Town boss Kieran McKenna says he’ll embrace the hullabaloo of derby day but while remaining analytical once the whistle blows.

The Blues travel to Norfolk to take on Norwich City at Carrow Road this lunchtime aiming for their first derby victory in 15 years and their first on enemy territory since 2006.

“We understand it and I’d encourage it, I hope the supporters can create a great atmosphere, I’m sure Norwich will want their supporters to create a great atmosphere,” McKenna said when asked if he likes the “hullabaloo” which comes with a derby.

“Our away fans will be making sure that they’re heard, as they are every week.

“I think matchday is different. In terms of our preparation, in terms of how we’ve tried to work since Monday and recover since Monday, it’s very, very important that you can block out all the external noise, not get caught up in anything that might be saying about any given fixture.

“For us it’s been focusing on recovery, training and over the last 48 hours and the next 24 hours looking at Norwich’s strengths and weaknesses and trying to prepare a game plan that will help us on Saturday. I think in the build-up to the game, it’s very important to be able to block all that out.

“But, of course, on the day, the match, whether that was our home game against Norwich or any games this season or in my career going away to big stadiums with big atmospheres and noise in the stadium and tension and high adrenaline levels all-round, I think that’s something to really enjoy.

“It’s something you have to enjoy whether it’s a staff member or even for the players. We love to play in those atmospheres, I love to be involved in those atmospheres and that will be no different on Saturday.

“We’ll embrace that side of it, but knowing still that when the whistle blows, I’ll still have to be analytical, be ready to make decisions to help the team and the players will have to be composed and do their jobs and stick to our principles and try and apply them as best they can.

“I think you can probably make a distinction there between the build-up to the game where it’s about blocking the noise out and a big game where you have to enjoy the atmosphere and hopefully use that to spur you on in your performance.”

While there has been a lot of talk ahead of the derby regarding the Blues’ dismal recent record against their greatest rivals, McKenna says everyone at Portman Road is conscious of the club’s wider history and the achievements of Sir Bobby Robson and Sir Alf Ramsey.

“We go into every game and I think we come into work every day very aware of that,” he said.

“Every player who has come to this football club, every staff member, I’d imagine every manager, who has come to this football club will instantly realise the size of the football club, its place within not just the Ipswich community but the Suffolk community.

“It’s a one-club county, and a beautiful county where Ipswich Town is one of the jewels at the centre of it. A club with great history, great tradition and a club that we’re all proud to represent.

“We remember that every day, we’re grateful for that every day, we’re grateful for that going into every game and it means a lot in every game to go out and represent the club and, of course, when you have a derby match against a local rival, that’s even more so.

“There’s no doubt that the players will represent the club as well as they can on Saturday.”

Asked whether he believes the Blues are the club that neutrals want to come out on top of the battle at the top of the Championship this season, McKenna said: “I’ve certainly had plenty of text messages, I have to say. I’ve had some really positive feedback from people within the game, who have enjoyed watching the team play, enjoy the team’s identity or are proud of the progress that the club’s made and wishing us the best for the future.

“That’s always really nice and I think it’s a healthy thing for the English game and the English pyramid in general to show that clubs can be upwardly mobile by hopefully doing a lot of the right things.

“We’ve got fantastic owners, fantastic support and backing but within the current Financial Fair Play regulations.

“It would be impossible to stick to those regulations in the EFL and go and spend £10, £20, £30 million on players, so we’ve had to do it in different ways, and we’ve enjoyed doing it in different ways.

“And we’ve shown that a team can progress in League One from a couple of unsuccessful seasons, gain a promotion and step up into the Championship and be competitive and do it in a style of play and with an identity that people have really enjoyed, and compete with big clubs in the Championship.

“And, up until this point, we’ve shown that we can also compete with teams coming down from the Premier League, who are among the strongest that the division’s ever shown and that sort of trajectory that can hopefully give a lot of clubs belief.

"And I think a football pyramid where teams can progress and develop the football club and give supporters reason to dream, I think that’s great for the game and hopefully what we’ve done and the way we’ve done it up until this point means that we have a pretty wide support around the English game.

“But we know that in terms of this season and the outcome, it’s 40 games and we’ve got six left and we don’t spend a lot of time thinking day-to-day about these types of thing.

“It’s nice to get messages and well wishes from people but it doesn’t really change our day-to-day world, our day-to-day world is the next game, the next session and that’s where our focus is.

“Outside of that, it’s nice to know that hopefully we’ve got the support and maybe we’ve shown a way that we’ve done things can be successful.”

Photo: TWTD

SpiritOfJohn added 10:09 - Apr 6 Reading this gives me hope that Kieran will be staying here regardless of what league we will be in next season. He seems to understand our DNA.
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Whos_blue added 10:47 - Apr 6 Put simply. I love this man.
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