McKenna: A Really Poor Result For Us, a Game That Was There For Us to Win Saturday, 1st Feb 2025 18:42 Boss Kieran McKenna admitted that the Blues’ 2-1 home defeat to bottom club Southampton was a really poor result, particularly as he believed it was a game there for his team to win. Joe Aribo gave the Saints the lead against the run of play on 21 before Liam Delap levelled with his ninth goal of the season 10 minutes later. The Blues had chances to go in front but failed to take them and the visitors claimed their second Premier League win this season - and their first on the road - via Paul Onuachu’s 87th-minute goal. “Its a really poor result for us, no doubt about it, especially on the balance of play and the feel of the game,” McKenna said. “It felt like it was definitely a game there for us to win. “I thought we were the better team, but it’s not really any consolation at this moment. Today was about picking up the points. “I thought we started well, had the much better chances throughout the first half, then went behind with the opposition’s first real chance or first entry into our box after 20 minutes. “Had the chances to certainly go in at half-time with a lead, but weren’t clinical enough to go and take the chances and then in the second half we didn’t create enough as we wanted to. “Still had the game under control, didn’t give anything away really, but didn’t execute well enough in the big moments that we were getting. “And then conceded a really poor goal where we were breaking away and then they win it and they break away, we don’t defend the situation well and it’s a late goal against us. “It’s a really poor outcome to the game. There were some good things in the game but I think they get lost in the result today, to be honest. We’re very frustrated.” Soon after Delap’s equaliser, Nathan Broadhead had the first of a couple of opportunities but Saints keeper Aaron Ramsdale saved from the Wales international. “I think it was a good chance for us, it was a great save, but we got to so many good positions in the game,” the Blues manager continued. “Southampton give you the spaces. There were so many opportunities, we got round the edge of the box, we got one-v-ones, we had opportunities around the edge of the box, but we weren’t able to execute well enough to go and score. “And they come on and execute in the last minutes, a substitute off the bench scores the goal and we don’t defend it well enough. “It definitely felt like a game where we certainly should have been going in at half-time with a lead, not having to chase the game back.” The fans left Portman Road with the mood as flat as at any point over the last few seasons and McKenna said the dressing room was little different. “It’s pretty similar in there,” he continued. “We’re all disappointed, frustrated. Today was an opportunity for us, not because of the narrative that Southampton aren’t good, they’re a good team, but because of the balance of the game. “It was there for us, the pictures in the first half were exactly what we wanted, what we knew it would be. “They went man-to-man, every time we got a connection off we were breaking into huge spaces and everyone’s very, very frustrated that we felt like the game was there for us but we didn’t execute well enough to score the goals that we could score in that game. “And we’ve had not too much penalty box defending to do and we’ve come up short a couple of times with two soft goals. Everyone is very frustrated.” One positive was full debutant Julio Enciso’s performance, the Paraguayan having joined on loan from Brighton just over a week ago, while McKenna had said on Friday that there will still be a significant number of games, 14, remaining after today regardless of the result. “I think Julio is a fantastic player, he’s been a shining light at the training ground this week. His play, his energy, his enthusiasm for the game, I thought he showed a really, really high level,” he said. “There’s a lot of football to be played. I don’t like saying it, but it’s another game and it feels like all season [I’ve been saying that], but that’s just the reality of where we’ve climbed as a club. “We’ve got players making debuts, we’ve got players playing with players they’ve never played with before and that’s been the case all season. “When you have the change that we’ve had, when you have had the ascent that we’ve had, you have that [change] through the first half of the season, then you have a period now where we’ve tried to improve the squad because we feel like we need to make another step up. “But then you’ve got players settling into the team and building relationships on the pitch and that takes time. “At the moment, we’re not able to turn the margins consistently enough whenever we perform well and are in games, and that was something that we were absolutely exceptional at last year. The balance of the game today is completely different to when we beat them last year. “Last year, I think they were probably the better team in many aspects. When we played them early in this season, I thought it was a 50/50 game and I thought today we were the much better team in most aspects. “But at the moment, the group, we don’t consistently turn the margins in our favour in tight games in which we’ve played well to go and win or even to pick up the point, and that’s been the case on too many occasions this year. “The only answer is work, it’s time together, it’s still a really new group and, of course, they’re learning the lessons in the toughest league in the world. “And now we’ve got new players coming in and they’re learning and feeling the group. We’re bringing players off the bench who are still settling into the club, to the level, to their teammates. “And that makes it a challenge to come out on top in the margins as consistently as we would like to do. “But the only answer is work and we’ve got time to do that now. We’ve got some training weeks ahead, the games aren’t as frequent in the remaining months of the season, so we’re going to work really, really hard with the group to find ways to turn these tight margins in our favour more often.” Quizzed on whether he might want to add some more bodies to the squad before Monday’s 11pm deadline, having said on Friday he wasn’t anticipating any more moves in or out, McKenna said: “Not another body but the quality, yes, if it’s there. You can see the level that Julio has given us today, he’s a really, really high level, he certainly will improve us. “And if there are players out there who can improve us, then we’ll look to do it and the club’s working really, really hard to do that, but, of course, many, many clubs are in the same situation. “I said my feeling is that there probably won’t be movement. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible, but we’re not expecting it and we’re focusing on the group that’s here at the moment.”
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