McKenna: A Challenge to Really Enjoy Thursday, 21st Dec 2023 17:44 Town boss Kieran McKenna believes Saturday’s live-on-Sky visit to Leeds United is a challenge to really enjoy. The Blues go into the game second in the Championship table, 10 points ahead of Leeds in third with the Whites one of only two clubs to have beaten Town in the league this season, their 4-3 victory at Portman Road in August. Leeds, who drew 1-1 at home to Coventry City last week, are unbeaten at Elland Road this season having won seven and drawn four of their 11 Championship matches. Only three sides in the division have scored more than Leeds’ 37 goals with the Blues the top scorers on 47. At Elland Road, the Whites have netted 22 times, the fourth-highest in the Championship. Overall, they have conceded the second-fewest in the division, 22, behind leaders Leicester, 16, while on home turf they have let in 10 with only the Foxes, six, and Coventry, eight, having shipped fewer. Town have conceded only nine on the road this season, the lowest in the division. Leeds are without a win in their last two, having been beaten 2-0 at Sunderland on the Tuesday prior to their draw with the Sky Blues. Before that though, they had won the previous three and were unbeaten in seven, having won six of those matches.  “There is no doubt about it, it is a top, top opponent, it is a big step up again,” McKenna said. “We felt like Middlesbrough, Watford and Norwich were a big step up to have those three games in a week and that level of opponent, especially away from home against Middlesbrough and Watford. “And this is another big step up, there is no doubt about it. Not just Saturday, but of course, the game on Tuesday [at home to leaders Leicester] as well. “It is a wonderful game to look forward to. It is Leeds United away, one of the best-supported clubs in the country, on 23rd December with both teams in a really strong position in the table, and it is a challenge to really enjoy. “We know it is going to take a top, top performance to get anything from the game. They are a big attacking threat, especially at home. They have been dominant in their home games this season. “We know we are going to have to perform really well to be in the game. That is the challenge ahead of us and it is the one we are going to look to take on.” McKenna was asked whether he had spoken to his players much about the atmosphere at what’s set to be a packed Elland Road. “Not particularly,” he said. “We speak about that for all games, to be honest. We will always speak about the context of the opposition and where they’re at as a team and the crowd and the atmosphere. This would be no different than any other game in that respect. “They are a big club and I’m pretty certain they wouldn’t have expected us to be in this position at this stage of the season. We can go there in a really positive frame of mind to go and take the game on and focus on performing as well as we can without too much pressure on ourselves. “We know that it is always the case with away games that if you can perform well and stay in the game and impose yourself in the game in different ways, then sometimes the home crowd can work for or against the home team. We are always aware of context like that. “We mentioned it this week but in general it is more about preparing for the threats they have. They have a lot of threats individually starting, a lot of threats on the bench. They have some really good combinations and ways of attacking and our main focus has to be on performing our jobs to the highest level we can.”
Will the main focus be on stopping those threats at source or stopping the supply? “I think our preference is always, and I think we showed that in the games last week, to be as aggressive as we can be. “To try and win the ball high up the pitch, try and defend high up the pitch, try and keep possession in the opposition’s half when possible, so we keep the ball as far from our goal as possible. That is always our preference and our first intent in the game. “We also know going away to Middlesbrough or Watford especially, [and we’d expect the same] going away to this Leeds side, that there are going to be spells where we have to defend deeper, where we have to defend together, where we will have to defend closer to our goal. “We know in those instances that being fully prepared for the individual threats they have, being fully aware of the movements they like to make and keeping our concentration to a really high level is going to be absolutely paramount to try and stop a really dangerous attacking side. “We need to be ready for both. We will try and be aggressive in the game when we can be. We will try and impose ourselves in the game, but we also know we will have to deliver a really well-rounded performance on and off the ball and on our set plays.” Looking back to the game at Portman Road, despite the defeat, McKenna says the feeling afterwards was positive. “I thought it was a good performance and I think we took more confidence from it than anything, to be honest,” he recalled. “Yes, it is easy to say, you can obviously look at it on an individual level, the value of their frontline and the quality of their players all over the pitch. It was going to be a big step up, but I thought it was a game that we competed well in. “I thought we performed well with the ball. We were an attacking threat throughout the game. “And there were spells of the game where we defended well as well. I think it was a nine-minute spell in the first half where we made a couple of mistakes, but we also have to credit the opposition, they showed their individual quality and execution. That was definitely a moment and a phase where the players felt the step up in level. “But having come through that and kept our composure, we kept playing our football, the crowd stuck with the team, the team stuck to the plan and to what we believe in and for that to have then helped us get back in the game and stay in the game and grow in the game until the really late stages where they got a goal and we got one back, I think that was a game that we took some confidence from. “Of course, we know the challenge only gets bigger. We are playing them away from home this time. They have had more time together with the manager [Daniel Farke]. They have had more time together as a group of players than at that stage of the season. “So we expect the challenge to be bigger, but we also feel that we have improved since that point. This team and these individuals have continued to improve and adapt to the level and we are hoping that we can show that on Saturday in different aspects of our game.” Looking beyond Saturday, the squad will be in to train on Christmas Day morning ahead of the second big game of the festive period against the Foxes before spending the afternoon with their families. “We'll be in,” he said. “Of course, a big game on Boxing Day, a wonderful game to look forward to. “So, as with all games, our supporters are going to come and pay money and support us. It deserves our full attention. “We'll be in on Christmas Day. We know we are very privileged to be in the position and in the job that we are in. So we will enjoy the session and look forward to a really good game on Tuesday night.” With games coming thick and fast, McKenna will be utilising his squad over the festive period. “We spoke to the players at the start of the week,” he said. “I don't think we have had four games in nine days before. I could be wrong on that, maybe one of the Easter spells in League One, but I don't think so. “It’s four games in nine days, two of them against teams in the Premier League last year. Two against teams with new managers [QPR and Stoke]. It is going to be a big challenge. “We know it will take more than 11 players. We know there will have to be changes in between some of the games. The impact from the bench will be massive. It is a challenge that we are ready to take on. “It is a really busy period and everyone being fully ready is going to be really important.” McKenna will probably largely stick with the team which should have beaten Norwich last week with Vaclav Hladky in goal and former Leeds man Leif Davis and Harry Clarke the full-backs. One change he may make is bringing Axel Tunazebe in at right centre-half for Luke Woolfenden with Cameron Burgess continuing in the left-sided role. In central midfield, skipper Sam Morsy, still on nine bookings with a 10th leading to a two-match ban, will partner Massimo Luongo. George Hirst is again set to be the central striker with Wes Burns, Conor Chaplin and Nathan Broadhead behind him. Leeds boss Farke, a one-time Canaries manager, is hoping his side can maintain their home record against the Blues, who have impressed him greatly this season. “One thing is for sure, that two of the best sides in the league will meet each other and with a full, packed Elland Road,” Farke said. “We’re all looking forward to this game, it’s a great game. “It’s just another chance to win three points and I’m not playing the importance of the game down. “It’s an important game because each and every game is a chance to win one or three points, but no more. “In the home games, we’ve been quite successful so far and we want to keep going with this one and for that we are highly motivated. “They played fantastic last season and they have top class players, a coach doing a fantastic job and they have a special, unique style of playing. “When you’re newly promoted, to play with this special style and ‘unnormal’ processes, for each and every opponent in a new league it’s always difficult to adapt to it. “Especially in the beginning, you can surprise a lot and cause problems. But when they get used to the approach, everything calms down. “You have to say, lots of credit to Kieran McKenna and all the staff and players, they’ve done a fantastic job and they fully deserve to be in this position.” Like McKenna, Farke expects to use his squad during the games over the Christmas period. “It's not a secret we will not start all four games with the same line-up, you have to mix it up quite a bit, that's quite normal,” he added. “In this moment although it's a family time of year, Christmas, not for the footballers. We have to be focused on the games and this is what we are doing. “It's important to listen to the science and the data. Every day we analyse data about recovery, how tired players are or if there's an injury risk and we take a lot of care to manage the load in training but I don't like this discussion too much. “If I'm really honest, Ethan [Ampadu] is perhaps the only outfield player who could be a bit tired. “Most of my players in the spotlight have played 16, 17, 18 games. If you're not capable of doing this from the beginning of August, sorry I'm not made for this world any more, I'd be doing something wrong. “I should be able to keep my players fit so in four and a half months they can play 18 games. If not, we would have a problem. “I don't like this discussion because if you always talk about the players being tired or should feel tired or we need to freshen it up, at some time the players believe they're tired. “They are all professional athletes who live, train, sleep and eat just for this job and they need this competition, they are used to having in once or twice a week.” Leeds have left-back Junior Firpo available following a hamstring injury, the Dominican Republic international having been out since the Swansea game at the end of November, only his third match of the season. Winger Ian Poveda back with them having been given permission to join up with the Colombia squad for friendlies. Midfielder Jamie Shackleton and right-back Sam Byram remain sidelined with hamstring and glute injuries respectively, and along with long-time absentee Stuart Dallas - who broke his leg in May 2022 - aren’t expected to return to action until the new year. Historically, Leeds have the superior record in games against the Blues, winning 34 (33 in the league) clashes between the sides. Town have been victorious on 29 (24) occasions and 21 (18) games have ended in draws. The Blues last won at Leeds in September 2015 when a Tommy Smith goal saw Mick McCarthy's side to a 1-0 victory. The teams last met in August when Town’s 100 per cent start to the season came to an end as they were beaten 4-3 by Leeds in a pulsating encounter at Portman Road. A Joe Rodon own goal gave the home side the lead on seven but the Blues found themselves 3-1 behind following quick-fire goals from Georginio Rutter, Wilfried Gnonto and Joel Piroe on 10, 14 and 19, before Broadhead pulled one back in first-half injury time to give the Blues a foothold. However, despite Town having periods on top, the Whites sealed their first win of the season via a goal from Luis Sinisterra - who later that week joined AFC Bournemouth on loan - 15 minutes from time, before Chaplin pulled one back for the Blues deep in injury time. The sides most recently faced one another at Elland Road in October 2018 in what proved to be Paul Hurst’s last match in charge of Town with owner Marcus Evans wielding the axe the following afternoon. Kemar Roofe and Liam Cooper were on target as the Blues were comfortably defeated 2-0 as the Whites returned to the top of the Championship table. Roofe put the West Yorkshiremen ahead in the 22nd minute and skipper Cooper added the second on 66 with Town never looking like taking anything from the game once they had gone behind. Blues left-back Davis joined Town from Leeds in the summer of 2022 having spent four years at Elland Road after moving to their academy from Morecambe aged 18. The full-back made six senior starts and eight sub appearances for the Whites. Saturday’s referee is Stephen Martin from Staffordshire, who has shown 58 yellow cards and one red in 10 games so far this season. Martin’s last Town match was the 2-2 home draw with Barnsley in August 2022 in which he disallowed a Marcus Harness goal which would have given the Blues a 3-1 lead, all but settling the match. Sub Harness shook off Tykes’ defender Liam Kitching and slipped the ball past visitors’ keeper Brad Collins as he appeared to be pulled back. However, Martin inexplicably disallowed the goal much to the frustration of the home crowd, fans and manager. Even Barnsley's official Twitter admitted it should have counted. The Tykes levelled not long afterwards. Martin yellow-carded Chaplin, George Edmundson and four of the South Yorkshiremen during the game. He was also in the middle for the 1-0 win against Gillingham at Portman Road in February 2022 in which he cautioned only one of the visitors. Prior to that, he was in charge of the 2-1 home victory over Bristol Rovers in April the previous year in which he booked Tomas Holy, Aaron Drinan and one Pirate. He previously refereed the 2-2 home draw with Blackpool in November 2019 in which he yellow-carded two of the visitors and no Blues. Before that he was in charge of the 4-0 defeat at Preston in April 2019 in which he cautioned only Myles Kenlock. Martin also refereed the 3-2 home defeat to Millwall on New Year’s Day the same year in which he booked just Lions sub Steve Morison and the 0-0 home draw with Bolton in September 2018 in which he red-carded Trotters’ defender Marc Wilson and yellow-carded Tayo Edun and Trevoh Chalobah. Martin was at Portman Road for the 2-2 draw with Millwall in April 2018 in which he booked Mustapha Carayol, Jordan Spence, Stephen Gleeson and Martyn Waghorn and no Lions. Previously he was in control of the 1-1 draw at Barnsley in March 2017 when Cole Skuse was shown the game’s only yellow card. Two months earlier he had been in charge of the 1-1 draw at Preston in which he cautioned two home players and no Blues. Martin also refereed the 1-0 defeat at Leeds in September 2016, in which he booked only Christophe Berra and Kevin Bru, and the 2-0 defeat at Brentford the previous month in which he yellow-carded Adam Webster. He also officiated in the 1-0 home defeat to Rotherham in March that year, in which he booked Jonas Knudsen and one Miller, as well as the 2-1 home victory over Fulham on the opening day of 2014/15 in which he cautioned Berra, Tyrone Mings and Luke Hyam. Martin refereed the 2-0 home victory over Brighton in September 2013, when he booked only one visiting player, and the 2-1 loss at Bristol City in the January of that year, in which he showed a single yellow card to one of the home side. Squad from: Hladky, Walton, Williams, Clarke, Davis, Woolfenden, Burgess, Edmundson, Baggott, Tuanzebe, Morsy, Luongo, Taylor, Ball, Humphreys, Burns, Jackson, Chaplin, Broadhead, Harness, Aluko, Hutchinson, Hirst, Ladapo, Jackson, Scarlett.
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