Summer signing Matt Penney admitted that Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat to Millwall was tough to take but says he and his team-mates will learn from their mistakes ahead of Saturday’s season opener at home to Morecambe.

Benik Afobe netted twice and Jed Wallace once as the Championship Lions comfortably defeated the Blues.

“Obviously it’s a tough one to take but the main thing about pre-season is getting through it,” Penney said. “Everyone’s come through unscathed, people have got minutes into their legs.

“The result is very disappointing, but there are positives to take from it and we go again next Saturday, that’s the main target. We pick ourselves up and go again.”

While the result was a fair reflection of the game overall, Penney points out that Town were on top in a period prior to Afobe’s opening goal in the 39th minute with Wes Burns having hit the post.

“Before they scored, we were the dominant team, we’d had a good spell, and then their first goal was a bit hard to take,” the former Sheffield Wednesday man said.

“If you look back, we could stop it so we learn from these mistakes and, like I say, we move towards Saturday, we all focus on Saturday now when the real works starts.”

Reflecting further on the errors which led to the Millwall goals, the 23-year-old added: “These things happen in football, everyone makes mistakes, we learn from these.”

Penney has featured in every pre-season game and says he is ready for the campaign ahead.

“Yes, the legs are feeling good, I’m feeling fit,” he said. “I’m ready and raring to go when the gaffer calls upon me.

“I’m looking forward to the weekend now when the real work starts and we get back down to business.”

Saturday’s game was attended by only a few thousand fans, fewer than last week’s friendly against Crystal Palace, but with around 17,000 expected for Morecambe’s visit in a week’s time.

Penney is pleased to see fans back at grounds after almost a year and a half away and hopes the Blues can send them away having enjoyed a victory next weekend.

“Yes, I can’t fault them, they’ve been amazing,” he said. “We’ve missed them in stadiums, so it is really great to have them back in, so hopefully we can get back to winning ways on Saturday when it counts.”

Having joined the club on a free transfer after leaving the Owls at the end of June, Penney says he’s settled in well with everyone in and around the club playing their part.

“The boys have been great, the staff have been great,” he said. “And even around Ipswich the locals have been top notch. I can’t fault them.”

Photo: Matchday Images

number8 added 10:22 - Aug 1 You want tough games and tough days before you kick off proper. I really don't get all the negative comments - if you look at yesterday's friendlies lots of teams got beaten by a team a league higher and some didn't 🤷‍♂️. Bring on Saturday 👊
22

Cakeman added 10:30 - Aug 1 Fully agree number8. We now have good enough players to succeed but negativity will be the worst opponent to overcome. I don't understand negativity before we have kicked a league one ball.
13

Michael101 added 11:30 - Aug 1 I, still can,t wait for the season to start. It's been 8-10 years since I've felt this way.
10

90z added 11:38 - Aug 1 Does anyone know if ifollow will continue ? Nothing has been mentioned yet
1

dirtydingusmagee added 11:42 - Aug 1 only a friendly so no damage done, No injuries which is good.But those words ''pick ourselves up and go again '' and ''there are positives to take from it and we go again Saturday'' became very weary last season, hope its not going to be repeated too often . We will soon see who is up for the task , Morcombe should just be a sweetener to get us going .COYB .
5

eaprw01 added 11:52 - Aug 1 My season ticket arrived Sat its been 12 years since my last one, I'm now ready and fully motivated for what could be the start of our club returning to some resemblance of past highs, win or lose so long as the passion to win is there for all to see our supporters our town our county and beyond will be behind the team and management COYB.
9

poringlandblue added 13:02 - Aug 1 There's going to be 3 of us season ticket holder's travelling down to the Saturday home games by train from Norwich around 12/1 o'clock and was wondering whether others might like to join to make up the 4 group ticket discount or just to make up a group to travel with? Roll on Saturday 😊
0

Suffolkboy added 13:09 - Aug 1 As always ,especially in sport and coaching , ‘eliminate the negative ,accentuate the positive and don't mess with Mr In between !' . For certain losing a goal can be demoralising,but it should always be a signal to get up and go ,reassert self- belief and move on ! Just the same way as when scoring , never relax concentration ,focus and fire on with renewed determination ! What we all want to see is confidence ,resilience and enthusiastic commitment to the task and for every moment on the pitch ! COYB

2

Karlosfandangal added 13:11 - Aug 1 I think the negativity comes from every year of buying new players and building up hope of a good season. On paper yesterday seemed the same new player yet Town well beaten. Positivity is very easy destroy. Negativity is very hard to destroy. If we beat Morecombe on Saturday all will be fine lose to Newport and it will be doom a gloom on here
2

chepstowblue added 14:19 - Aug 1 The biggest worry is that we don't attack crosses that come into our box. I'm not sure that Woolfenden has ever headed the ball. He would certainly be left out for Edmunsson.... but Edmundson must be lacking match fitness. I hope we score a few, because we'll definitely be conceding plenty. Everybody's saying that we have a fairly straightforward start to the season....a Morecambe side who must be buzzing,Burton who finished last season in fantastic form, and Cheltenham who will have a field day against us from set pieces. It will be no surprise to me if we only have 1pt from the first 3 games.

0

Linkboy13 added 14:19 - Aug 1 I would tend to agree with him if we were showing signs of being a team unit. Let's hope we can grind out a result next Saturday. On a minor note i thought the away kit looked very classy better than last season's explosion at a paint factory shambles.
0

dirtydingusmagee added 14:30 - Aug 1 i agree Karlos, as much as we now have a new team and have signed what look to be good players [or at least better] its hard to get really excited, for fear of more failure, we have been let down across the board for years, having cleared out and replaced a whole team, the spotlight must be on the manager now, thats where my doubts creep in , can he pull this off ? i hope its not going be used as an excuse if things dont go well .

1

BobbyBell added 15:14 - Aug 1 Morecambe will definately be looking at scoring from set pieces and they will know that we've conceded 6 goals in 2 games. Their manager will be telling them that now is a great time to play us before our side gels. Let's just hope that we surprise them on the day.
1

Bazza8564 added 15:36 - Aug 1 90z, Ifollow will only be available for audio in the UK, but overseas IP addresses will get what we had last season i believe. Only way to see them live, home and away, is to get there in person. My first tickets for 15 seasons and ive found a great group that does minibus away travel too so its home and away fro me and I really cant wait to spend some time following the boys again

2

Runner added 15:50 - Aug 1 There were two teams at Saturday's Portman Road game, the winners & the learners. You must take every lesson from every game and become better, no game should be wasted.
1

bluewarrior added 15:59 - Aug 1 Good comments above. True supporters get behind their team ….. almost regardless. I lost patience with Evans and the players that under performed and then practically gave up but we simply must unite and get behind Cook and the boys and he that 12th man. I vividly recall when we came up to the Prem. in 2001 and Man U came to town in one of the first games and even Sir Alex was blown away by the atmosphere - we need those days back and that level of support. COYB.

3

Bazza8564 added 16:07 - Aug 1 bluewarrior spot on, I think he said our 22000 was worth three times that in Old Trafford, in simple terms we cant control the games, but we can control the support !!
3

ArnieM added 17:33 - Aug 1 Very early days yet, and the squad is still not yet complete. It wouldn't be unreasonable to expect this new group of players to take most of this season to fully bed in . But I think we will improve more and more as the season progresses . Fans just simply have to be patient and supportive from start to finish …..
2

blues1 added 19:01 - Aug 1 Karlosfandangel. You are right. But that says more about how fickle some of our fans are than about the team or management of the club. It's understandable after the last several years weve had to go through, but us fans all need to cut out the negativity every time we lose one or two games and keep behind them. Its unlikely that this team will fully gel much before xmas. And we have to accept that. The owners have already said it could take a few years to get up. We have to accept that. The one thing already clear is that this team shows far more promise than last years. Let's not ruin that by fans showing negativity at every setback, and there will be some, neither in the ground, or on social media. The last thing we need is the fans negativity affecting the team and knocking their confidence. So let's just do what we are there for and support them.

1

Cadiar added 12:34 - Aug 2 I hope Matt Penny and the rest of the players are quick learners because on the showing against Millwall there is a lot to learn. However, I know expectations are high but I am not expecting 3 straight wins or max points after 5 games, I think it may take a bit of time for all the new players to settle in and play as a team. We have signed quality players for this level and we can expect a few more. By Christmas we should see where our season is going and even if we don't get promotion the overall feeling about the club is the best it has been for many years. soo I'm expecting highs and lows but hopefully entertaining football again at PR

0

Karlosfandangal added 15:04 - Aug 2 Dirty and Blue1 I am very optimistic about this season so much so that I have put a tenner on for Town to win the league Piggot to be top scorer and Town to out score all the teams in the division
0

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls