McKenna: Integrating the New Players is a Fine Balance
Friday, 30th Aug 2024 17:24

Blues boss Kieran McKenna says it will be a fine balance integrating the new players into the team in the weeks to come.

Town gave six players debuts at AFC Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup in midweek but McKenna says it will require greater subtlety to blend the 12 - perhaps 13 - new additions into the existing side.

“It’s a fine balance,” he reflected. “We always knew that was going to be the case. It’s pretty well known that one of our big strengths is that we are a team and the players know their roles inside out and they know each other’s games inside out, and they know how to help each other, how to make each other more effective, how to help their teammate impose their game and their strengths, and have played off each other well.

“Those things don’t come overnight, you saw that in the game the other night, they don’t come overnight. That takes time.

“It’s a fine balance between integrating players who we feel like are going to help us and the reason we brought them here was because we feel like they can help us an improve us on the pitch.

“But also while maintaining some of the cohesion that we’ve had from last year. That’s a balance to have.

“Of course, also we’re missing Wes [Burns], George [Hirst] and Nathan Broadhead, who are probably three of our most common starting front four over the last two seasons, so we’re missing three of them, so that instantly makes changes in those positions anyway.

“It’s balance that we’ll try and get. Cup games are a little bit different but in the league we’ll try and make the right decisions on it and, of course, those decisions will be judged by the result.

“But in reality the result of football can go one way or the other, we’ll always try and do the right things for the club.”

While McKenna would like to use the international break to integrate the new players, 10 players, among them seven of the new recruits.

“We would like more time with them, but there is no point thinking about it,” he said. “The calendar is what it is and we are always happy when the boys get international call-ups.

“It’s not new for the football club, but in recent times there haven’t been so many and that has progressed over the last couple of years. We are now at the point when more than half the squad will be away.

“Like all things, we try and take the positives from it and it gives us some good focus time with the ones that are here and give more individual care and attention to those. That includes some new players, which that time will be really valuable with, and also the players that have been here.

“We look forward to the game tomorrow and then we have a two-week period that we will try and use as well as we can. We will work hard here, wish the boys on internationals well, and then it will be really important that we regroup really, really quickly after the break.”

Photo: TWTD

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