Kieran McKenna taking positives after Ipswich miss chance to go top

Posted Thursday, April 11, 2024 by PA

Kieran McKenna was happy to draw on the positives and praised Ipswich’s focus even though they missed out on the chance to go top of the Sky Bet Championship following a stalemate at home to Watford.

Town were eager to bounce back from Saturday’s 1-0 loss at bitter foes Norwich and had watched promotion rivals Leicester and Leeds drop points on Tuesday.

It meant victory for Ipswich would have sent them to the summit but a dominant first-half failed to bring a crucial opener with Nathan Broadhead firing against the inside of the post after 36 minutes before Daniel Bachmann denied Kieffer Moore’s flying header just before the break.

While home substitute Ali Al-Hamadi had a late effort deflected wide, Ipswich struggled to fashion chances in the second period and almost lost in stoppage-time when Edo Kayembe’s clearance from inside his own half nearly caught out Vaclav Hladky.

McKenna’s side instead had to settle for a point, which at least moved them back above Leeds with four matches to go and Middlesbrough the next visitors to Portman Road on Saturday.

“First half we created a couple of what would have been really good goals for us but it just wasn’t our night in terms of going into the back of the net,” McKenna reflected.

“We take the positives from the performance. I thought you could see in our performance in the first half, we played with no tension, no worries.

“I thought it was a really good performance and it didn’t look like it was the 41st game or the 14th game. We just played as us and that’s what we want to do.

“Our focus is just on the next game. Every game is really hard-fought, every point is hard won and we’ve had to fight really hard to win one tonight.

“We know it’ll take a hell of an effort and a hell of a performance to get anything on Saturday as well, so that is where our focus is.

“Not on anyone else or the table, it is just on trying to get ready for the next game and it certainly takes that in this division and this group have done that really well.”

Tom Cleverley expressed his pride after he watched Watford extend their unbeaten run to five games under his short managerial tenure.

The Hornets have now claimed draws with Leeds, West Brom and Ipswich since Cleverley was appointed interim boss on March 9 and targeted three points from this weekend’s trip to Southampton.

Cleverley added: “I’m incredibly proud of the group.

“Three clean sheets in five and that’s a solid foundation moving forward.

“We’re setting small markers down with the draw against Leeds, the draw away at West Brom and now the draw away at Ipswich.

“Now we want to put one big marker down with a win away at Southampton on Saturday and that is the challenge we face.”

On Kayembe’s 95th-minute lobbed effort, Cleverley admitted: “That would have been the best goal I’ve ever been present for.”