McKenna: Make Sure There's No Let-Up in the Intensity Friday, 14th Oct 2022 16:39 Boss Kieran McKenna is looking for his second-placed side to make it four wins out of four when former Blue Mark Kennedy’s Lincoln City take on Town in front of more than 27,000 fans at Portman Road on Saturday. Since their only league defeat of the season away against leaders Plymouth Argyle the Blues have won three in a row and McKenna says that form needs to be maintained against the Imps. “That would be a nice boost. We got the three wins last week, but we want to maintain that momentum now, momentum is really hard to get and easy to lose,” he said. “So it's up to us to be really on guard and at our best and make sure there's no let-up in the intensity that we've shown, especially in the home games, and we know it's a challenging game. “I thought the Lincoln performance last week against Charlton [when they drew 0-0 at Sincil Bank] was very positive. Limited Charlton to almost no opportunities really, an incredibly low xG against and showed a real organisation and resilience. “So another difficult game. Every game in this league is difficult and you can see in the results last week that there are no guarantees anywhere, and certainly for Ipswich Town there are no guarantees because we know that every opposition is going to be at their absolute maximum to play against us. “And that's something we have to prepare for, especially from a mental point of view and something we and the crowd and everyone involved in the game tomorrow have to be ready for. “If we can keep giving what we've given the home games, then I think we give ourselves a good chance.”
Town’s home form will be vital in this season's promotion challenge and the Blues have only lost once at Portman Road in the league since McKenna took charge last December, the 1-0 defeat to Cambridge United in April. So far at home during 2022/23, Town have won four and drawn twice. “We have great conditions to play well,” McKenna said. “The pitch is in really good condition and the groundsman and the groundstaff have done a really good job. They're working very, very hard on the pitch to have it in the best condition. “We have a fantastic home support, we have a good set-up now at the training ground and preparation for the home games. I think in games we have a good chance to go in and put in a good performance. Of course, the more games you perform well in, the more likely you are to win them. “It's been a positive so far and we know it's a challenge as well because other teams come here with really high levels of motivation and that can lead to them having great energy, but it can also lead to them coming and really defending en masse and trying to make it difficult for us. “The home record is massive for us, it's not easy and we need to keep pushing with everything that we've got to keep that record going. So, we look to continue to do that tomorrow against Lincoln.” Reflecting on the Imps, he added: “They’ve got a nice profile of squad. A young squad, I would imagine they must be there or thereabouts the youngest in the league. “Lots of boys coming out of big academies, I had Regan Poole at Man United, TJ Eyoma at Tottenham as a young player, Tashan Oakley-Boothe at Tottenham as a young player, [Matthew] Virtue I remember playing against as a young player at Liverpool, [Max] Sanders at Brighton.
“So they’ve got a good pedigree there within their squad of bringing in young players from big academies. “They’ve recruited well in the League of Ireland market as well with [Sean] Roughan and the other boys and that’s another good market for them. “It’s clear what they’re doing, they’re trying to recruit what they think is high potential young players and develop them in a team that plays good football, and I think they’ve been successful in doing that and are continuing to do that. “Mark’s done a good job getting them organised and they look like they have the makings of a good team and lots of good players, and we have to be ready for a challenge.” McKenna says he knows Kennedy well: “I’ve spoken to Mark quite a few times since I’ve been here. A really nice guy, still has a house in the area. Had a good time at Ipswich as a player and as a coach, and has done well since then with Man City in the academy where I’m sure he learnt a lot and picked up a lot. “And then has been an assistant manager [at Birmingham under another ex-Town player Lee Bowyer] as well, so he’s certainly done the groundwork and has done a good job at instilling those principles into the Lincoln team. “You can see they’re organised with and without the ball and that on top of the good young players they have, give them the potential to be a good team.”
Before kick-off there will be a minute’s applause for ex-Town boss John Duncan, who McKenna says will be much missed. “I mostly came across John at Loughborough [University] where he was a fantastic figure and role model and a leader of the football programme that a lot of people have come through and gone on to have good times in football,” he said. “And I spoke to him a few times in his work in the LMA as well and he was a fantastic manager with great experience and good successes in the game, but also just a really good man, who helped a lot of people and I’m sorry for his loss and for the family, of course, and it’ll be nice to be able to pay our respects on Saturday.” Having made five changes last week ahead of the 2-1 win at Morecambe, McKenna has plenty of options when it comes to picking his team. Christian Walton will be in goal, probably behind Janoi Donacien, Richard Keogh and George Edmundson. Leif Davis will be the left wing-back with Wes Burns perhaps returning on the right, while skipper Sam Morsy and Lee Evans are likely to be in the midfield. Conor Chaplin and Marcus Harness could start as the number 10s with Freddie Ladapo the lone striker.
Lincoln are currently three points off the relegation zone having taken 14 points from their first 11 games. Two of their three victories have come away from home - 2-1 at Oxford and 6-3 at Bristol Rovers - where they have also drawn once as well as losing three times. Imps boss and former Town full-back and U21s coach Kennedy knows it will be a tough game in front of a large Portman Road crowd but hopes his club's fans will get behind their side. “I understand it will be a difficult game against a team like that who have a great stadium and a full house,” the 34-times-capped Republic of Ireland international told his club's official website. “The fans have been hugely important everywhere we have been. I think we are set to double the amount of away fans we took to Ipswich last season, which admittedly was midweek. “The supporters are a huge part of who we are and what we are. That connection between ourselves and the fans does not go unnoticed.” He added: “Ipswich are a very good side. It is always about what we do and how we go about things, whilst being mindful and respectful of the opposition. Whether it is Ipswich or another team, we fully prepare for everybody and we have done the same this week. “Ipswich are definitely the favourites and we are the underdogs on Saturday, but I do not play on that. We are going to Portman Road with the main purpose of getting as many points as possible.” Kennedy will be without former Blues midfielder Teddy Bishop, who has a hamstring injury, while central defenders Joe Walsh (calf) and Lewis Montsma (knee) will also miss out. Town have the edge historically having won nine games between the teams (eight in the league) with five (three) ending in draws and six (five) won by the Imps. In March at Portman Road, first-half goals from Burns and Kayden Jackson saw Town to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Lincoln City, cutting the gap to the play-offs to just three points. Burns gave the Blues the lead in the 22nd minute then Jackson added the second 10 minutes later and the three points never looked in any danger. At Sincil Bank in September last year, Town’s wait for a first win of the season finally ended as Macauley Bonne’s 30th-minute goal saw the Blues to a 1-0 victory over his former loan club Lincoln. The on-loan QPR striker headed home Hayden Coulson’s left-wing cross with the Blues withstanding Imps pressure in the second half to claim their first three-point haul of 2021/22. Imps manager Kennedy made 34 starts and three sub appearances for Town between July 2010 and July 2012, before joining the academy staff and taking charge of the U21s. Lincoln midfielder Bishop moved to Sincil Bank in the summer of 2021 from the Blues for a fee understood to be £220,000 after joining Town as an U8. The Cambridge-born schemer went on to make 81 starts and 51 sub appearances, scoring five times. Blues loanee Tyreece John-Jules was on loan at Sincil Bank during the second half of 2019/20, netting once in seven starts. Saturday’s referee is Andy Davies from Hampshire, who has shown 22 yellow cards and one red in nine games so far this season. Davies’s last Town match was the 0-0 home draw with Cheltenham in February in which he yellow-carded Luke Woolfenden and four of the visitors. Prior to that the most recent of Davies's many Blues games was the 1-1 home draw with Sheffield Wednesday in September in which he booked Idris El Mizouni and Scott Fraser. He was also in the middle for the 3-1 win at Southend in October 2019 in which he booked Jackson, Flynn Downes and two Shrimpers. Before that he was in charge of the 2-0 defeat at Brentford in April of the same year when he booked Toto Nsiala and one home player. Squad from: Walton, Hladky, Donacien, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Keogh, Burns, Vincent-Young, Davis, Morsy (c), Evans, Ball, Harness, Edwards, Humphreys, Chaplin, John-Jules, Ladapo, Jackson.
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