Kieran McKenna felt his Ipswich Town side were far from at their best as his second XI beat Coventry City 4-1 to dump their Championship opponents out of the fourth round of the FA Cup.

The Tractor Boys’ boss made eleven changes against the Sky Blues from his team that played last time out in the Premier League – a 2-1 Portman Road defeat to bottom club and fellow relegation battlers Southampton – and watched as they ran out 4-1 winners at the CBS Arena where they had taken a 3-1 lead into the break.

“There were some positives out there, for sure,” said McKenna, speaking in his post-match press conference. “Some really good individual performances, players who showed the growth that they’re making in their careers, and as a team there were a lot of good things.

“In the first half, especially, we put some good moves together and cut through the pitch on a few occasions and looked a goal threat. We were good value for the lead.

“Second half could have been better, to be honest. We got the goal fairly early in the half, which probably put the threat to bed, and then made some mistakes. But the game was still pretty comfortable, we defended our box pretty well and there were some tired bodies out there who got some good minutes in.”

Asked if beating a Championship side comfortably with a ‘second string’ was another big progress marker for the club, McKenna replied: “In some ways, yeah. I know that individuals who were here last year have improved, I know individuals who were playing elsewhere in the Championship last year have improved, and that we’re stronger in many areas. It’s a huge jump up to try and show that on a weekly basis (in the Premier League), but I see it day-to-day.

“It wasn’t the perfect performance, some things could have been done better, but to be able to make changes and come to a really good Championship side and score four goals without playing at our very, very best I think is a good sign of how we’ve developed as a club.”

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