Boss Kieran McKenna felt his side could have won their 1-1 draw with his former club Manchester United but having gone behind so early on the main positive was that the Blues were more than competitive throughout the 90 minutes.

United, under new head coach Ruben Amorim for the first time, went in front in the 80th second through Marcus Rashford with Omari Hutchinson levelling for Town two minutes before half-time.

At his post-match press conference, McKenna, who was facing the club where he was a member of the coaching staff before he moved to Town in December 2021 for the first time, was asked whether he was disappointed that his team didn’t go on to win it with the Blues having had a number of chances in both halves.

“I think we certainly could have won it, so you could look at it that way, it depends on your perspective, I think,” he reflected.

“I think we were certainly the better team in the first half overall and I thought as the first half went on we really grew in ascendancy, and went into half-time in real dominance.

“But the second half, Man United had some good periods of control as well and we had to defend on shape and show good discipline, although we still had a couple of big chances to win it.

“We certainly could have won it, but when you concede an early goal against Manchester United with the motivation they were playing with today, the game could also get away from you in another direction.

“So the main positive is it didn’t and we were more than competitive through the game and everyone represented themselves very well.”

Red Devils keeper Andre Onana made impressive saves in each half from Liam Delap, which would prove pivotal, and made another late stop from Conor Chaplin.

“I thought his save from Liam was incredible,” McKenna said of the first-half stop. “I’ve been told he saved it, I thought it hit his head, to be honest, but if he’s saved that from that range, it’s an incredible save.

“The save in the second half was probably a big one, I’ve not seen it back but that was maybe the clearest chance in the second half, so that’s a really good save, and he’s a good goalkeeper.

“I think we probably had the better chances in the game, but it was an even game in other parts and a competitive game. We certainly felt like we could have won it, but there were big positives in how we played.”

Asked what he made of going up against new United boss Amorim, he said: “It was a good, competitive game. It was a challenge for us going into it in terms of preparation, to be fair, and there were certain things you could predict but certainly things you couldn't, especially after an international break, not being sure with injuries.

“That side of it made it a challenge. That was a challenge at the start of the game because you weren’t sure going into the game what the positioning would be. Of course, you get the line-up but you don’t know whether [Amad] Diallo would play wing-back, would [Alejandro] Garnacho play wing-back, it wasn’t easy to be certain.

“There were probably a few times in the first five or 10 minutes where we were not caught out, but it was hard to be certain about the positioning of the opposition and it took us a little while to get on top of that.

“But I thought after probably the first 10 minutes of the first half we did exactly that and we started to get on top of it and the intensity of our pressure and the speed of some of our combination play really took control of the game.

“It was a good challenge in terms of the quality of the opposition players, they made changes in the second half, had good players coming on. They got more control than we would have liked in the second half, but at the same time we showed a good level of maturity and resilience in our defending in that phase and it made it a really well contested game.”

Town are down to 18th and in the relegation zone following the weekend games but have now picked up points from seven of their 12 Premier League games having been competitive in almost all of them and are showing signs of improvement both as a team and as individuals.

“I think we’ve shown that for the large majority of the season but I think it’s pretty clear that we’re making progress,” McKenna continued.

“I think you can see it in individual players and their improvement in their performances, you can see players really settling into the team who have come here.

“We can’t forget the journey for a Cameron Burgess or a Wes Burns today where they’ve come from and now they’re both competing really well in that game.

“Individuals are improving, I think as a team we’re developing. Pre the Tottenham game we made some comparisons internally with the Man City game and posed that to the players saying that we went to Man City second game and we did some things well but in the end we weren’t able to manage the game against a top, top, top team and it ran away from us.

“We did that much better at Tottenham and I think you can draw some comparisons today with the Liverpool game.

“We did that before the game and said we’ve got to show now, 11 games since we played Liverpool, a lot of the same ingredients as we did against Liverpool; the intensity of our pressure, bravery on and off the ball, but we have to find a little bit more, both in terms of being clinical to go and score a goal and also in our game management and maturity.

“I think if you look at the second half today compared to the second half against Liverpool, Liverpool got in the ascendency in the last 30 minutes of that game, they ran away from us really and cut through us.

“Today, whenever the game got away from us a little bit in the second half where we lost the domination that we had in the first half, I thought it was a really mature second half because we stuck together, we defended on shape, everyone stuck to their jobs, didn’t give away many big chances.

“And then you give yourself a chance to win the game. Even taking Liam’s out of it, Conor had the good chance from the cutback at the end and then maybe you can then go and win the game.

“Even in a microcosm, I think if you take the first two games, Liverpool and Man City, and you take Tottenham and United today, you can see some progress there.

“We feel it, but we have to keep it going. The position that we’re in, you draw a game, if you continue with that next week, then you show momentum but if you don’t show it, then you lose momentum. You lose the game and you’ve not won in two games.

“That’s the reality of where we’re in. We feel like we’re progressing but we have to keep going.”

Goalscorer Hutchinson has been arguably his side’s top performer in the last two matches and appears to have found his Premier League legs in the last couple of games.

“He’s doing well,” McKenna continued. “I think he showed it in early parts of the season as well, all the players are going to have a little dip for one or two games.

“People were probably saying that after the Villa game, after the Southampton game, what an impact he’s having in the Premier League, after the Liverpool game even.

“He’s shown good stuff from the start of the season but he’s starting to understand it a little bit more. It’s his second season of senior football, it’s his first season of starting and it’s his first season being in a team who are going to be in the bottom third of the league, or likely to be.

“So, there are a lot of things there to understand, let alone the increased level of the challenge with the teams and the players that he’s playing against.

“He’s maturing well, he showed all the qualities we want from a number 10 today. We feel like when teams come and press us high and open up the middle of the pitch, having a dribbler like Omari in there is really, really hard to handle and I think that really unlocked the first half for us, really.

“They were trying to step on and press him from centre-half and they couldn’t quite get to grips with him and he was dribbling through the pitch time and again. He gave a good performance and like many of the players, I think he’s improving.”

Despite another impressive home performance and point against a big, established top-flight club, McKenna needed no reminder that the next step is to claim a first home victory of the season.

“We’re going to have to win some home games, for sure,” he said. “I think a pretty good step is being hard to beat, being competitive, making this a really difficult place to come, imposing ourselves on the opposition.

“But we also need to win some home games across the season and that’s what we’re trying to do.

“We’ve had four draws here, we could have won all four. A par score, we should have won one that for me isn’t debatable in the Leicester game, and you take out the other three draws, a par score is probably winning at least one if things fall your way.

“We don’t feel like we’re far away, but it is another step. Being competitive, being hard to beat, not losing many games, that’s a step. Winning your first game is a step and then winning more regularly than we are is another step that we still have to try and make.”

Regarding Ben Johnson’s absence from the squad, the Blues boss added: “Ben was injured, so he missed out, a little injury that he had over the international break. Nothing too serious, [whether he’s available] for Nottingham Forest [next week], we don’t know.”

TWTD

IpswichT62OldBoy added 20:30 - Nov 24 OK, so we beat Forest and then we get amongst the lower orders. 12points by Xmas
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BobbyBell added 20:34 - Nov 24 Only one win so far but could have been 3 or 4 by now. I think most of us would have expected more than 5 defeats in the first 12 so that's a positive.
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poet added 21:35 - Nov 24 If Manchester Utd fans are honest, they will be aware of the fact that they travelled back home with a stolen point in their pockets. Yes we made silly errors in the first few minutes, a weak tackle on their right winger, no one picked up Rashford, and Muric never went for the ball. After that though, there was only one side in it, and they were dressed in blue. I’m disappointed with the result, we should have won. As much as I love him, and he’s a terrific CF, Delap missed a brace today, that would have killed Man Utd off. Still, every player, has a bad day, today was Delap’s, rest assured, he’ll makeup for it.

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gippeswyk added 22:19 - Nov 24 Poet, what game were you watching? Delap had a great game and had the highest rating of both teams according to the BBC poll. To suggest he had a bad day, when Onana made two amazing/lucky blocks is a disservice to both players. You don't know what you are talking about and I hope Delap doesn't read your drivel.
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Suffolkboy added 22:50 - Nov 24 K M’s summation is , as usual, accurate,level headed and positive whilst never failing to observe the relative weaknesses we can correct ,nor emphasise the ever present need to convert decisively the chances we do create ! This is PL ,and ITFC are doing good things ,entertaining all round and showing growing unity from a group most recently gathered together ! Well done one and all ! COYB

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Broadbent23 added 22:58 - Nov 24 We could have done better. Unfortunately we did not field the same team that defeated Spurs. Our international players looked tired. The same for the Man Utd players. We had our chances but not sharp enough. A point is better than a loss. A fully fit Hirst could have won us the game . Basically not having enough time with the whole squad during the international break and the unknown factors from the new Man Utd manager slowed down our progress. Great Omari goal I can't wait until D&H&S all click at the same time. We are making progress and KMc will get us over the line.

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Linkboy13 added 09:44 - Nov 25 Yes gippeswyk Delap played well today with more experience he would have tucked that chance away into the corner but had a rush of blood and blasted it. Some fans are just anti certain players and won't give credit no matter what they do to busy cueing up for pies 10 minutes before half time. Ive criticised Burgess in the past but he has been excellent since coming in for Greaves.

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Robert_Garrett added 10:56 - Nov 25 WE are getting nearer to a great team by making progress week by week. This is no rush job to get a quick few points on the board. By the end of the season we will be above Man Utd! MoM was definitely Hutch closely followed by Liam. If you want to disagree then thats your privilege but the moaners wont see any progress anyway?
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poet added 11:41 - Nov 25 gippeswyk - Don’t just read the post, but try and digest it. When a striker misses two very good opportunities to score, he or she will see that as not being good enough. If you missed those two incidents, then which game were you watching? I make reference only to those two incidents regarding Delap, and no other. As for his overall gameplay, he put in a very good performance. As I said in my post, he’s a terrific CF. He’s a true competitor, and I guess if he’s asked about those misses, he would say he’s not happy with them. Like I said, rest assured, he’ll make amends. Listen, if your going to reply to posts, try not to show your ignorance and embarrass yourself by making derogatory remarks.

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