you think we have the squad to be successful if we finish in the play off places... Today isn't a one off in that a number of players have been off their game for a while.

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Europablue added 17:27 - Jan 27 If you don't want this result to affect our confidence in the league then you say exactly what KM said. If KM got really angry like some have said he would only lose the dressing room or hurt their confidence
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raycrawfordswig added 17:28 - Jan 27 Sort it out
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VanDusen added 17:29 - Jan 27 If anyone can name a single other game Ipswich have ever mustered 38 shots then perhaps they could say we didn't want it. But really sometimes these days happen and everything - particularly the utterly awful and biased reffing - went against us today. McKenna sounded gutted in his interview, but let's see a cup run tire put Leicester and Leeds (and maybe Soton too) whilst we gather ourselves for the push of our lives. I'd much rather we had our off day today than in the league...

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barrystedmunds added 17:43 - Jan 27 I couldn’t give a flyin toss of us being out of the FA Cup but the nature of our exit doesn’t sit comfortable. Looking round at the other team selections would suggest most managers at this stage of the competition will also tinker with their teams not necessarily for progression in the cup but more for their season ambitions. The match statistics tell you all you need to know although I admit the only stat that matters is the balls in the back of the net. One of those early chances had gone in…….. Sutton (England B failed striker) most annoyingly predicted a 3 nil win to us but forewarned that the hiccup would come if KMcK made too many changes!! Not a good day by any standards but I measure todays result by what has gone before in the last 18 months and accept everyone is susceptible to days like this.

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RobsonWark added 17:46 - Jan 27 Well done Maidstone Town. I hope you get a draw away to Man United in next round - big payday and amazing day for players and fans. Today is a prime example of why I will never buy a ticket for a cup match at Portman Road. 10 changes. 10 individuals on the pitch who have never played with each other week in week out will never be a team.
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Gforce added 17:50 - Jan 27 At least we haven't got a horrendously long trip to Plymouth,for a replay,unlike Leeds ! All we can do is put this one down to experience,bring in those two strikers next week,to give the squad a much needed boost and kick on ! Onwards and upwards coyb.
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HopefulBlue69 added 17:57 - Jan 27 Im not suggesting that KMc should have said anything different, as yes a short term rant today would not have benefited the player relationship long-term... I just hope that it's not just 2 strikers that we're hoping to bring in... We need more than that and we can free up some squad spaces by getting rid of some deadwood... It lovely being loyal to the likes of Aluko and ball as nd Taylor, but if we can't rely on them when they come in on rotation , are they worth the squad place???

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ChrisR added 18:21 - Jan 27 Worst result in IFTC history . So who is to blame ?
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RobsonWark added 18:25 - Jan 27 Could it get any worse. Channel 4 news just said "Could minnows Maidstone Fc pull off one of the greatest shocks in FA Cup history to reach the last 16?".
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LooksLikeChaplin added 18:27 - Jan 27 Some of the comments on here are idiotic. Just try to remember where we were before KM arrived. We had 30+ shots to their 2 today and on any other day would have won. Some of the fringe players looked very rusty but that's hardly surprising given their lack of gametime. We have 6 league games in Feb and that's what we need to concentrate on. KM and the club know we need strikers and 1 or 2 will arrive before deadline day.

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oldbri added 18:28 - Jan 27 To all the negative, we should have done better people, we had 38 shots they had two. What did you want from KMC, a shouting match on the TV. We are lucky to have our boss so think on. Anything to be said will be behind closed doors , not on the BBC. Let’s face it, we should have had a penalty, instead we get a booking, their second goal was after a foul, that wasn’t given, It was one of those games, not Armageddon. COYB.

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Letchworth_Blue added 19:05 - Jan 27 Put whatever spin on it you like, we should not be losing to Maidstone.
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dirtydingusmagee added 19:16 - Jan 27 I have no problems with K Mac, he has done a brilliant job, but watching that display today i wouldnt fancy watching the playoffs , We can be woeful ,in front of goal and a clinical finisher imo looks unlikely in this window. I for one didnt expect promotion this season but having got this far it would be gutting to see us blow it now ,because of lack of fire power .

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BlueySwede added 19:22 - Jan 27 Some over the top reactions..as expected. Not nice to be on the wrong side of a cup upset. We should have been 2 up after 15 minutes. Just one small critisism of McKenna today. Aluko was superb in his first season for us, but his legs are gone. Should not have played today, in my opinion.
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