Blues boss Kieran McKenna hailed a top performance on a day which couldn’t have gone any better as Town beat Stoke City 2-0 at Portman Road to hit the top of the early-season Championship table.

Luke Woolfenden and Kayden Jackson netted the goals which saw Town to their third win in six days, while equalling a club record of 20 matches in all competitions without a defeat.

“I thought it was a top performance, no doubt about it,” McKenna said. “I loved the way that we stuck to our identity on and off the ball.

“We were brave in how we played, we played with the intensity, the quality, the spirit, the resilience and the threat that we want to have and I thought it was an excellent performance in so many different ways.

“Of course, areas to improve, we’re learning from every game at the moment. We learnt an awful lot from Sunderland last week and we’ll learn from this one again and look to improve.”

The Blues were dominant for much of the match with Stoke really only on top in periods either side of the break.

“I’ve said it already, there are going to be spells every week because the level of the opponents is so high and we’re having to work so hard,” he continued.

“We’re not going to be able to dominate the games throughout the whole 90 minutes as we were at times last season, so there are going to be spells where we have to dig in, where we have to put our bodies on the line and have to defend and block well.

“And I thought what was really important about that phase was the way we kept playing and it wasn’t just about digging in and defending. For me, it was our bravery on the ball which turned the game.

“There was a moment on about 60 minutes and we hadn’t really had a foothold at all at the start of the second half and Vaz [Vaclav Hladky] was under pressure and Sam [Morsy] dropped down, took the ball with [Daniel] Johnson right on his back in a really tight situation and got us up and through the pitch.

“It was probably the first time in the second half that we’d got any territory and any foothold in the game.

“And from there, the momentum of the game changed. It shows the importance and why we try and play how we play and shows massive bravery from the lads and credit to the lads to stick to it against such tough opponents who today, for example, press so well.

“And we got rewarded with a second goal in a similar situation where we’re being pressed by one of the best pressing teams in the league.

“We stuck to our football and worked our way through the pitch and killed the game off that way.”

McKenna was pleased to see Luke Woolfenden net his first Championship goal from a set piece, something he wants to see happen more regularly.

“If we can have a few more instances of Luke Woolfenden getting above defenders in the box and heading in, that would be a bonus,” he said.

“That was really good from him, really good to see and one of the next steps in his development is to go and do that, and he knows that.

“That was big for us and when you’re playing so well and you’re building the pressure and we were getting set play after set play, you need to convert one or certainly when you do convert one, it’s the reward you get for a good start.

“Set plays are going to be massive for us. We got off the mark last week with a long throw and then to score a great goal playing through the pitch, finding the opposite side and arriving for crosses, was a lovely goal.”

The Blues manager has been impressed with the way Woolfenden, not always in favour under previous bosses Paul Lambert and Paul Cook, has progressed since he took charge.

“He’s certainly developed really well,” he said. “Every club is proud when they have homegrown players. Luke came through the academy and got into the team at a relatively young age but then had had a difficult period in his career and I think on his way out all things being truthful.

“Credit to him for turning that around and he’s developing really well. He’s a naturally good footballer and he’s got a good size and he’s got a decent turn of pace in behind as well but there are so many other elements to the game that he’s had to work on and continues to work on.

“Big credit to him and big credit to Martyn Pert and the coaching staff for the work they do with him as well.

“It’s not just Luke, you can look at Cameron Burgess, he wasn’t quite a regular in the team in League One 18 months ago. Vaz, who played today, wasn’t a regular in League One. Janoi [Donacien]’s had his difficulties in League One. You can go through a lot of the players and they’ve all been on a journey to get to this point.

“I said to them in the dressing room that this is a day to be proud of, the journey so far but also to know that if they keep working and keep working as they have been there’s still room for them to grow and Luke’s certainly one of those players.”

Town’s second goal saw the importance of subs with Marcus Harness playing a key role and Jackson scoring his first of the campaign.

“We’ve spoken about it as a squad and the players are pretty well versed with it because the use of subs and having a big squad was a really big part of getting us to this point and it’ll be a big part of any success we may have this year,” McKenna said.

“I think every win that we earn is going to be earned off the bench this season. We’re not going to be 3-0 or 4-0 ahead too often. Hopefully, we won’t be 3-0 or 4-0 down, so the games are going to come down to the substitutes a lot of weeks.

“Today was a great example of that. We were tiring at that stage and we definitely needed fresh legs and the role that we needed at that point was that we needed to get big pressure to [Ben] Wilmot.

“George [Hirst] had done a really good job at it but he was tired and there was lots of space on the counter-attack to run into and there are probably not many better strikers in the league than Kayden in that scenario and he showed that when he came on.

“And I thought Marcus did again what he does for the team, gives great energy, great discipline tactically, fantastic on second balls, fantastic energy, got us up the pitch and had a really good part in it.

“And we were able to get Omari [Hutchinson] and Jack [Taylor] on for their first minutes at Portman Road as well.

“It’s going to take different substitutions every week, maybe to get a goal or to defend the lead or whatever the scenario requires and the players all understand that and they’ve all bought into the fact that it’s the strength of the squad that will help us this season.”


The win sees Town top the Championship table after two matches on a 100 per cent six points, but McKenna is taking even less notice of the table than he did in League One.

“I don’t know where we are!” he insisted. “It’s a good start. As I said before, we didn’t look at the table last season whenever we were top and we were hoping and expecting to be top, so we’re certainly not going to bother looking at it this year.

“We know the step up is a really big one. You can look at it with two wins and think maybe we’ve taken this league easily or we’ve made the step up comfortably. That hasn’t been the case, they’ve been the two toughest games I’ve ever had with this group.

“Last week was a completely different challenge to anything we’ve faced, probably the biggest game of the players’ careers and the most difficult for the large majority of them, and today was a big step up as well.

“From the outside, you can look at the results and think that the step up has been comfortable but in the dressing room we know how hard we’ve had to work for those results and we know how hard we’re going to have to keep working because we’re going to have to improve on where we are at the moment just to be able to compete every week.”

Unlike last week at Sunderland, there was no nervy end to the game with the Blues seeing the match out confidently rather than sitting back and soaking up pressure.

“That’s what learning every week looks like,” he added, “because last week we spent a lot of time looking back at the game, the things we did well but certainly the last part of the game when we didn’t stay aggressive enough in terms of getting pressure on the ball, which is natural because the boys really want to win.

“It’s the first game in front of 44,000 but the tendency was to sag back towards goal and get pinned back and try and defend the lead.

“We spoke about that and we looked at that and we all agreed that the best way for us to do that where possible to try and get back on the front foot is to try and keep challenging to win the ball high up the pitch and stay brave with the ball and that’s how we want to see games out.

“It’s not always possible, but that’s always going to be our intent and it probably wasn’t last week, and we learned from that and took that into today and certainly I much preferred the way we saw the game out today than last week.”

One frustration was keeper Hladky and right-back Donacien picking up yellow cards from referee Josh Smith for time-wasting while Stoke’s high foul count led to only one Stoke booking.

“First of all, Josh, the referee, I think he’s got a really good manner about him,” McKenna said. “He’s the one that came to our training ground to explain the new rules and I think he’s got a really good manner and the potential to do really well.

“I think it’s probably more about the guidelines in some instances. The time-wasting guidelines have obviously gone way too extreme, I think anyone who has any semblance of common sense can see that and the time that was added on last week and the game today.

“It’s football, it’s not basketball, it’s not on a clock. If the players are working really hard in hot conditions or are tired, they can’t necessarily take a goalkick in eight seconds. We want them to assess the picture, assess where the pressure is coming from, have a look at the pitch and set up a move.

“And I think this week and last week, of course, there’s a big effort to stamp out time-wasting but I don’t think any of those instances were time-wasting.

“I think if you had the clock, I think you’d see that the opposition set plays were probably taking just as long.

“It is what it is, I know everyone’s got the same feelings at the moment. I’m sure it will die down but we can’t get the yellow cards back and that’s now players on yellow cards that add up and contribute.

“I’m sure they’ll address the balance of it because at the moment, the balance of it isn’t right. I’m sure that will be addressed and hopefully sooner rather than later.”

All in all, with the Blues watched by a 29,006-strong crowd in blazing sunshine on their home Championship return, McKenna felt it was a great day.

“It couldn’t have been much better, let’s be honest about it,” he continued. “It was fantastic. A really good Championship club, weather was nice, fans enjoyed the Fanzone, the England Women won, so everyone was able to watch that before.

“And we delivered a really good performance in front of a full house full of blue and orange shirts in fine voice. We delivered a performance for them to be proud of and we got the three points with a full house and everyone’s families in here to see them as well.

“It couldn’t have been much better, we have to enjoy this moment, for sure, but at the sam time, it’s 100 per cent in Monday morning, look at the areas we can do better on and get ready for the next big challenge because they’re going to come at us once or twice a week and that’s where we need to keep our focus.”

Photo: TWTD

ipswichboi added 18:48 - Aug 12 They were all heroes today. Well done boys
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Blue_Meanie added 18:51 - Aug 12 Must keep this man at all costs.
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itfcskayman added 18:53 - Aug 12 Delighted to see Jackson come on and score. I can get used to this feeling.
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Davidwb20 added 19:16 - Aug 12 Tactical magician - Thank you Kieran!
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therein61 added 19:16 - Aug 12 This man in Nappies would have more insight into running our club and move it upwards than some of the we have a point before kick off keep it morons who always picked favourites because they are good blokes(bottom kissers) in the past few years onwards and upwards you boys.
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Suffolkboy added 19:49 - Aug 12 A thoroughly good human being with enviable values and a sense of enthusiasm well tempered by an educated realism , we’ve undoubtedly the best Club Manager since Sir Bobby . The squad are responding equally and showing belief and determination ,and unity which will stand us in great good stead as the season develops . It would be excellent to see one or two key additions to bring additional strengths in the testing months ahead . Super start , a buoyant scenario ,sets up everybody’s weekend ., COYB

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Gilesy added 20:02 - Aug 12 He's even considered and thoughtful about the referee! Ashton...take a bow. You chose well.
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Nomore4 added 20:03 - Aug 12 I love KMcK…….he said yesterday Stoke will be a threat this season. He failed to mention a threat to anyone in the table bottom half. Without doubt we will hear about the threat of QPR next Friday too. All good stuff from the Manager.
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Help added 20:40 - Aug 12 Add another 2 years to his contract MA
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ArnieM added 22:49 - Aug 12 ……. I can hear ‘em crying in narwich .
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bobble added 23:35 - Aug 12 two tough wins from the tillies and town....
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SpiritOfJohn added 07:45 - Aug 13 Kieran is absolutely right (as always!) that was an exceptionally high quality performance against a Stoke team who came to Portman Road full of confidence looking to go toe to toe with us and grab 3 points. However, we were too good for them in every position, winning the individual battles and the tactical contest. We are starting to find out how good we really are, and I am sure that there will be more improvements to follow. So far life in the Championship is giving us a level of opponent who feel they are able to take us on, but I suspect it won't be long before teams come to Portman Road and defend deep hoping to hang on for a point. That is when we will need the yellow cards for time-wasting!

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Len_Brennan added 08:10 - Aug 13 3 games into a new season, 2 in the league at a higher level, and we have 3 wins in the bag, with the maximum 6 points on the board, 6 goals scored, from 6 different goalscorers; can't ask for more than that from the players or the manager. But there is more; we have thoroughly deserved those results, even if we had to ride our luck at Sunderland who dominated possession, because we were a real threat going forward at all times in that game. Whether we are in control of the game like yesterday v Stoke, or having to soak up pressure & hit on the break, we have the appearance of a side that are going to score goals when we are on the attack, and from set pieces. That is great credit to McKenna, who has turned us into that over the last 12 months, from a side who used to overplay the ball, with no real cutting edge, in League 1; and he has done it primarily with a centre forward thought not good enough for the Championship, in front of 3 other unassuming forward players whose abilities at this level were also in question by some. The link play between these 4 - not underestimating the delivery in to them from midfield & the fullbacks - has been wonderful to watch, and it's getting better & better with every game. We could easily have scored 4+ yesterday. The additional bonus of having such a good start, both in terms of results & the quality of our play, is that it might help highly sought potential signings consider us over a rival, who are more established in the Championship, or are even a recently relegated ex-Premier League club. We still need to add some quality, as the Stokes & Sunderlands will improve once they get settled (start to gel), and our advantage of being a well coached side who came into the league already knowing their roles & team mates strenghts will start to lessen.

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