Town boss Kieran McKenna has outlined the reasons behind his side’s brave build-up from the back which has led to nervousness among some watching fans.
Following Tuesday’s 3-0 home win against Accrington, McKenna praised keeper Christian Walton and the defence for their build-up play, which he said helped open up space further up the field, leading to chances such as the one from which Nathan Broadhead scored the first goal.
However, Walton and his defenders drawing Accrington attackers before moving the ball on audibly led to a few nerves on the terraces, which McKenna says he understands.
"It’s normal emotions as a supporter, you want to see the ball at times far from your net, and that’s normal, we’re all football supporters as well, so I understand it,” McKenna said.
"I think for us, it’s to understand how we play and why we do certain things and certainly to understand the amount of work that goes in behind the scenes on how we play.
"And the players to understand the reasons why we want to do things on and off the ball and how to execute it well, and there’s a lot of that work goes on.
"I think probably in the case of the opponent the other night, the Accrington game, that type of game, Burton was similar, it’s a man-to-man game and if your goalkeeper has the ball, all 10 players on the outfield pitch are marked and if you pass to any of them then it’s going to be a 50/50 fight ball. And against Accrington a 50/50 fight ball and a scrappy game is going to suit the opponent more than us.
"One really important thing for us is that we create an overload to be able to control the game as we do and one way to create that overload is for your goalkeeper to have the bravery to wait on the ball, to delay on the ball and to attract an opposition forward because if you do that, then when one of their forwards is pressing your goalkeeper, then it’s 10-v-9 on the pitch and you can release a spare player and we have an overload and then we can move through the pitch and try and exploit that space.
"The players, of course, understand and fully believe in these things and really enjoy it and they’ve seen the rewards of it.
"It’s only one part of how we play but it’s a big part of why we, not just control games, that we have more possession than anyone else in the league, but more importantly a big part of the reason why we have far and away the most shots in the league, far and away the most expected goals in the league and why we’ve scored the most goals in the league is the way we create space higher up the pitch at times by building up.
"I think the supporters have been brilliant in my time and are so behind the team and are, I think, enjoying our football. Everyone I speak to is so positive about coming to Portman Road now compared to how they’ve enjoyed it in previous years. How they’re enjoying coming with their family and with their friends and with their children and how much everyone enjoys the games.
"And that’s great to see and we’d like to think that it’s something that we can be really proud of as a club in terms of being brave with our playing style and, for me as a manager, for the coaching staff and the players, they’re also always very proud when they see and they know how much work goes into things.
"And they see the rewards of that on the pitch, which are reflected in so many ways as a team, that being one of them.
"Of course we understand when there’s tension in the stadium and the ball is close to your goal, but on the other hand, I think we’ve done so well over the last 14 months, and I don’t want to over-egg it because football can always come back and bite you, but our record of building up and scoring goals from building up from the back is very good.
"And I don’t want to name it, but if anyone wants to go through and see how many goals we’ve conceded in the last 14 months from building up, then that would be there to see, but we’re also the team who concede the least shots from high presses in the league, which considering we’re probably the team who build up from the back the most in the league, that shows an underlying very good amount of work that goes in from the players.
"We fully understand where we’re at and the supporters have been fantastic and I’d just ask them to keep getting behind the players and try to enjoy the bravery and the skill levels and the amount of work that goes into developing a playing style, and a brave and attacking playing style as we do, and hopefully that’s something that we can all keep getting behind.”