Kieran McKenna speaks out on Town defensive issues

Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna admits he’s concerned about his team’s habit of conceding poor goals – and looking wide-open to counter-attacking play.

The Blues fell apart in the second half against newly-promoted Charlton last night, shipping three goals in 12 minutes as they were thumped 3-0.

Town have now lost two on the bounce, with both this game and Friday’s 2-1 defeat at Middlesbrough seeing them leave huge gaps for the opposition to exploit on the counter.

And, though they’ve generally looked solid defensively all season, lapses in concentration have repeatedly seen them leak poor goals. They’ve kept just one clean sheet so far.

Put to McKenna that theme must be a concern, he replied: “Of course it is. I think there were similar things there tonight that were evident at Middlesbrough to be honest.

“We looked open on our attacking set plays and were being counter-attacked on. Then, when the momentum went against us, we looked really soft defensively. It was the same for a 10/15 minute spell against Middlesbrough when that game got difficult against us.

“I don’t think that’s been the case all season, to be honest. I don’t think that’s been the problem.

“We’ve been one of the best teams defensively, given up very few chances and, if anything, have generally conceded chances from poor moments that have been completely out of context of the game. And there was some of those in the first half today.

“The bit about looking open on counter attacks, giving away big chances in a spell, I can’t think of instances of that before the Middlesbrough game – but it’s now happened twice in quick succession. And it’s happened with different players on the pitch.

“I’ve just spoken honestly about that downstairs. We did after Friday night as well, but it’s a quick turnaround so you don’t dwell too much. But we certainly need to address it.

“It’s a difficult league, there’s going to be difficult moments, games can change on an instance and you need to be strong in those moments, especially in our situation with our expectations this year.

“At the moment, certainly on the last two occasions we’ve been in that position, we haven’t been anywhere near strong enough. We need to do better.”