Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna says he ‘has some decisions to make’ when picking his team for the trip to Leicester.
Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna says ‘there are some decisions to make’ ahead of tomorrow’s game at Leicester City.
Following on from last Saturday’s 3-0 win against league leaders Coventry City at Portman Road, the Blues boss made just one enforced change to his starting XI for Wednesday night’s 1-0 home victory against Stoke City – Ivan Azon replacing the suspended George Hirst up front.
There’s a quicker turnaround for this game though, which is the seventh in a hectic 22-day spell.
“There’s some decision to be made going into the weekend,” said McKenna. “We’re finishing an incredibly busy block with three games against three of the best teams in the league where you’re going to need your most energy.
“We’re in a great bill of health at the moment and that gives us a chance. I think the players are getting fitter and more robust as the season goes on.
“There’s no doubt that tonight (against Stoke) was a big, big effort though and we’re going to have to make some judgments about getting the right balance for Saturday.”
Jaden Philogene and the Blues go to Leicester looking for a third straight win (Image: Ross Halls)
Ipswich scored two late equalisers against Leicester in the 23/24 Championship season, the two teams going up in second and first respectively. It was another 1-1 draw when the teams met against at Portman Road in the Premier League, Conor Chaplin controversially not awarded a penalty in that game, while the Foxes won 2-0 at the King Power Stadium back in May as club legend Jamie Vardy signed off with a goal.
Leicester have struggled since dropping back down to the Championship and currently find themselves 13th. They’ve won just three out of nine home league games so far and surrendered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Bristol City on Wednesday night.
“I think it’s clear that they’ve had some negative momentum. That’s not easy to turn around,” said McKenna.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of it, but you can see they’ve still got a really good squad and some top players. I think Martí (Cifuentes) is a really good coach, having faced his QPR team.
“We know we’re facing one of the best footballing teams in the league, a team who really test your organisation and your defending. Any problems they do or don’t have will not be my focus because I’ve got enough of them here to worry about myself.”
Asked if he felt the King Power crowd could be turned, McKenna replied: “I think probably every relegated team in every country in the world is a crowd that you can turn a little bit. I think that’s pretty normal when a team’s not doing as well as what they would want to be doing or coming off a season that didn’t go as well as what they would want. We can’t rely on that. We just have to deliver the best performance we can.”
Leicester winger Abdul Fatawu is a danger man (Image: David Davies/PA)
On whether Leicester have changed much since last season, the Blues boss quipped: “I hope Jamie Vardy’s not playing! That was the Jamie Vardy day the last time we went there.
“I don’t think (Abdul) Fatawu was fit when we last went there, but Fatawu and their left-winger (Stephy Mavididi) are very, very good.
“For the last few seasons they’ve been a good possession team who connect and play through the pitch well. You have to defend against them really well.
“I don’t see there being 1% of relevance from the previous games against them though. We’ll be looking at it with fresh eyes.”
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