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McKenna: Back Three Have Been Very Important - Ipswich Town News

Manager Kieran McKenna has praised his back three, who he believes have given his side a solid base.

Janoi Donacien, Luke Woolfenden and George Edmundson have started all five of McKenna’s games in charge, keeping three clean sheets, having initially come together as a trio in interim boss John McGreal’s final match against Sunderland.

Behind them in goal, Christian Walton has played all but one of McKenna's matches, his first game against Wycombe which ended 1-0 to the Blues with Vaclav Hladky between the sticks.

"They've been very important,” McKenna said. "Obviously, that is an area of the pitch where I would like to have more consistency and probably not so many changes game to game and be able to build from a solid base.

"I think when we do that and we're able to do that, it enables us to have more flexibility higher up the pitch in terms of what system and positions we want to fill, and also in terms of personnel.

"So having that consistent basis for the last few games has been helpful. All the players in that unit are doing well, I feel like the system helps them all and suits them all in different ways, and they've obviously been keeping a good number of clean sheets but also contributing in attack.

"George [Edmundson] and Janoi [Donacien] have been very aggressive with overlapping and underlapping runs, and Luke [Woolfenden] in the middle of that has been distributing the ball well and organising and leading the backline.

"So, we're happy with the balance and we're happy with the personnel. Obviously, we have Cameron Burgess behind that, who is training well, an experienced player, and ready to contribute when we need him. So I'm happy with the options that we've got.”

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