Town boss Kieran McKenna isn’t concerned where the goals come from just as long as his side find the net and claim three points against the MK Dons at Portman Road on Saturday.

One of the Blues’ summer signings, Marcus Harness, got off the mark at Forest Green Rovers last week but another, number nine Freddie Ladapo, is still to find the net having started both Town’s League One matches.

“To be fair, I don’t mind who scores,” McKenna said. “I want us to win the game and I want to score more goals than MK, so it doesn’t matter who scores from my point of view.

“From Freddie, Marcus, Tyreece [John-Jules], Conor [Chaplin] or any of the forwards individually, you always want to get off the mark, but I think all of them would also say they would happily take the three points whether they scored or not.

“It’s always about the team and creating changes as a team. Whoever they fall to is not so important to us as long as we score and get the three points.”

Likely to be on the bench and also looking for his first goal of the season is Kayden Jackson, who was a surprise starter for the Blues when they travelled to face the MK Dons last season having been out of the picture under the previous management.

The former Accrington man has subsequently signed a new contract and is firmly in McKenna’s plans having come on as a sub in the two league matches before starting the Carabao Cup defeat to Colchester having recovered from the hamstring injury which cut short his 2021/22 season.

“He’s very important to us, first and foremost. I think from that MK game and in the run that he had [before the injury], you could see the threat he can give opposition,” McKenna said.

“He’s worked really hard in the summer and we’re still being really careful with him in terms of trying to limit him to 60 or 70 minutes.

“I thought even the other night, he was still impacting the game and working the defenders hard. But we just want to protect him a little bit because it was such a serious injury that he had.

“He’s recovered from it well. He’s obviously still finding his full sharpness on the pitch, but I think he’s had a terrific impact off the bench in the games that he’s come on in the league and I think if we can keep him injury free now, he’s going to get stronger and stronger over the next few months.

“He’s an important player for us, brings us lots of different attributes that you don’t find too much at this level and he’s got to keep working, keep chipping away and keep taking the chances and the minutes when they come, and he’s going to play lots of minutes for us in the future.”

Photo: Pagepix

ringwoodblue added 18:18 - Aug 12 Big vote of confidence from Kieran for Jacko here. I really hope his confidence starts to be repaid in the form of goals and assists very soon. We desperately need a regular goalscorer.
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Lukeybluey added 18:32 - Aug 12 Would like to see Jacko and Ladapo start upfront together tomorrow, power and pace, with Chappers in the no 10
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htb added 18:34 - Aug 12 I don't care where the goal come from either but one way or another we need more than we have been getting during KMcK reign or we will not be getting promotion.
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barrystedmunds added 18:38 - Aug 12 It is and has been our Achilles heel, since KMcK has arrived, scoring goals. We will not be going anywhere other than another nineth final position unless we turn our dominance into goals. All the evidence suggests we don't have the answer in our current crop of “strikers”. It is early days, but every week we fail to capitalise on putting teams to the sword is another week of catch up further down the line.

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Gforce added 18:41 - Aug 12 A strikers main job is to score goals,something Jackson has always failed to do on a consistent basis. I'll be surprised if he reaches double figures yet again this season. Sorry but a league 2 player at best. A quality striker is still required, to hopefully bang in the many half chances we always seem to miss.
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Bazza8564 added 19:06 - Aug 12 Two points off top with 44 games to go and people are worrying about where the goals are coming from? From Harness, Evans and Morsy so far and we are two games in…..
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dirtydingusmagee added 20:50 - Aug 12 i need to go to same optician as KM , because i cant see anything in Jackson i really cant. He may be a tryer and a likeable lad , but striker ? imo he should have gone along with others after Cook's term.
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hyperbrit added 21:21 - Aug 12 ...I don't mind who scores either LOL!!
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gosblue added 00:04 - Aug 13 Jackson is new and improved under KMcK. When was the last time we had pace in the team. Now we've got it in bucket loads. Jackson, Burns and Chaplin can all put a spurt on. With the intelligent movement of Aluko, Harness and yes even Morsey, the goals will come, especially when the new striker arrives. We are converting possession into clear cut chances, which is new to us. I'm confident that once we start scoring, there'll be no stopping us. COYB

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pg888 added 00:58 - Aug 13 These comments…goals will flow when a new striker arrives. The fact our so call messiah is talking up a league 2 level striker is not encouraging!
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bobble added 06:53 - Aug 13 we can be pretty sure it wont be jackson...
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DifferentGravy added 09:05 - Aug 13 Last season our top goalscorers were Bonne, Burns, Chaplin, Celina, Norwood..... 3 of those have left. Slightly concerned where all the goals are coming from given the profligacy in front of it. Added to the facts that we only play 1 up front and, of our forwards, only Ladapo has a better record than 1 in 5.
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inghamspur added 09:50 - Aug 13 Let's just cut the cr8p and let the football do the talking.
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shakytown added 10:37 - Aug 13 Ladapo will score goals. Jackson i'm yet to be convinced he is better than league 2. Basic skills lacking but is fast.
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