Blues boss Kieran McKenna says the attitude and spirit of the squad were what most pleased him about Tuesday night’s 6-0 victory over Northampton Town in the Papa Johns Trophy.

McKenna made 11 changes from the side which had drawn 2-2 with Barnsley at the weekend and that team put the League Two Cobblers to the sword.

“I think the attitude and spirit in the squad,” McKenna said when asked what had pleased him most about the display.

“You make a lot of changes, it’s a different competition and the main thing I wanted to see was no drop in standards and intensity and focus and concentration, because I think that can be damaging in the group.

“You can’t turn those things on and off on a Tuesday night and a Saturday. I believe how you conduct yourself, how you train, how you approach every game has to remain constant and that was really important to me.

“I thought the players absolutely did that and from that base, they delivered a really good performance full of attacking intent and also defended really well. It was a really good team performance and lots of good individual performances so there was plenty to enjoy.

“But it is very much about putting it out of the mind now, our messages were absolutely flipped to the weekend and a tough game against Accrington as soon as the final whistle went.”

McKenna was also delighted that two of his centre-halves, Cameron Burgess and George Edmundson, a second-half sub, were among those on the scoresheet along with wing-back Greg Leigh, with Marcus Harness netting two and Freddie Ladapo the sixth.

“It is something we have spoken about. We need more of it, we need the defenders to contribute more in terms of goals from set plays certainly,” he said.

“We were very close last week against Barnsley when George had a couple of good first contacts and was a width of the post away from what would have been a winning goal.

“We need to keep building on that. It is important over the course of the season that your defenders can chip in with a tally as well.

“Greg has had a couple of goals from free play, Leif [Davis] has been close on a few occasions and it is good to see Cameron and George get their first goals of the season. We need more of that.”

Photo: TWTD

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