McKenna: Best Thing For Me Was the Dressing Room at Half-Time Saturday, 8th Oct 2022 18:15 Town boss Kieran McKenna says the dressing room at half-time was the highlight as his side came from a goal down to win 2-1 at Morecambe. Lee Evans netted the winner from the spot - the Blues’ second penalty of the afternoon, Conor Chaplin having seen the first saved - following George Edmundson’s equaliser. McKenna admitted his side had taken a while to get going with the Shrimps having gone ahead via Kieran Phillips’s 34th-minute goal. “We did, it was a difficult game and a very good result where we showed a great resilience and belief in the squad, I think,” he said. “The first 30 minutes or so were challenging. Credit to Morecambe, they came out and pressed us man for man and came with a completely different strategy than in previous weeks. “Probably made it difficult for us to get into our rhythm and were very aggressive, overly aggressive on one occasion [when Ousmane Fane was booked for fouling Chaplin], but in general really good aggression from them throughout that first period, which made it hard for us to settle. “They scored a free-kick that I don’t think they could repeat again if they did it a lot of times over. They’ve tried to spin it in behind us, it’s dropped short and the lad’s produced an amazing one-touch flick over the top of the defence that’s fallen to someone who’s one-touch volleyed it into the net. “I don’t think it’s a deliberate one. Maybe [Morecambe manager] Derek [Adams] will say they’ve practiced that and if they have then fair play, but I think it was more something that went against us, and then it’s about the response. “I thought the response at the end of the first half was very, very good. We had to make some adjustments because the game wasn’t going our way. We were unlucky where we hit the post and could have gone in level at half-time. “But the best thing on the day for me was the dressing room at half-time, the boys were calm, had belief, knew that we had to up it, knew that we had to be cleaner and crisper on the ball, to breed the pressure and they had every confidence that they could go and do that. “And the spell at the start of the second half was fantastic where we got the couple of goals, another penalty, chances, hit the woodwork and that was probably the key period in the game.” Regarding his message during the break, he added: “I think it was reinforcing the feeling that the players were spreading themselves. We knew the game hadn’t gone our way but we know we’re not going to play fantastically for every single minute every week. ‘The goal went against us, a bit of a one-off goal possibly, and we knew we had to trust what we do and made some little adjustments. “We had to speak about their strategy because it was different to what we expected before the game but once we made those little adjustments and got our heads around that, we knew that our quality on the pitch would make the difference if we managed to find that intensity and rhythm in our game.” He continued: “You can’t play well every game in a long season like this, that’s for sure. We’ve played very well in certain games and not got the three points, so there are going to be other games where you’re not going to be 100 per cent for the whole game. “I thought we were very good for a short spell of the game and that was what won us the game, the really good spell we had and showing some good resilience in the other spells.” Regarding Evans’s winning penalty, he said: “Yes, not easy when you’ve missed one, it spreads a little bit more doubt, but he’s a lovely striker of the ball and struck it home well.” McKenna recently mentioned that Town had gone for a long spell without winning a penalty - 36 matches back to the 4-0 win at Gillingham in his second match in charge in January - before winning two in six minutes today. “It’s funny how it goes sometimes,” he reflected. “I thought the referee [Thomas Kirk] was very good, of course I’m going to say that because we got penalties, but I believe it’s one of his first games in the league and I thought in terms of how he managed the crowd, how he managed the flow of the game and stayed strong with his decisions, he was very good. “Two clear penalties and if you have players like Kyle who can go one-v-one and players like Kayden [Jackson], who have that electric pace to catch defenders out, then you’ve got a better chance of getting penalties and we were certainly due some.” McKenna says he left it up to the players regarding who took the second spot-kick: “The players decided. Conor was our designated penalty taker but it was a good decision really, when you’ve missed one, let somebody else step up and it worked well.” The Blues boss made five changes from the team which beat Cambridge 3-0 on Tuesday. He explained: “We’ve had a busy period. The boys are working ever so hard, we’ve got a smallish group. “We lost Dominic Ball to a gash in his leg as well, so we’re down to 15 seniors really plus Cameron [Humphreys], so we needed to freshen it up. “Marcus [Harness] and Wes [Burns] both had some minor muscle issues from the week and we had to freshen it up. “But more importantly we have a quality group of players who can all contribute and offer different things and I thought Richard [Keogh] and Kyle [Edwards], the only two who came into the team when we played Sheffield Wednesday away, I thought they were both excellent. “Kyle, once he found his spaces and we got him into the right slot where he could be effective in the game, was excellent, showed real character and quality in that second half and I thought Richard was a colossus in that second half up against a good forward. “When we were under a bit of pressure, he was completely commanding and also gave us composure and experience on the ball to help us get through the game.” Since the defeat to leaders Plymouth, Town have now won three in a row, which was exactly what McKenna demanded of his team. “It’s what we spoke about after Plymouth, that that was the end of an unbeaten run, a really good run of form, and we needed to start again and that would show the character that we have and we’ve managed to bounce back well so far,” he said. “But we want to keep it going. Winning runs are important, they give you a boost of points, especially when you’re dealing with midweek games and you can quickly accumulate points and that’s the second time we’ve put that little three-game burst together and we want to make it longer this time.” Following the hectic spell, Town now have a week without a Tuesday match and time to work on the training pitch. “I think we’ve probably had maybe the busiest schedule, I’m not sure anyone else played the international week and then also played the Tuesday night as well,” McKenna added. “And with Plymouth and Morecambe being our longest two away trips in a row in a relatively short spell of time, it’s been a busy spell. “Again, the squad isn’t massive at the moment, so getting some recovery in in the next couple of days and then some training time will be good because there are still lots of areas for us to improve.”
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