Town boss Kieran McKenna has reflected on today’s two friendlies, the 4-2 loss at Crystal Palace and the 3-0 win at AFC Wimbledon, and looked forward to the Blues’ next friendly at Millwall next Saturday.

Asked about the game against a strong Palace side featuring Marc Guehi, Eberechi Eze, Jeffrey Schlupp, Christian Benteke and Wilfried Zaha, McKenna was very pleased with his team’s display, despite the result.

“Really good game, really good, really enjoyed it,” he said. “A great test. Obviously Palace had a really strong team, especially the front half of the pitch.

“It’s always a great challenge, lessons in there that we don’t get very often. I thought we played well for the large majority of the game but the level of their forward players was so high that one little mistake and they’re so ruthless in terms of punishing you.

“In terms of us training our habits from a tactical point of view, it was really, really good. And then from a mental point of view it was a great game for us because it would have been easier for the boys a couple of goals down to be feeling sorry for themselves because we played really well.

“Resilience has been a big thing we’ve spoken about over pre-season, we’ve tried to build a pre-season fixture programme that was going to force us to build resilience because we’ve now played three of the top 12 in the Premier League in the last three games, so we’re trying to develop that resilience and how we respond in different situations.

“That was probably the most pleasing bit of of the game, that nobody dropped their heads, they kept playing, put on a really good second-half performance, got a couple of goals and could easily have had a couple more. All in all, a good game, lots to take from it and lots of good lessons.”

"He says he was aware that Palace would be fielding some of their big guns: “We knew it was going to be really strong. We don’t prep a lot for those games because we were obviously playing two games and the result isn’t the most important.

‘We just knew it was going to be a really strong game in really hot conditions and we picked some of the players from our squad that we thought needed that challenge today and I think it worked out pretty well. Lots of people got 90 minutes, a really tough 90 minutes and are much stronger for it.”

Regarding the Wimbledon match, he said: “Good game again. Very different from this morning’s game, I thought we were pretty comfortable throughout.

“First half, controlled it well, never really looked threatened, but I thought we lacked a little bit of thrust, so the message at half-time was that we can’t let it be a comfortable game, we wanted a really hard day today, we wanted to push, so we needed to go through the gears a little bit in terms of intensity although it was very hot.

“And in the second half I thought we did that. We created a lot of chances and we really pushed hard for the 90 minutes and it was a good workout as well.”

McKenna had praise for skipper Sam Morsy, who scored twice, and who he says sets the standard for his team-mates, whether that’s in a game or otherwise.

“He sets it every day, I have to say,” he said. “He’s a fantastic captain for setting and leading by example and how he trains every day, how he looks after his body off the pitch and how he commits to doing his best and trying to help his team win.

“Whether that’s in rafting or head tennis or possession practice or in a match, he’s no different in any one.

“He’s led by example over the last four weeks and in my time here, and he led by example today, of course.”

The Northern Irishman says little should be read into the the teams he fielded in the two matches.

“No, not at all,” he insisted. “We just looked at wanting a fairly even-ish balance to the teams and we wanted to put different people in different situations knowing that the dynamic of the Palace game was different than this afternoon, so we did it just on an individual basis.”

Reflecting on his formation, which seemed more four at the back at Wimbledon than the three central defender system fans got used to last season, he said: “There are a lot of similarities in what we do. We have a certain structure when we build up and control the ball, which will very often look like a back three, there are certain positions that we want to fill.

“But in the large majority of the games last season as well, when we’re defending, we’re often not in a back five, we try and be aggressive and press out high. We don’t like to get pinned into a back five too often.

“That’s how we finished the season as well, the Charlton game and I think the Wigan game before that, and that’s a lot of what we’ve worked over the course of pre-season,

“But, to be honest, I want us to be flexible game by game, be able to adapt between different structures in possession, out of possession and be able to change that game by game.

“So, having versatile footballers, having intelligent footballers is very important for that and we’ll continue to work on different things.”

The only senior player missing from the squad was Kyle Edwards, who was also absent for the West Ham game having suffered a minor knock.

“He just didn’t quite recover in time,” he explained. “So it’s a really frustrating one for him, frustrating for us, someone that we’re eager to see play but it’s been difficult to see him on the pitch as much as we would have hoped but it’s not a major issue, so all being well he should return to the group early next week.”

Town are next at Millwall next Saturday and McKenna was asked whether the team which would line-up at the Den would be close to what might be considered a first XI.

“No, I think with the strength of our squad, I’m not really interested in the thought of a first-choice XI,” he said.

“I think if you want to have really, really good depth like we have, you can’t play the same XI every week.

“I’m not interested in what our first-choice XI is, I’m interested in having a really strong group of players and having the right team available for different games.

“At the moment, from this week, we’ll start turning our eyes towards Bolton a little bit and what that game will look like and what team will play and obviously we’re going to want a good amount of those players on the pitch against Millwall next weekend because it’s going to be a great challenge.

“But we’re not looking for that magic recipe of a first-choice XI because we’re going to have a strong squad, we’re going to have very capable depth of two players in each position and I’m going to have to use that squad over the course of a season.”

Is the idea of managers having a first XI or a best team perhaps a dated one these days? “Yes, at some clubs it is, obviously at the higher levels of the game it may be more prevalent, if you look at the top couple of teams in the Premier League you’d probably struggle to name their first XI.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the only way to do it but I think if you want to have a strong squad and have equal depth across two good players and two really strong people competing for each position.

“You don’t necessarily have to have a first-choice XI, I think you can train and develop the team in certain ways that certain games are going to suit some people more than they’re going to suit others and pick your team accordingly and that can enable you to stay fresh over the course of the season and people contribute in different ways at different times.”

Photo: TWTD

SickParrot added 19:57 - Jul 16 It's virtually impossible to disagree with anything this guy says or does.
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Suffolkboy added 20:12 - Jul 16 SP could not agree more !KM and Co seem both enthusiastic and meticulous ,yet essentially human all at the same time ! COYB
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Linkboy13 added 00:30 - Jul 17 As i said yesterday the days of playing the same team every week have gone it's a squad game now. You will have the spine of the team probably Walton, Donasien, Edmundson, Wolfenden, Morsy and Burns who will play most of the games because they are our best players. McKenna emphasised this in this statement.
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Orraman added 11:37 - Jul 17 We are so fortunate to have such an intelligent manager who keeps us informed on everything except that which is essential to keep quiet about such as plans for forthcoming matches obviously. We have built/are building a strong, balanced squad and with 5 subs allowed this season it is clear that there won't be a fixed 1st XI as K McK will make whatever substitutions are necessary as the game progresses

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Nomore4 added 12:30 - Jul 17 With the squad assembled so far, and the ability to change half the outfield players, with the same ability and quality to those who started the game makes us very strong. That's without any further in,s IMO. Harness is a fantastic signing by the way and a new member of the spine.
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