Manager Kieran McKenna believes Town are improving both as a team and individually having gained a famous first win of the season at Tottenham a fortnight ago.

The Blues host McKenna’s former club Manchester United at Portman Road on Sunday looking to build on that 2-1 victory over Spurs, which moved them out of the relegation zone and up to 17th in the table.

“We think it's been making steady progress,” McKenna responded when asked how he felt the team was doing having said previously that he expects the team to grow as the new players settle in and those who featured in League One and the Championship adjust to the level.

“As I've said, progress isn't always linear so it doesn't mean that you're going to see it every single week. But in general, we feel like the team's improving, we feel like individuals are improving.

“We feel like we're learning lessons and managing to put them into place. Of course, it's easy to say that after you've just won the last game, it's harder to sit here and say you're improving if you haven't won the last game.

“I think individual performance is always a good perspective. And I think I can look at the large majority of our squad and say that they're in a better place now than they were in the middle of August, both those who are starting every week and the boys who aren't playing as much. But I can see it day in and day out in training.

“If you look at the last three games, you can say that we could easily have won all three, to be fair. And certainly, if you take Leicester and Brentford, we probably feel that there should have been at least maybe four points across those two games.

“So we feel like the margins to us winning consecutively or on a more regular basis are getting a little bit closer.

“But again, you can't rest on that. It's easy to be really positive now because we've just won. But we have to back that up, and we have to go again and deliver another good performance. 

“And if that results in us getting a victory or points from the game, that would be fantastic. But if we go out and deliver another good performance against a really strong side, showing the right identity that we want to show, then I think we know that's the right direction of travel and that will give us points at the end of the season.”

TWTD

MK1 added 17:40 - Nov 22 Honestly, doing better than I thought we might. 5 draws and a win isn't as bad a return as I feared. Think the Spurs game showed how much we are growing as a team. As long as they believe they belong, then no reason why we cannot survive and go again at this level. Keep it up lads, you are all doing brilliantly.
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Tractorboy58 added 17:55 - Nov 22 Love our manager .. he manages and builds progress without losing his cool - and the players seem to respect him
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Len_Brennan added 07:29 - Nov 23 I think his comments are fair; the performances against Brighton, Fulham & even say Liverpool were good & encouraging, but in each case it was 'we're doing well here, we could hang on & nick a point here'. The Aston Villa game was somewhat similar, but by the end we were thinking we could take all three points, however the performances in the last three games were all of a level where we were the better side over the course of the 90+ minutes. Naivety & PL game management may have cost us wins against Brentford & Leicester, but the Spurs game was a joy in each facet, as we saw the development & maturity of the side. Omari is the obvious candidate to highlight when it comes to learning & improvement; he had to do it over the early months last season, when he found out that his skill/ability alone is not enough when playing against better, more experienced players. He is clearly not arrogant or precious though, as he has 'rolled his sleeves up' once again, taken the coaching on board & revelled in the confidence shown in him by the manager. I loved his performance against Spurs; the goals will come, just like they did last season. Ben Johnson, Dara O'Shea & Jens Cajuste are all miles better than they were 3 months ago, while the team as a whole has forged its identity with the new signings. Woolfenden, Burgess, Walton, Chaplin & Hirst may not be first choice 'starters' now, but each one has proven that he is capable of playing & being effective at the level. Conor Townsend looked solid in the minutes he has played too. Burns, J Clarke & Broadhead are all decent players, who can be match winners for us with their skill, pace, passing & finishing; they are the three, for me, that have more to show in the run up to the January transfer window.

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