McKenna: There Are a Few Positions Where We Need to Be Stronger Friday, 15th Aug 2025 17:27 Boss Kieran McKenna says there are a number of areas which need to be strengthened if the Blues are to be a top Championship side this season. Town have lost players in a number of areas over the summer, most notably central midfield and more recently in attack with Nathan Broadhead joining Wrexham and Omari Hutchinson on the verge of a move to Nottingham Forest. Having lost skipper Sam Morsy, Massimo Luongo and Kalvin Phillips in the summer, the Blues agreed a fee with Middlesbrough for Hayden Hackney only for the England U21 international to turn down the switch. Since then, Jens Cajuste has returned on loan from Napoli for a second season, but the Blues still need further reinforcements in that area. The Daily Mail is linking Newcastle United midfielder Lewis Miley, 19, as a loan target with Bournemouth duo Lewis Cook, 28, and Philip Billing, 29, who has also been mentioned in connection with Town in social media rumours also said to be on the list. Town will also be looking for players to replace Broadhead and Hutchinson once his departure for Forest is complete. Crystal Palace’s Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, a player eyed in a number previous transfer windows, may come back into the reckoning having spent last season on loan at Sheffield United. In defence, TWTD revealed earlier this afternoon that the Blues are showing interest in Uruguayan international Sebastian Caceres, who is currently with Club America in Mexico, which would suggest an exit in that area, perhaps Luke Woolfenden, whose first-team opportunities appear limited in the season ahead. McKenna says no other deals are currently close, aside from Como striker Iván Azón’s season-long loan move, but that it’s likely to be a busy fortnight before the window closes on September 1st. “There are a few positions that we feel that we need to be stronger in to be the top side that we want to be. I don't believe that there's anything very, very close,” he said. “We have a few weeks left in the window, and we've got probably a busy few weeks ahead from that perspective. “I think the biggest challenge, and I know it's a challenge for the supporters as well, we all have to be really united on it going into Sunday, is that players leaving, players coming, rumours in one direction, in the other direction, they all need to be blocked out because we have a really tough start to the season with competitive games. “We're not quite in the position that we want to be in for those games and if our focus isn't 100 per cent on the task at hand, then we're going to come up short. “What happens in the next few weeks in terms of incomings and outgoings remains to be seen, but our focus here, day to day, has been and needs to be on trying to prepare the players who are here and get ready for the games ahead. “And I know with the supporters, with transfer news and things coming in, things going out, there'll be lots of opinions, but I'll just say that everyone coming to the stadium on Sunday, we really need to be together as a group. “And if they can bring that top, top support we've had there over the years, it'd be a big, big help for the group and give us a much better chance of getting the performance and the result that we want on Sunday.” McKenna reiterated that young midfielder Cameron Humphreys could play a significant part in the season with no current thoughts of sending him back out on loan following his successful spell with Wycombe last season. “The plan is to keep him here as it stands,” he added. “I say as it stands because I've said all along that I think there's going to be movement in both ways between now and the end of the window, and there'll be incomings and there'll be outgoings. And the midfield department I think it's fair to say that will probably be one of those departments. “But we believe that he can contribute. He's shown that through pre-season, he's shown that before he went on loan, he's shown on loan that he can, we feel he can definitely step up and be a good player in the Championship level. “So he's an important player for us. With a young player you value highly, there's always a balanced decision to make in terms of the benefits you feel that having them with you and in the environment that you control where you can get the work in that you think they need. “Which is really, really beneficial as against to the importance for a young player of playing lots of minutes. And you try to balance those decisions up with your young players and try to reach the right conclusions for all parties. “So at the moment, he's very, very important to us. He's going to be very important to us this season and beyond, irrespective of what happens in the rest of the transfer window. “But in terms of incomings or outgoings, we're going to have to make assessments over the next few weeks and try and have the appropriate amount of depth.”
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