Kieran McKenna, the head coach of Ipswich Town, said that his team’s 1-0 loss against Norwich City this afternoon was not a “high-quality game”.
The Tractor Boys have been in fantastic form in recent weeks, winning nine of their previous ten Championship games before the East-Anglian Derby in the early kick-off this weekend, propelling them to the top of the league.
Ipswich Town have not won a derby game against the Canaries since April 2009, and they hadn’t beaten Norwich at Carrow Road in more than 18 years. This time, however, it was different, as McKenna’s men entered the game as favourites.
Nonetheless, the search for a win over their East Anglian opponents has persisted. The only goal of the game came from a Marcelino Nunez free kick a few minutes before halftime, as David Wagner’s team secured all three points in their own promotion push.
Ipswich dominated the ball throughout the encounter, with 63% possession, but failed to convert any of their ten shots on goal, putting the team’s place at the top of the Championship at risk.
Head coach McKenna told club reporters after the game that the two teams lacked genuine quality and that his men struggled to rediscover their intensity after playing their third match in eight days.
“We didn’t hit our best level for sure but I don’t think it was a very high-quality game to be honest, with neither team creating too many chances,” he remarked.
“This was our third major game in a week, but I didn’t think we found our intensity or fearlessness on the ball for the first 20 minutes. However, I thought we were in control until a stretch of set plays.
“Some of them were soft – I thought the one against Axel and the one that led to the goal were soft – and we had a run of set plays to defend. Aside from that, I didn’t think there was much to the game.”
Writer’s perspective
Ipswich Town, like all of the Championship teams, have been playing a lot of football recently. McKenna’s men, on the other hand, faced some extremely challenging opponents, particularly Monday’s match at Portman Road against Southampton, which concluded in dramatic manner.
While his team will be disappointed with the loss at home to their arch rivals, they still have some very winnable games coming up. Winning all five remaining games would result in an extraordinary promotion to the Premier League.
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