Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna pictured after his side’s 2-1 home defeat to Southampton.
Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna conceded that this afternoon’s 2-1 home defeat to rock-bottom Southampton was ‘a really poor result’.
Liam Delap cancelled out Joe Aribo’s opener in the first half, the Blues probed for a winner after the break but ultimately lost when Paul Onuachu netted at the end of an 87th minute counter attack.
With a match billed by many as ‘must-win’ for Ipswich ending in defeat, McKenna – whose side remain 19th on 16 points – said: “Yeah, it’s a really poor result for us, no doubt about it.
“Especially on the balance of play and feel of the game. It felt like it was definitely a game there for us to win. I thought we were the better team, but that’s not really any consolation at the moment because today was about picking up the points.
“I thought we started well, had the much better chances throughout the first half, went behind to the opposition’s first real chance and first real entry to our box, had the chances to go into half-time with the lead but weren’t clinical enough to go and take the chances.
“Second half we didn’t create as much as we wanted to. We still had the game under control, didn’t give too much away, didn’t execute well enough in the big moments we were getting, then concede a really poor goal.
“We were attacking, they break away and we don’t defend the situation well. It’s a late goal against us and a really poor outcome to the game.
“There were some good things in the game but they got lost in the result today. We’re very frustrated.”
Aaraon Ramsdale denying Nathan Broadhead one-v-one soon after Delap’s equaliser was a big moment in the game.
“It was a good chance for us, a great save,” said McKenna. “We got to so many good positions in the game. Southampton give you the spaces, there were so many opportunities around the edge of the box, we often got one-v-ones and we weren’t able to execute well enough.
“It definitely felt like a game we should have been going into half-time with a lead rather than chasing the game.”
On goalkeeper Christian Walton’s absence, McKenna explained: “He strained his groin in the Liverpool game. It’s not a minor strain, it’s a fairly significant strain, so he’s going to be out for quite a number of weeks.”
On whether Aro Muric could have done better for both goals – the first bounced past him, the second he pushed back into a dangerous area – McKenna said: “I haven’t watched them back so it’s not fair to judge yet because you’re quite a long way away from it.
“The starting point will always be, as a team, what we can do better. The first one comes from a goal kick, the second goal we have loads of bodies behind the ball. We’ll own it as a team, but we also need people to step up and make blocks and make saves as well.”
There was a really flat feel inside Portman Road at the end.
“It’s pretty similar in there (the changing room),” admitted McKenna. “We’re all disappointed, frustrated. Today was an opportunity for us. Not because of the narrative that Southampton aren’t good, because they’re still a good team, but because of the balance of the game.
“It was there for us. The pictures in the first half were exactly what we wanted, what we knew it would be. They went man-to-man and every time we got a connection we were breaking into huge spaces.
“Everyone is very, very frustrated because we felt like it was there for us and we didn’t execute well enough to score the goals we could score in that game. And we’ve had not too much penalty box defending to do and come up short a couple of times with two soft goals. So everyone is very frustrated.”
With Brighton loanee Julio Enciso very lively on his full debut, the Blues boss enthused: “Julio was fantastic. I think he’s a fantastic player. He’s been a shining light at the training ground this week. His play, his energy, his enthusiasm for the game – I thought he showed a really high level.”
He continued: “There is a lot of football to be played, to be honest.
“The reality of where we’ve climbed from as a club means we’ve got players making debuts, we’ve got players playing with people they’ve never played with before. That’s been the case all season. When you have the change we’ve had, when you’ve had the ascent we’ve had, you get that in the first half of the season.
“We’ve had another period where we’ve tried to improve the squad, because we feel like we need to in order to make another step up, but then you’ve got more players settling into the team and more relationships to build on the pitch. That takes time.
“At the moment we’re not able to turn the margins consistently enough whenever we perform well and are in games. That was something we were absolutely exceptional at last year.
“The balance of the game today is completely different to when we beat them last year (3-2 at Portman Road). In that game they were probably the better team in most aspects.
“When we played them away earlier this season I thought it was a 50/50 game (finished 1-1 at St Mary’s). Today I thought we were the much better team in most aspects, but at the moment we don’t consistently turn the margins in our favour in tight games when we’ve played well. That’s been the case on too many occasions.
“The only answer is hard work. It’s still a really new group and they’re learning lessons in the toughest league in the world. We’ve now got some training weeks ahead with the games not being as frequent in the remaining months. We’re going to work really hard to find some ways to turn these tight margins in our favour more often.”
