Town boss Kieran McKenna admitted that virtually everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong in the first half of his side’s 3-2 defeat to Preston North End at Deepdale.

The Blues found them 3-0 down at the break, the Lilywhites having been two in front in only the eighth minute via an opener from former Town striker Will Keane on five and a George Edmundson own goal. Keane added his second and the home side’s third six minutes before half-time.

McKenna’s men then staged a second-half fightback with deadline day re-signing Kieffer Moore, who is on loan from AFC Bournemouth, making his second Blues debut from the bench at half-time and scoring twice to give Town hope of another famous comeback. They continued to push in the closing minutes but eventually ran out of time.

“It was a difficult half,” McKenna said when asked to reflect on that first period. “It’s a difficult place to come anyway but when you concede two very unfortunate goals in the first eight or nine minutes, [then it’s harder].

“The first goal was a shot from probably 30 yards, it takes a bit deflection and goes in the corner.

“The second goal is two yards offside, it’s so clear, it can’t not be given by the linesman. I think George [Edmundson] has made an aggressive decision to step up, but the right decision when the striker’s two yards offside. The linesman can’t miss it.

“You’re 2-0 down after eight minutes, it’s the worst situation it can be because Preston can then defend, they can defend their box with a lot of bodies.

“Of course, we lacked a little bit in the final third and our play in the final third wasn’t at the level that we wanted it to be.

“We lacked the profile and the presence in the final third as well but that was exaggerated by the scoreline, that completely dictated the tone and feel of the game. Preston were able to feel like they were doing well in the game because they had the goals.

“A difficult first half. But at half-time, honestly, my feeling was that we were right still in the game. I didn’t think on the balance of play that certain things were too far off but we needed to improve in the final third and we needed to not have anything else go against us.

“We certainly did that in the second and produced a really good performance that I think would have deserved to get something from the game.”

McKenna dismissed any suggestion of a hangover following last week’s FA Cup exit to National League South Maidstone.

“No, I honestly don’t think it is,” he insisted. “We weren’t ourselves and, of course, the goals we need to own and look at, but the second goal for me is officiating. The first goal is a large, large chunk of misfortune, but we can still do better on our blocking technique.

“I think when you’re 2-0 down away to Preston with the type of team we are with the profile of players we had on the pitch, it’s always going to be a difficult half.”

Regarding double goalscorer Moore, who found the net for the first time in a Town shirt seven years after initially signing, having made 11 sub appearances during his previous spell at the club, McKenna said: “He showed straight away what we’ve been missing, to be fair, probably since George [Hirst] has been out in terms of a physical profile in the top line that creates space for others and also gives us a target in the box to play into or to cross to.

“And his impact was there for all to see. He was excellent and it gives us something to really build on next week.”

The Blues boss says he didn’t consider starting the on-loan AFC Bournemouth man, who only joined the club on Thursday afternoon ahead of that evening’s deadline or making changes in the first half, despite the scoreline.

“Not really, to be honest,” he said. “You can always take the gamble but I don’t think it would have been the right thing to do. He hadn’t trained with the group and he’s here for the next 17 games to have an impact, not just for the first half today, so we weren’t overly tempted by that.”

Town’s other new striker signing Ali Al-Hamadi was also lively when he came off the bench in the second half.

“He was, he showed some of his dynamism in the final third and his physicality around the box,” McKenna added.

“Good to get him on the pitch as well and we had so many chances in the second, were such a threat and the supporters behind the goal were fantastic and the only shame was that we weren’t able to get the next goal.”

This Town side has shown their spirit to come back in plenty of games under McKenna and this was no exception, even if they fell short on this occasion.

“I think it’s a day where in the first half pretty much everything that could go wrong, did go wrong and we were 3-0 down at a really tough stadium,” he reflected.

“But the players have still produced a really good second half that I think deserved to get something out of the game.

“I think it says a lot. It’s disappointing not to get the win, we’ve not had as many wins lately as we would like but we’ve not lost many games.

“We are competitive every week, the group keeps fighting to the end of every game and those qualities will stand us in good stead and we’ll continue to work and come back stronger when things don’t go our way.”

Regarding Preston’s third goal, he added: “We lost a ball on build-up. I’ll fully support the players in that situation because the players involved try to do the right thing, tried to something that’s brought us success over the last two years and we didn’t quite execute it right.

“That’s never a problem with me when our intent’s right, we know the rewards of having a style and a system that we believe in and that we follow and we’ve had the successes from that and we’ll continue to have so.

“Of course, we’ll continue to work on our execution, it wasn’t easy to execute a lot of different things on the pitch today, but that’s football. Over the course of a season these things can happen.

“The time that Vaz [Vaclav Hladky] hooks it clear with his left foot and they head it back down the middle of the pitch and score never gets noticed, but the one where you lose in that situation does.

“We’ll give our full support to the players in that situation and we’ll just continue to work to get better.

“Of course, in the second half, we have the option to go over the press as well, which is important for us and is something that we like to do and we were able to utilise that well.

“We’ll continue to work on all phases in the game and on build-up continue to try and be very, very good at combining out of those situations, but also now have the option to go over the top of the pressers in those situations and find different types of attacks.”

The result sees the Blues drop to fourth but as was the case when Town were second, McKenna says he’s taking little notice of the table.

“There’s 46 games, that’s the fourth game that we’ve lost in the league this year, that’s a fantastic effort,” he said.

“We know it’s not all going to be sunny days. There are teams around us with fantastic squads in incredible form and if we use up all our energy, or any of our energy really, focusing on them and the runs that they’re on, then we won’t have the required energy to be competitive every week, which we generally have been.

“Today, we weren’t in the first half, it didn’t go the way that we wanted but over the course of 90 minutes in a tough stadium where they’ve taken points and performances from all the other teams at the top of the league as well, we still managed to produce over the course of 90 minutes a lot of good things.”

The Town manager is pleased to have a full week on the training field with his squad and particularly last week’s new signings before fifth-placed West Brom visit Portman Road next Saturday.

“For sure,” the Northern Irishman said. “Of course, we had the week this week but it’s a week with so much uncertainty and until four o’clock on Thursday we weren’t sure if another striker would be in the door and whether Kieffer would be in the door, there was a lot of uncertainty around that.

“Ali, as I said, hasn’t trained with the group really yet, so it will be nice now to have a full week to be able to get some training time with those boys, to look at the ways that we can integrate them into our playing style and what they can add to us and prepare and look forward to a really good game now next weekend.”

Photo: TWTD

SoCalTownFan added 03:31 - Feb 4 When your defense and goalie consistently play Russian roulette, passing it around in their own penalty area, while attacks chase the ball hoping to get a touch, in stead you clearing it and getting it the F away from your goal- you bring this on yourself. Twice they paid, in one half. Anyone could see this approach will give away goals, it already did once in a prior game. I don't know what the hell Mckenna is thinking with the playing style. Trying to pass it until the ball is on the goal line isn't really a winning proposition right now. Try running at the defense, drawing them in, maybe winning a penalty. Eventually passing it back to Hdlaky, turning an attack into an opposition goal isn't a good strategy 8 games- one win.

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Len_Brennan added 07:42 - Feb 4 Two things, which appear somewhat contradictory, can be true at the same time. Kieran McKenna can be the best thing to happen to the club in decades, whose style & decision making have incredibly brought us to the brink of promotion to the Premier League in just 18 months, AND he can sometimes get it wrong, while the very style of play that has gotten us to where we are can cause us to give up soft goals that ultimately cost us a game. I thought that he should have started with Kieffer Moore up front, as he had Al Hamadi to come on if/when tiredness became an issue, but Kayden Jackson wasn't the reason we lost that game, the 3 bad goals conceded were. Jackson wasn't any more disappointing & off the ball than Sarmiento, Chaplin, Burns or Luongo the first half, but he's the easy one to scapegoat; it was not just Moore that we had on to bench to replace someone that could have been called ashore early. As I say, I thought Moore would start, but it wasn't a ridiculous decision to go with the guy who had started the last 2 league games & scored in a really good performance he'd had against Sunderland, especially when Moore was literally just in the door. Stretch their defenders with his pace & bring on the new lads when they are tiring - not such a bad plan, but the early, bad, goals up the other end changed everything. Before the season started I (and a number of others on here) talked about how important a good start was for us, because we had a settled team, manager, style of play & were confident due to having a habit of winning, little did I know how good a start we would get!. But the reason for that is twofold; the other teams will get stronger once new players settle (gel), & other managers will stop unestimating us & sart to work us out. That has clearly happened now. The signing of Kieffer Moore was essential, even if we do sort ourselves out at the back, because he gives us another attacking element to our play, a more direct aerial threat that we need, as oppositions are now familiar with our patterns of play & can set up against it. But the main area that we remain vulnerable in is when playing out from the back, particularly early on when we are not yet 100% sharp & the opposition are in full press mode. It is no surprise that Morsy, Davis, Edmondson & Clarke (& Hladky) are the most targetted, as they are the usual outlets who need to have a very good first touch and an immediate passing option available or we're in bother. I thought there was a foul before the first goal & the second was clearly offside, but we have nearly given up goals like that in numerous games over the last couple of months, where luck & poor finishing have saved us as much as our own desperate defending. This is going to keep happening for the rest of the season, as other teams know the formula for beating Ipswich. Yes we want to stick to our principles which have brought us to where we are, but McKenna needs to recognise the vulnerability in it too & encourage the players to mix it up a bit more & perhaps not be so blatant playing around at the back, early on especially. The addition of Moore will help with taking a quicker, more direct route from time to time, just to vary it up & not allow opponents to set up for a continuous press, which in itself should alleviate some of the pressure on our defensive playmakers.

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Carberry added 09:33 - Feb 4 You have summed it up well LB. McK has been a revelation since he has been in charge but it doesn't mean he can't make mistakes, remember how long it took him to recognise how a settled XI was an asset rather than tactical selections every week. Playing around the back 4 is a recipe for disaster if you aren't 100% focused and have the ability to execute it. Against Leicester away it was heart in mouth most of the time, the signs have been there for a while, however on that night the result glossed over it. The sight of Woolfenden rolling his foot over the ball is something I don't want to see any more, he's not Bobby Moore. So if teams have found us out we need to adapt and that's where McK has to take responsibility for finding a plan B, maybe the recruitment of Moore means we will get it from back to front quicker? Now is when McK will earn his money, the pressure is well and truly on and we don't have a 10 point buffer any more, we are now the chasers.

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ChrisFelix added 09:37 - Feb 4 I don't think Jackson will start on Sat. I know he wasn't the reason we lost the game but with him "leading the line" we created nothing . Also last season we had the top keeper in Div 1 ( golden glove winner). Please bring back Walton
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Nomore4 added 09:51 - Feb 4 We have one of, if not the best young keepers in English football. A keeper who learnt his trade at Man City, arguably the best footballing education in world football. A young keeper who has made the bench in the Champions League. Only a matter of time before he is ITFC no1.
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TotalBlue added 11:19 - Feb 4 Congrats Kieffer took you 7 years to score but two fabulous goals. Seriously though I think once this teams settles he will push us on and we will be automatic
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Nomore4 added 12:11 - Feb 4 Len. Agree Jackson wasn’t anymore disappointing than the others you mention. But the others you mention have a excellent game most weeks and very good the next. Where as Jackson will have a very good game twice, maybe 3 times per season…. Hence the scape goat.
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Bert added 12:19 - Feb 4 Excellent post LenB.
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Stato added 14:39 - Feb 4 KM taken us to the brink of promotion in just 18 months ?!?! Jeez he joined in Dec 21 which shows how most of you cannot see him objectively but 18 months fits the McKenna myth so not challenged by one single person.
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bluesince76 added 14:48 - Feb 4 Jackson may not have cost us the game but our win ratio when Jackson plays is abysmal
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Saxonblue74 added 06:31 - Feb 5 Socaltownfan, yes 8 games 1 win. But as you like your stats here's another, 29 games 4 defeats to 3 teams.
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norfolkbluey added 11:42 - Feb 5 Lets all get this in proportion. Only four defeats all season! McK genius. Town are mixing it with last year's Premiership teams with money sloshing about in their pockets. Yes we don't have the strongest defence in the league but with new additions up front we stand a good chance of reaching a top two place. We have to believe in our manager and back the team through this period and build on the positives. There is much to be thankful for when you consider where we were not that long ago. The board have backed the manager and we must do so too. He not only managers the players well but talks with fluency, honesty and intelligence. Previous managers have just been full of sound bites and little else. Even some of the top managers sometimes will get it wrong! COYB

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dirtydingusmagee added 12:34 - Feb 5 Held back from commenting since the game,so gutted. I do agree everything was woeful from the start, mistakes all round but as much as i have never criticised K Mak or felt the need to i do think he got this one wrong re Jackson and Moore, Moore obviously was up and ready to start, he proved it as soon as he came on, and we missed a trick by putting Jackson on at start. That said the real damage was done in first seven minutes by dreadful defending . We all make mistakes and imo i think Kieran made one this time. The only positive i can take from the game is that we do now have a decent striker in Moore and in the short time playing , Ali looked very promising, Hopefully we can recover from this and get going again . COYB

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barrystedmunds added 12:53 - Feb 5 I think you have to give credit to Preston particularly in the first half for their high press. We didn’t seem to be comfortable with it and didn’t seem to know how to handle it, the dreaded plan “B” appeared to be lacking. To my mind, that contributed to at least the first two goals, even allowing for the officials perceived failings. Disappointed on the day, undoubtedly, but I’m keeping the faith. Like KMcK, that’s only 4 defeats this season.

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