Ipswich Town defender Axel Tuanzebe felt the Blues acquitted themselves well in their 2-0 home loss to Liverpool and feels it shows they are very much in the Premier League to ‘compete’ with every side.

After a finely-balanced first half in which Town carved out the better of the limited chances, the Merseyside outfit ultimately turned the screw in the second half and were able to show their class with quick-fire goals from Diogo Jota (60) and Mo Salah (65).

To their credit, Kieran McKenna’s side, of which former Manchester United player Tuanzebe was the only one in the XI who was not making his full Premier League debut (Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson having come off the bench once each for Man City, and Chelsea respectively and Leif Davis twice for Leeds), far from folded thereafter, though they could not get the goal a packed-out Portman Road craved.

And 26-year-old Tuanzebe, signed as a free agent early last season, was happy with how their first performance since promotion as Championship runners-up ended up going.

“Yes, I think especially our performance in the first half we showed the levels and our principles and our game plan,” he said. “We executed well at times, there are still little bits we needed to brush up on.

“I think it showed a little bit in the second half when Liverpool took it to another level and caught us out in a few moments in the game. But I think as a whole we stood ground and represented ourselves well today.”

Despite coming up off back-to-back promotions, McKenna’s side certainly did not look out of place as the lunchtime kick-off, broadcast live on TNT Sports, got under way amid a cauldron of noise.

“No, we can respect the opponent but we're definitely here to compete,” said DR Congo-capped Tuanzebe, who also represented England at U19, U20 and U21 levels. 

“We're not here to just play a part in it, or just because it's Liverpool, it’s automatically three points to them.

“No, we're at our home ground, we've got the advantage and we've got good tools, we've got good players. We've got good ways of playing and we utilised that today.”

Put to him they had the better of the chances after their first-half display, he said: “Definitely, I think our press gave them a lot of problems. It ended up resulting in going long and we were able to win it quite high up on the pitch. We just need to capitalise that and be more clinical in front of goal.”

Asked what they would have learned from the second half where Liverpool seemed to take things up a few gears, and the game as a whole, he said: “I think just that concentration and the intensity, keeping it always at a high level.

“I think that was the difference today. I think they were just able to consistently be intense on crucial moments and damage us today.

“Obviously, ultimately it ended up two goals to them. Like I said, I think it's a very positive game for us.

“A good step forward. A sort of confidence boost as well because we can look back on the game and think, ‘do you know what we represented and we played rather well’ and we can take that into the season and really utilise it.”

The former Aston Villa loanee also felt it was good for so many of the squad to have made their Premier League debuts in a tight match.

“Exactly that and obviously understanding the level, what it takes to play in the Premier League week in, week out,” he said.

“You can't take your foot off the pedal. And we had little moments of that today and it cost us, ultimately.

“But now that we've taken the lesson, we're definitely going to utilise it for the remainder of the season.”

Yesterday saw the Suffolk club announce two big signings with Sammie Szmodics, last season’s Championship top goalscorer, coming off the bench for his debut while England international Kalvin Phillips was an unused substitute.

Asked for his take on the pair coming into the squad, with the qualities they bring, Tuanzebe feels both can have a big impact.

“Yes, definitely,” he said. “Sammie's proven himself in the Championship last season with the highest goal contribution in the league. It's just the right time for him to make that step forward and he'll be a great contribution to us.

“And Kalvin, everyone knows Kalvin’s history. The level he's played at and I'm sure he can come in and be a real strong point for us.

“He has that experience in there, playing at a top level. We're all excited to see what he can deliver from game day.”

On McKenna saying his players will pick up things from the Manchester City loanee, he said: “Definitely. I think it can ultimately only help the group having someone that's played internationally at the highest level. He's played in the Premier League a number of times.

“Having him in the group with a team that has so little experience in the Premier League can only be helpful to us.”

The Blues will travel to Phillips’s parent club Manchester City next weekend for their next Premier League test, and Tuanzebe agreed they can go there with more belief following the display they put in against Liverpool.

“Definitely,” he said. “I think even the goals, when we look back at them, it wasn't anything of brilliance, moments of brilliance. It wasn't individual magic. It was just certain combinations that cut through us because we were getting tired and [had a] lack of concentration.

“So we can look at ourselves and think we came off the pedal there and they punished us. But the way we played today, we're very happy with our performance. We're going to build up on it in the week to come and take the game to City.”

Quizzed on what McKenna said to them at half-time, he replied: “It was positive. And I think early on in the season, I think the only way to be is positive. I think there's certain ways we can manage the game in-game. He mentioned that today.

“For example, when they scored their first goal, I think we're used to last season where we'd go full-out attack and try to get a goal back. But I think for this year, we might have to take a different approach and maybe keep ourselves in the game for a little bit longer.

“I think if we had come to the last 10 minutes and it's still 1-0, with the home advantage, I think we'd have that boost of energy, the crowd behind us to push us through and pull that goal back.

“And I think just having that game management through the game, whilst in the game, will be something that will help us massively this season.”

Christian Walton made his return in goal, having been ousted by deputy Vaclav Hladky last season, after new signing Aro Muric picked up a calf issue heading into the game. 

And Tuanzebe feels his positive display showed how it will be very much a squad game as Town tackle the Premier League. 

He said: “Yes, I think if you look at our season last year, we had a lot of rotation, a lot of players coming in at different moments.

“The manager’s had that real togetherness in the group. We're a squad, but everybody will get minutes here, there and everywhere.

“You always have to be ready. Christian was ready today to pick up his opportunity and he performed very well.

“It's a long season, there's a lot of games, so everyone's got to stay on their toes and be ready, just like Christian.”

He also praised the support from the home crowd, who reacted to both Liverpool goals with a roar of encouragement to their side to keep going.

“I think that's obviously from occasions last season when we got 1-0 down or whatever. The fans know it's not over until the final whistle,” he said.

“It's just how they are with us and the relationship we have is good. As a player, that's what you want. You want that belief, that uproar.

“It keeps you going, it helps us massively as players, knowing that the fans are always behind us.”

The former Stoke City loanee was also asked about former Town captain Matt Holland, who was this week announced as joining the board, and whether his experience of his time in the Premier League or other former players who finish fifth under George Burley was something that had been imparted on them ahead of the big kick-off.

“Not so much. We've not wanted to change things,” he said. “How we've built up over the last two years as a club has been a tight group.

“We're keeping that system going forward. You don't fix something that's not broken. It's been working well for us and that's how we intend to continue.

“He’s more than welcome to the training ground and giving us a few words of wisdom. So far, it's just been us focusing on the games, focusing on training every day and applying ourselves properly.” 

Photo: REUTERS/David Klein

Lukeybluey added 19:29 - Aug 17 All the boys did the county proud. We more than matched in the first half, better than Liverpool in fact. Personally on a separate note, I really hope when K Phillips gets his chance he gets purring like a few years a go, and if he enjoys his time here we manage to sign him. I think he will be a key player for us this season.
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Lukeybluey added 19:42 - Aug 17 We also need to tie this man down n to a new contract, and also Leif imo.
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victorysquad added 07:30 - Aug 18 I think he is right re: man city. Although it will be difficult to get anything from the game we should focus on a strong performance again and just work on the details, because this will be another great learning experience for all.
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Carberry added 09:17 - Aug 18 Why on earth ask him about Matt Holland straight after the game? Strange choice of question to someone who probably doesn't have an interest in how the Board is made up and may not even know who Matt Holland is, apart from an ex player.
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