Kieran McKenna: Ipswich Town needs to get better at defending set plays.
Following the end of their 12-game unbeaten Championship run, Kieran McKenna, the manager of Ipswich Town, has called for his team to strengthen their defense against set plays.
Town lost 2-0 after West Brom defender Darnell Furlong scored the first goal with a header from a corner.
This was the fifth league game in a row that McKenna’s team had let a goal slip through the first fifteen minutes.
McKenna said to BBC Radio Suffolk, “That’s three games in a row, we’ve conceded (from) a set play.”
“I don’t think we’ve conceded (from) a set play, from a corner or wide free-kick, in the league until that point.”
“The goal comes at the start again; we’re not ignoring it,” he went on.
“I could feel a really good atmosphere about us at the start of the game, but the first corner they get, we don’t defend it well enough and they score a goal – but if that corner had come in the 35th minute, we still would have had to defend it better.”
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Town lost, their first away league game since January, but they are still top of the standings, comfortably leading Leeds United by seven points.
And on Wednesday, when they play Millwall at Portman Road, they have an early opportunity to get back on track.
“We haven’t lost many games, that’s something to be proud of – but we’re going to lose some in this division, that’s for sure,” McKenna stated.
It will center on the lessons we learn from each setback and how we react in the following match.
“We don’t want to lose, but the players gave everything again, and we’ll be stronger for it.”
George Hirst, the striker, stated that Ipswich would not be taking their league position for granted during the hectic final stretch of the season. There are eight games left, including an East Anglian derby against Norwich, a trip to Leeds, and a visit from leaders Leicester.
“It’s a lot of hard work that’s got us here and it’s going to be a lot of even harder work that keeps us there,” Hirst said.
“Those are the games you want to be playing, and the teams you want to be playing against – they’re all going to mean something and that makes it even bigger.”
