Town boss Kieran McKenna was pleased with his side’s intent in the latter stages of last week’s 2-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Jack Taylor’s header seconds from the whistle handing the Blues their second victory of the season.

McKenna’s team had taken the lead via Matt Doherty’s first-half own goal but were pegged back in the second when Matheus Cunha levelled for the Old Gold.

But Town looked the stronger team going into injury time and won it via Taylor’s far post header - the Republic of Ireland international’s first Premier League goal - from Jack Clarke’s corner.

“It was a pleasing aspect,” McKenna when asked about the way his team continued to probe for a second goal in the latter stages.

“We looked at that back with the players this week. And you can certainly see in those last few moments that everyone's intent was to go and get the winner, and I think that's important. 
 
“Of course, we've had quite a few draws this season and every point is precious, but we know three points are what gives you a big shift in the season, so when we have the opportunity to go for three points, that has to be our mindset.

“And, as I’ve said many times, if we do a lot of things well, as we are, then we can be competitive in games.  
 
“And then it comes down to moments and margins. We want to be a team that always pushes for those to go in our favour and get the chance to get three points.”
 
Quizzed on what lessons he learnt in the Wolves game that he can take into Saturday’s home match against Newcastle, he reflected: “It's a different game, but there were, as there are every week, some positives to take. I think there were lots of good things in the performance up until they scored their goal. 
 
“I think we were the better side in the game, I liked the progress in the second half. Again, it almost went the other way because of the result, but I think our intent in the second half was really good in terms of trying to stay proactive, trying to keep the ball and trying to go for the second goal. 
 
“I think everyone had that mindset in the second half and we had some moments to get it. We just didn't manage to. So, I think that's a step forward as well and something that we've been speaking about quite a bit. 

“Of course, we saw with their goal what we've seen every week and what we'll expect again tomorrow is that teams can score out of nothing. Cunha's goal, although with a little deflection, came at a time when we were really comfortable in the game.

“They hadn't had really any chances or shots of particular note in the second half up until that point. You don't need to make a big mistake for teams to score. We made a couple of very small errors or decisions and the next thing the ball is in the back of your net. That again reminds us of the level and the margins. 
 
“But again, we take confidence and we take positivity from getting a late goal, especially having had a few go against us. I think that gives everyone belief and gives us the feeling that if we can stay competitive in games and bring games down to the final moments, we can go and score goals off the bench, that the substitutes that we have in the squad can come on and help us get a result and that's going to be really important.  
 
“So, I think there are things like that that were a big boost from the game that we'll try and take into tomorrow but really into all the games coming up as well.”
 
Town’s win at Molineux saw Gary O’Neil’s tenure as boss brought to an end the following day with former Porto boss Vitor Pereira appointed their new head coach yesterday.

McKenna takes no joy in having hammered the final nail into O’Neil’s time with Wanderers.

“It's never nice to see another manager lose their job,” he said. “If you're the last team to play against them, obviously you're a little bit closer to that. So, I'm disappointed for Gary, he's done a lot of good work in his time there and had a lot of challenges.

“You're always disappointed to see that. Lots of managers have spoken about how that's the nature of the job. We know it's a tough job and I think Gary has done a lot of good work both at Bournemouth and at Wolves.”

Photo: TWTD

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