Blues boss Kieran McKenna has reiterated the importance of right-back Janoi Donacien.

The 29-year-old is one of the few players still at the club from the Blues’ last season in the Championship along with Kayden Jackson and Luke Woolfenden having been signed by Paul Hurst ahead of the ill-fated 2018/19 campaign.

Donacien, who won his first international cap with St Lucia in the summer, has started both Town’s league games this season with Harry Clarke having been struggling with an achilles injury.

“He certainly is an important part of the squad and he has had a strong start to the season,” McKenna said.

“Janoi has been a very important player since the day I arrived. Behind the scenes, he is such a well-liked, popular, member of the dressing room. He is an energiser, very personable, very caring as a human and he is a great guy.

“On top of that, he is a good professional. He trains well every day, he’s certainly never let us down on the pitch. He’s developed his game a lot, he’s an excellent one-v-one defender – I think you have seen that in the first two games against two very good wingers.

“I don’t think there are many better one-v-one defenders around, to be honest. He’s someone you can really trust in those situations. He’s an important part of the group, on and off the pitch, and he’s someone we value really highly.”

Is it a tough decision to choose who starts at right-back when Donacien, Clarke and Dominic Ball, who showed he could play the role in pre-season, are all fit? “I think that’s what we want for every position really. We are in a spell where the team in the league has been pretty consistent because we’ve been on such a good run and carried that into this season – and the selections have been really consistent.

“But it doesn’t mean that’s going to be the case all year. We are going to have weeks where we have two games, we are going to have mixed results at times and we are going to need the squad.

“Having players with different profiles and different qualities is something we want to have in each position. In that position, we have two or three players who have played it lately and all bring different qualities to the team and different strengths they can add to the team.

“That’s a great position to be in and then we can choose accordingly who we think is most appropriate for the game and who we think can help the team the most.

“It’s certainly the position we are in on the right side of our defence at the moment and it’s a position we want to be in for every position to be successful as a club.”

Photo: Matchday Images

jontysnut added 18:34 - Aug 17 I wish he wrote my work appraisals
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Karlosfandangal added 19:01 - Aug 17 When Hurst signed him and that first season I thought “Why” and when he went out on loan I thought never see him in a Town shirt again phew. How he has proved me wrong…. What a great player Donacien has become for the club. A lot of respect for him as he has worked so hard to become the player he is
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Ipswichbusiness added 19:08 - Aug 17 If Donacien is such a good important player then; A) why was Clake signed to replace him and B) why was he only given a one year contract extension?
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Suffolkboy added 19:11 - Aug 17 JUST the sort of character and good human being we’d wish to epitomise all that ITFC stands for ; and qualities well recognised and promoted by our Manager and coaches . COYB
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Juggsy added 19:15 - Aug 17 Ipswichbusiness: A) competition for each position as stated. Also personality and ability to remain ready to play when required. B) Because that’s how Ipswich wanted to do their business and nothing stopping us from extending it if we wanted to. Your name is almost a parody of your questions.
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Pettabelieveit added 20:01 - Aug 17 Fantastic response @Juggsy. Possibly needed to include an explanation of parody
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 20:09 - Aug 17 Great guy and dependable player. Respect!
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SussexTractor added 08:03 - Aug 18 He has just got better and better training under KM. He might be a Premier league player one day (naturally with Ipswich Town).
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Linkboy13 added 16:30 - Aug 18 When he first joined Town he was played in different positions and was never a player with the versatility to adapt to play anywhere along the back line. He's now a very competent championship right back. Possibly the arrival of Harry Clarke has got the best out of him. I think McKenna does prefer Clarke because of his greater versatility and his ability to defend balls played into the box. There's no doubt in my mind that Clarke could easily play in central defence if needed.

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