Kieran McKenna cannot hide his disappointment after Ipswich draw

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna said the “overriding feeling was disappointment” after his side dropped two points following a 1-1 draw with Cheltenham.

The Tractor Boys dominated proceedings and had numerous chances to extend an early lead given to them by Luke Woolfenden, but a combination of defiant defending, luckless finishing and a series of saves by Cheltenham goalkeeper Luke Southwood, who broke his nose late in the second half, kept them at bay.

They had 74 per cent of possession with 29 shots, four of which were on target, while the visitors had three shots, with Ryan Broom’s equaliser being the only one on target.

McKenna said: “We only scored one of the many, many, many chances and big chances that we had and we conceded from their only shot of the game.

“The flow of the game was one of the best performances since I’ve been here.

“I thought the first 30 minutes was probably the best performance since I’ve been here, especially in the type of game it was – a team coming here to set a low block and frustrate.

“I thought we created the energy and the atmosphere and did everything we had spoken about that we wanted to do before the game.

“There are some things to look at in terms of the performance and of course positives to take, but there’s no getting away from the overriding feeling of disappointment of two points dropped.”

Cheltenham boss Wade Elliott, meanwhile, was delighted with his team’s efforts, describing them as “brilliant” and having defended “heroically”.

He added: “We spoke in the week and before the game about whether we wanted the Alvechurch result (a 2-1 FA Cup first-round home defeat) to define our season.

“Football is where you can go out and express your personality and we had our chance to show what we think we’re about and I thought we were top drawer, to a man.

“The togetherness, the fight and the spirit were what pleased me most about the performance.

“We scored a really good goal and had one or two other opportunities, but you know you’re going to be under the cosh against a good side and we defended one to 11 heroically.”