Manager Kieran McKenna says there was a lot to be taken from last week’s 1-0 home defeat to Cambridge, a display which he felt was his side’s first under par performance for some time.

The U’s surprise victory over the Blues ended an 11-game unbeaten run, was McKenna’s home defeat with Dominic Thompson’s own goal only the second conceded at Portman Road - and the seventh anywhere - since the new boss took charge in mid-December.

“I think there were a lot of things that we need to take from the game,” McKenna said when asked about the defeat. “As we said and felt at the time, I thought we were off in terms of our performance level, probably in all aspects in the first half of our intensity.

“Off the ball and our aggression off the ball was below where it's been. I don't think we competed well enough on the first ball and we definitely didn't compete well enough on the second ball, which enabled them to have a little bit of a threat throughout that period.

“Obviously, we still did some things well and we had control of the ball and the territory, but I didn't think we had enough pace or enough directness to our passing and to our running. And ultimately it ended up in a below-par performance for us.

“Still, probably over the course of the game, I thought we did have the better chances to win the game.

“We should've got something out of the game, but the performance was not at the level that we have come to expect and the level that we've set for ourselves.

“There was disappointment after the game, there was disappointment in the early part of the week, but I think everyone has very much turned their heads toward the next game.

“Obviously, this was the first off-day for us for quite a considerable time in terms of performance and that can happen. Everyone now is very much looking forward to the next game.

“Everyone wants to get back to the performance levels that we have been set in. And Shrewsbury is the first chance to do that and everyone can't wait for the game to come now, to go and show what we've shown over the course of the last few months in general and keep improving.”

While it now seems unlikely that Town will make the top six, McKenna says there’s still plenty to play for in terms of players’ futures and ending the campaign in a positive manner.

“Very much so,” he said. “I think everyone around the club, from the staff to the players and hopefully supporters, are positive about the direction of the football club and can see the development of the team and the performances, and also the results in general over the last couple of months certainly reflect that.

“I think we've got a group of players who I can pretty much say all want to be here, all want to be part of it, all want to be part of the journey. So everyone's fighting for that.

“Everyone wants to show that they can be part of that and we want to finish the season in a positive way, finish with good momentum, keep developing the team, give the fans a couple of good days because they've certainly deserved it for how they've supported the club over the course of the year.

“It's very much our focus on finishing the season strongly and, hopefully, taking a lot of the good things that we've done and taking some more good things and looking to build on that in the summer.”

The Blues boss says he’s not got carried away by his first Manager of the Month nomination.

“I've not paid much attention to it, to be honest,” he said. “[Head of media] Marcus [Nash] notified me that I was nominated, so I guess it's nice, but my thought was obviously on the last game, looking back on that and very much looking forward to the next game.

“It isn't something that I've given too much thought to. Obviously, whenever a team does well, that then gets reflected on the manager.

“But when we win it's a team effort and when we lose, as we did last week, it's a collective responsibility.”

Photo: TWTD

KiwiBlue2 added 00:29 - Apr 8 A calm and rational exposition of our failings last Saturday. Our failure to take maximum points against the smaller clubs has cost us dearly over the course of the season.
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SouperJim added 09:21 - Apr 8 Nice to have a manager who gives an honest assessment when we put in a weak performance, rather than the succession of failures who would take us for fools and try to pull the wool over our eyes while talking about their own CV.
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