McKenna: A Good, Solid Away Performance Saturday, 19th Nov 2022 15:25 Town boss Kieran McKenna felt his team put in a “good, solid away performance” as they defeated Exeter City 2-0 at St James Park. Freddie Ladapo netted the opening goal in the 11th minute and Marcus Harness added the second on 68 with a Blues victory never looking in any doubt once they had gone in front. “A good, solid away performance,” McKenna said. “We controlled the game with and without the ball in different ways, so lots of positives to take and, of course, an important win.” The Blues boss was delighted with the clean sheet: “That was a really big part of it today. We really dialled in this week to their threats. We wanted to defend on shape a fair bit today and have that feeling of being compact and have that feeling back within ourselves that we can defend for periods of the game when we need to, because we have it in us as a team. “But in the very limited number of games we’ve had to defend lately, we’ve come up a little bit short in that area, so today we wanted to be a little bit more compact at times and have that feeling of real solidity as a team and focus on our defending because we thought with our quality on the ball we would score and we would have threats in different ways. “Really pleased with the clean sheet for the goalkeeper and the defenders, but I thought it was a team effort really, the front three led the press really well, blocked off passing lines really well, and Sam [Morsy] and Cam [Humphreys] did a really good job in front of the defence. A really good team effort on the clean sheet.” Among the top performers was Cameron Burgess, returning to the team for George Edmundson on the left of the defence. A difficult decision to make the change? “We have a squad of players with different attributes and Cameron’s been training very well,” McKenna continued. “He was in good form before his injury and is another really good option for us and has some strengths that we don’t have in abundance across the team, so he came in and gave a good performance, as did the other defenders as well.” The Town manager was pleased for Harness, whose goal was his first in eight matches. “Delighted. He probably epitomised last week in that in some ways in that I thought he played really well, did so many good things, got in the right areas, hit the underside of the bar, came close with a header, came close on a cutback, had other chances as well,” he said. “And those players in the forward positions, they want to get goals and we need them to. Delighted for him. He’s such a good finisher. He can score a variety of different types of goal and it’s just about him getting in those goalscoring positions and keeping believing and keeping his confidence because we see his qualities every day. “Great for him, good assist as well for Freddie, but I think more important that the team got the win.” Regarding Ladapo, who has now netted nine this season and five in his last five games, the Northern Irishman added: “That’s good for him, he’s growing in confidence and his understanding of the team and his role within it. “That’s good to see, good goal in a really good position, the [goal came from the] type of move that we work on and great for him to pop up in the right slot. Again, a good performance leading the line on and off the ball as well.”
Having allowed Charlton and Cheltenham back into matches having been ahead in recent weeks, the lead was never in any danger against the Grecians. “No, that was important and was something that we’ve spoken about a lot this week,” McKenna added. “That we’ve worked on quite a bit this week and it was important for us to feel that in the game and get the rewards from it and know that this group of players can defend very, very well when we need to. “A lot of our defending was with the ball and not giving teams opportunities to attack but it’s good to have that feeling that you can defend when they have the ball with good compactness and good organisation and give away very few chances. I thought out game management was good.” Leif Davis came off injured towards the end but McKenna wasn’t sure how significant the left-back’s problem might be. “I’ve not seen or heard yet,” he continued. “He felt his hamstring, so I’m not sure. Hopefully tightness, but we’ll have to see.” The Blues manager was pleased to be able to introduce Gassan Ahadme as a sub in the latter staged, the striker having been out since the Plymouth trip at the end of September. “It has been a long while,” McKenna reflected. “It’s early for him, to be honest. He trained Wednesday and trained on Friday as well, but he’s a really fit boy. He’s worked really hard since he’s been injured and was keen to come straight back in and, of course, we were a little bit light and he gives us that presence as well. “We knew we weren’t going to use him for long but he could be useful for the last few minutes whether we were chasing a goal or ideally seeing the game out.” Having seen just one set piece lead to a goal last season, Harness header was Town’s fifth from a corner during this campaign, more than anyone else in the division. “That’s a really pleasing aspect and I guess shows the type of process that you want where you identify the areas that you’re not so strong in and a recruit to help those areas and also coach and develop to help those areas,” McKenna said. “It’s something we’ve spoken about since pre-season but we spoke about it again this week and it’s an area I think we can be really strong in with the deliveries that we’re now getting in the box and the consistency of the movements and the attacking threats that we have. Nice to get another goal and they make such a big difference in games. “We’ve worked on it right the way through from the start of pre-season right through to now. We knew we needed to make it a bigger part of our working week and the buy-in from a mentality point of view is the most important bit of that. “The players had to buy into how important it was going to be and that we were going to have to spend more time on it. “At the moment, we’re doing that and we’re getting the rewards but a long way to go. We’ve scored corners, we want to get better on our wide free-kicks, on our indirect free-kicks as well and, of course, on our attacking throw-ins. It’s about keeping improving and we’re working on all the different areas.” Town have now won their last three TV games, hopefully ending the long-running live television hoodoo. “It wasn’t something we spoke about a lot internally,” McKenna said. “I didn’t mention it before the Derby game but we did have a little laugh and joke about it afterwards with the players. “I think I said it when I first came in, when a football club has had an unsuccessful run of years, there are going to be a long list of negative superstitions and memories. Ipswich aren’t unique in that way, it’s symptomatic of a club that hasn’t won so many games over the last decade. “I guess for the fans maybe it’s one less thing to worry about and they can worry about the other things in life, for us it’s not so important. But when you play on TV, you want to show the club off well and show the team off well and I’m proud and pleased we were able to do that today.” Town have now recorded seven away wins in League One this season, the same as last year already. “It’s not something I’d thought about until a few people have said it today,” McKenna continued. “We approach every game really positively, we don’t change our approach vastly for home or away games, maybe the opposition do and that’s one of the challenges that we have with being in the league. “I said before, I think a good away record is reflective of a good mentality in the group because you spend a lot of time travelling, time in hotels and you need a united group, a united squad, the boys travelling knowing that they’re not going to stat the other day, their energy is really important to the trip as well, and we’re in a good place with that. That gives you a good chance.” With Town unbeaten in five, does he feel the Blues are building some momentum? “We take each game at a time because you draw a frustrating game last week and people can feel you’ve lost momentum, you win today and you think you have momentum. “For us it’s always about momentum of performances, maintaining performance levels and improving performance levels. “I thought last weekend was an excellent performance, I thought this weekend was a good performance, no better than last week, to be honest, a little bit different. “And for me it’s always, especially at this stage of the season, about maintaining consistency and the level of your performances and we’ve been pleased to do that all across the season really.” The Blues manager had praise for the 1,208 travelling Town fans, many of whom will have got up at the crack of dawn to make the trip for the midday kick-off. “Incredible,” he said. “I was wondering yesterday because no one had filled me on on how many fans would be here and I was thinking we might be a bit shorter today than normal because 12 o’clock and at the very far end, from a horizontal point of view the furthest end from England that you can go. “I wasn’t sure how many would be able to make that journey so I guess there must have been a lot of early buses and trains and overnight stays. Fantastic from them, a great atmosphere, great to push towards that goal in the second half. “Exeter have a big bank behind one goal as well and that can be a big weapon for them but I thought we neutralised that as a club today with the support that we had at the other end. It feels then like more of a balanced crowd, if not in our favour.” Grecians manager Gary Caldwell felt his side was slightly off their game against the Blues. “We cannot be one, two per cent off against these top teams,” he said. Regarding Town, he added: “They are very good and I am pretty sure they will get promoted and they are the best of what League One has to offer. “We were in the game for large periods, but our performance levels were off where they have been. I am disappointed with that, but delighted with the effort and application. But we have to learn the small lessons we have been taught today."
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