Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has promised his power-packed squad that they all have a vital role to play this season.
A near £50m summer transfer spend has left the Blues boss with at least two good options for virtually every position and a serious starting XI headache.
That strength in depth was evident in last Friday night’s 5-0 thrashing of Sheffield United, with attacking quintet Marcelino Nunez, Sindre Walle Egeli, Sammie Szmodics, Jack Clarke and Ivan Azon all stepping off the bench in the second half.
“When you have good players – and I think we have good players at the level – everyone wants to start the games,” said McKenna, speaking ahead of tomorrow’s Championship clash at Blackburn Rovers.
“We have to have a squad where all of our players believe that they could be starting and performing really, really well for this team or any team in the division. So it’s healthy for players to be disappointed if they don’t start.
“But there needs to be that real understanding that, in a busy Championship season, especially with the five subs rule, that the impact of substitutes is absolutely massive.
“We’ve shown the players the stats behind that. In our two promotion seasons we were there or there abouts the highest team in Europe for goals off the bench. If you look at the teams who do well in the Championship, they’re generally always up there with the highest teams in Europe for goals off the bench. If you look at some teams who did really well in the Premier League last year, there was a theme of having goal scorers off the bench.
“We’ve already had some good late impacts this season and we want that to continue.”
The Blues boss continued: “The squad is in a really, really strong place and the players know that. I think they’re starting to really feel that if you don’t start, there’s every chance that, especially in the forward positions, there’s as much chance that you might get your goal or assist being the one who’s coming on against the tired opposition, as opposed to being the one who’s started.
“When the games start coming thick and fast, it certainly won’t be the same team every week. We’ve got some really contrasting profiles in the different positions and different games will suit different people.
“If you want to be the top team in any division, whether it’s Championship or Premier League, then having that strength and depth, having those different options and knowing that it really is now a game for the squad, that’s a really important part of getting a winning mindset in the group.
“A strength of ours can be hopefully be the ability to sustain quality through the busier spells and the periods where you have less players available.”
