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McKenna: That We've Been Ahead in So Many Games is a Big Positive - Ipswich Town News

Manager Kieran McKenna has been reflecting on the Blues dropping 27 points from winning positions over the course of the Premier League season, more than any other side.

Twelve of those points were dropped in home games and a further 15 on their travels, while Town would be 15th in a table based on first halves alone on 37 points.

"It's both a stat that you can take, not pride in because we're not in a situation to take pride in it, but I think it's a reflection of a lot of good work.

"The fact that the way we've started games, our first-half performances, our first-half results very often have been at a really high level. In terms of a half-time league table I know where we're at on that and we're in a position that we'd be delighted with. I think that reflects a lot of good work.

"The fact that we haven't been able to win as many games as we would have liked and a lot of times in the games that we've had the lead and we haven't been able to hold on to the lead, is one area where the gap shows up the most.

"Every challenge you have is multifaceted, but a lot of them come down to the financial gap in the Premier League, to the jump that we've had and if other teams have a bench full of international calibre players, that certainly makes it a challenge. 

"If the physicality needed from us to compete in the game, to get a lead, to be in a good position in the game is of the level that it is, then you're going to likely be more tired than teams and players who aren't working as hard as you in that part of the game, or have played at the level for a lot longer.

"And then, the fact that you've got a team that haven't played together pretty much every week is a team that is still growing and learning into each other.

"If you make a jump like we did, then there's a necessity, in my opinion, in order to be successful, you're going to have to make a lot of changes to the squad, which means that you don't have the familiarity of Arsenal last week and you've got [Martin] Odegaard, Ben White, [Bukayo] Saka, who are four or five seasons down the right wing together, playing against a left wing that's probably never played together or won't have played together more than a handful of times.

"So there's the experience of playing together and then, of course, there's the experience of the Premier League, which is the challenge of playing at the level and all those things. But I think that is more tied to a lot of other challenges that you have.

"As I've said, there's no quick or easy answer to any problem that you'll have as a team in our position or we already would have found it. The fact that we've been ahead very, very often and competed in so many games is a big, big positive or a reflection of a lot of positive work.

"The fact that we haven't held on to enough of those results is, of course, a big disappointment and in certain areas I'm sure we could do better as a club. I think there's certain areas of that are just the inevitability of the challenge that we faced.”

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