Millwall 0 v 0 Ipswich Town
EFL Championship
Friday, 26th December 2025 Kick-off 13:00

McKenna: Frustrated Not to Get the Win
Friday, 26th Dec 2025 16:15

Boss Kieran McKenna admitted he was frustrated not to take all three points from the Blues’ 0-0 draw at Millwall, feeling his team didn’t execute well enough.

Town were on top for long spells against the Lions, but were unable to make that domination tell as the game ended in the Blues’ second 0-0 draw of the campaign.

“I think we’re frustrated not to get the win,” McKenna said. “Of course, it’s never an easy place to come, but I thought there was enough there for us in the game to get the three points.

“They had a little spell of pressure in the first 10 minutes and some set plays and balls into the box, but I thought we then got a foothold in the first half and had some really good moves through the pitch and we weren’t able to execute the last bit.

“Whether it was us playing through or winning the ball on counter-attacks, our execution wasn’t quite there to get the goal.

“And in the second half, we really controlled it again mostly and got to really good areas, played through their shape really well, got to the final third lots and just weren’t able to find the last little bit today.

“Having said that, we didn’t give away too much, we got a clean sheet and that’s not easy to do away from home and they’re really growing for us, the number of clean sheets. We have to keep going with that and work on the bits that we didn’t quite execute well today.”

McKenna felt his team weren’t too far away from grabbing the goal which would have seen them to all three points.

“It’s not just about chances, the situations we got to,” he reflected. “I thought we found some great spaces and against one of the best pressing teams in the league, I thought we played through their press and controlled their press really, really well.

“Got to great situations carrying the ball through the middle of the pitch, working to wide areas, one-v-ones down the side of the box and if you get to that point then you feel like you’ve had to do a lot of good things in the game.

“We created some chances and, even with the shots that we had, on another day one could go in and we could win the game 1-0.

“I don’t think that’s too far away, but also just a little bit better on the last pass sometimes and then we could have had even more big chances.

“Disappointed not to have got the goal, but I don’t think we were far away from it today.”

McKenna was pleased with the way his team dealt with Millwall’s physicality, particularly from set pieces.

“That was always going to be the case in terms of their threat,” he added. “They’re good at it and they have massive defenders, especially.

“We had to stay pretty strong on those situations. You’re always going to face some of them here and we stood up to them pretty well and, to my memory, there were only really the better chances in the first couple [of minutes] in the game.

“Other than that, we were pretty strong. You can’t control the whole game here, but I think we controlled more than enough to go and win the game.”

Keeper Christian Walton made another impressive save in the first half, getting across to claw away Caleb Taylor’s top corner-bound header, while the 30-year-old, making his 100th league start for the Blues, took his clean sheet tally to six in 13 Championship starts this season.

“A good run as a team, the record of clean sheets now is getting much stronger in the last 10 games or something like that,” McKenna said.

“He made one good save, the one from the set play and the header. A good save and he came and took some good crosses as well.

“I think our work with the ball out from the back was pretty good as well because they’re a team who are really strong in that phase. I haven’t seen many teams come here and have too much joy playing through them, but I thought we managed to do that today well.”

The final couple of minutes saw Wes Burns make his return to first-team action as a sub, 335 days since suffering a ruptured ACL at Liverpool in January.

“He’s been training for us for a while now but we always wanted him to get that 70-plus minutes in an U21s game before we included him, unless it was desperate needs, which hasn’t been the case,” the Blues manager said.

“But he got some good minutes the other night [in the 3-0 U21s victory over Charlton], so we feel like he’s more ready now.

“He’s a player we know can contribute and give us good things, so good to have him back in the group and get a few minutes today, especially with a really busy spell coming up.”

An away draw at Millwall, who went into the game sixth in the table, probably shouldn’t be seen as a bad return given the overall context of the division but it felt like points dropped to the Town boss.

“You never know what a good or bad is, but it doesn’t feel like a great result at the moment,” McKenna continued.

“I think if we were hanging on and having to put bodies on the line time and again to get that sort of point, then it probably feels a little bit better.

“When you have a second half where we were there and it felt like we were there to go and get the winning goal, you’re more frustrated.

“But the next game is in three days, so happy or sad, it doesn’t really matter, all that matters is recovering now and getting ready for the next game.”

Photo: TWTD

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PortmanTerrorist added 23:12 - Dec 26

McKenna is frustrated but he will need to get braver. Waiting until the second half to even put pressure on, taking off players just as they are getting some joy, playing individuals out of position, and continually playing players that are clearly below standard. I know fans know nothing (appaarently) but have a look at the ratings...has Azon broken 6 in recent weeks, Mcateer and Akpom the same...all below 5 today. With our alleged quality we just need decent performances from players and the Boss needs to make some big decisions before this season starts to slip away, starting with taking Cajuste out of CM as 5 min spells and a couple of runs a game does not a midfielder make ! As for what you do with our 'Captain'...I have no words. Big...BIG window ahead.

armchaircritic59 added 00:39 - Dec 27

Portman Terrorist, I know your comment about fans knowing nothing was somewhat tongue in cheek. I expect many of us have never managed any kind of football team in our lives ( including me ), but that certainly doesn't mean we don't know or understand the game or what we are seeing. It's a very silly football club that thinks it's fans are stupid.

Managers and coaches spend years getting badges in order to turn a very simple game into a complicated one, turn to their army of scientists, fitness gurus, data analysts etc to tell them what in many cases the eye can see anyway. Has it made the game better? More enjoyable? Would be interesting to know opinions. It's true in sport even a very small gain can give you an " edge ", but everyones chasing the same thing and coming up with similar results. For me it would be better to just send players out on the field of play with just one message " You're players, so go out and do just that, PLAY! " .

ChrisFelix added 06:12 - Dec 27 A big opportunity lost to claw back points on Middlesbrough. One positive, another clean sheet, proving we have one of the best keepers outside the premier
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Dissboyitfc added 08:48 - Dec 27 Cant comment on the game in any shape or form, didnt see or hear any of it! I got an update from someone who did and they remarked, "not very good". Well blueboy is certainly the one quote pony! Always had the same opinion on KM even when breaking records and achieving back to back promotions!
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Doublepivot added 12:32 - Dec 27 Bobble -Ange really? Cos that was a lengthy successful spell he had at Forest. People on here have short memories. We need to get behind the manager.
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VILJOEN67 added 12:39 - Dec 27 No panic. Still creating plenty of chances. If we had signed Mc Burnie we would be in the top two now. Priority for January. A prolific no 9. Would cost a bit but Nn need to strenghten elsewhere.
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Mariner1974 added 13:19 - Dec 27

Some top class insightfulness from armchaircritic59 there -

"You're players, so go out and do just that, PLAY!"

Dispense with training/ tactics/ studying the opposition. A simple "You're players, so go out and do just that, Play!"

That should do the trick.

We didn't get enough shots off yesterday, we didn't take enough risks. More variety would have been good to see, but very knee jerk yet again, one game after Cajuste, Nunez and Philogene, conjured up a beautiful team goal, that for me showed plenty of skill, intelligence and understanding. McKenna knows what he's doing. It won't work against every team and in every game, and not every player has improved under him so far, but he knows plenty plenty more than we do. Let him manage the team. We're lucky to have him at the club. He's improved Philogene like many other players since he arrived. Have patience that he can do the same with McAteer/ Azon/ Chuba over time. If not, McKenna will be the first to say he needs replacements, that will listen and learn from him. Patience my over reacting knee jerking East Anglian friends.

PutneyBlue added 14:22 - Dec 27 That was a really poor match. Town were on their all-too-familiar can't be arsed mode on the first half. Though they improved a lot in the second half they were toothless and too afraid to shoot. Millwall had 3 big hulks at CB and relied on breakaways. Town should be ashamed of themselves.
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armchaircritic59 added 18:49 - Dec 27

Mariner1974, I'm not saying don't be aware of the oppositions relative strengths and weaknesses, what I am saying is never let them stop you from playing your own game. It's formulaic, robotic football we all see to much of these days, and not just here by the way.

Oh and I agree with you about KM improving players, even SM said he'd most definitely improved his game. That makes him a very good coach without a shadow of doubt. It doesn't neccessarily make him a top manager. To do that he'll need to succeed in the PL, or somewhere equivalent.

blueboy1981 added 20:37 - Dec 27

Dissboyitfc - you conveniently forgot the ‘unwanted’ record making of KM the One Trick Pony ? - but of course you would do wouldn’t you ?
I genuinely hope he proves me wrong this season, but time is moving on to see that happening !! - and no change of tactics, style of play, evident either !
Only a Fool continues doing the same, time after time, expecting a different result.

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Mariner1974 added 02:57 - Dec 28

armchaircritic59 - Coaches and managers are always gonna look to implement a style. Pep Guardiola is regarded as the cream of the crop, but many players have come unstuck trying to adapt to how he plays like Jack Grealish's time at the Eithad. He was given much more freedom at Villa and now at Everton, to just go out and play.

McKenna we have nearly lost to established Premier clubs in recent years & he's chosen to continue his development and knowledge at Ipswich. I still continue to believe we're very lucky to have him make that commitment to us, providing us with stability and a young educated manager looking to improve and to improve us as a team and club.

It's very easy to want to change things around when we get frustrated. I'm always patient with things. Sometimes too patient for people's liking, but we're the best positioned team that has come down, with still plenty of consistency to find. We beat the league leaders 3-0 so have proven we fear no one. Alot of games and alot of teams who aren't going to match us for skill, so have to try other tricks. Look at Oxford. They're not a good team, but have beaten both us and Southampton. Leciester matched us and scored two cracking goals...they've followed that with two defeats. It's a topsy turvy league, and yeh we in theory have the best squad to progress from this league, but if we don't get behind the manager/ team and any individual players who may be struggling at present, we are only hampering our progression.

armchaircritic59 added 18:13 - Dec 28

Mariner1974, believe me I'm with you on a lot of the points in your last post. I'm not McKenna out at the moment. Failure to get promotion at the end of this season may be another story, in my book it would indeed be just that, a failure, not entirely to be laid at his door. Players need to take responsibility for their own performances too. I still believe there's too much and increasing amounts of robotic, to a system football these days. I'm aware I'm howling in the dark, it's not changing any time soon.

You are certainly right about teams trying everything they can to stop us playing, but to be fair if the boots were on the other feet, no doubt it would be likewise. I actually haven't a clue what our best is yet, all I know for sure is, we can't possibly have seen it, because if we have, we've wasted an awful amount of money.

One thing's for sure, I've never booed or abused an opposition player, let alone one of our own, so I will keep my council and hope the second half of the season becomes like I imagined the first one would be. It's not an entitlement, we are not entitled to anything, but an expectation.