Crystal Palace 1-0 Ipswich Town: Kieran McKenna on ‘sickening result’ after Blues concede late goal to Ismaila Sarr at Selhurst Park
Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna admitted the 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace was a ‘sickening result’, feeling the match in south London was evenly balanced.
Ismaila Sarr’s goal eight minutes from the end secured the three points for the Eagles but with the Blues also having had opportunities.
“I think it was a really competitive game,” McKenna reflected. “I think we certainly played our part in that. I think it was at least even in terms of the opportunities that we had.
“Crystal Palace had their opportunities as well and we certainly feel we were good value for a goal today and we were really close on a couple of occasions to getting the first goal.
“And, of course, it’s a sickening result. To come away from home and be as competitive as we were against a strong Crystal Palace side who have been in good form for a good period of time, to do it in a week when we’ve been away and played 120 minutes in the FA Cup on Monday night with a depleted squad, to come and compete as we have today, is another reflection of a lot of good things in the group that they’re showing.
“But we also know that we have to keep working to turn those margins in our favour. I know that’s been the story for a lot of the season, but that’s the only path forward, that’s the reality of it.
“We’ve still got a group that’s learning and growing and developing. Julio Enciso was starting his third game, Jaden Philogene’s a few games into his career here, we’ve got a large majority of the group who are very, very early in their Premier League experiences and careers, and they’re learning all the time.
“I think you can see individual growth and development in individuals and in the group and we need to try and accelerate that as much as we can to turn the margins in our favour and try and pick up some wins and some points in the remaining 10 games, starting especially next week.”
The Town players felt there may have been a foul in the build-up to the goal, Palace sub Daichi Kamada catching Kalvin Phillips late as the Blues midfielder’s tackle deflected the ball into the path of Sarr.
“Kalvin thought it was a foul, I haven’t looked at that aspect of it too much,” the Blues manager said.
“It’s a tackle that we win, it ricochets to Sarr and he shows the level. His acceleration over three or four yards from where the ball ricocheted to him to end up six yards out one-v-one with the goalkeeper was incredible acceleration and shows the level of the league and the execution that they had to take the goal.
“We’ll look at that bit of it. I don’t think we’ve defended the situation too badly. I certainly don’t think we’ve defended in the game too badly, considering it was a pretty open game at times.
“But, there’s certainly an element of luck in the goal but, as always, we’ll focus on the bits we can control and trying to get better at those.”
Phillips and Enciso were back in the team for the first time since suffering calf and knee injuries respectively, while Omari Hutchinson came off the bench following his knee problem.
“They were big positives,” McKenna continued. “We know we’ve missed important players all through the season, so we haven’t been able to be as settled as we’d like to be, but to have those two back was a big positive.
“I thought Kalvin put in another really strong performance and he’s certainly working back towards the level and hopefully maybe beyond where he’s been before.
“We feel that Julio’s going to be a big addition for us if we can keep him fit, so it’s been a big blow to lose him, but good to have him back today.
“Good to get Omari on the pitch and as much as we’ve lost Axel [Tuanzebe] for a good period of time, we’ve also had players coming back into the team today, who can help us.
“It means that although it’s March, it’s still Jaden’s third game and he’s probably played with three different right-backs and right 10s in the game, so that’s just the challenge that we’ve had.
“And we’ve got to respond to that challenge in the best way and that’s just work and time, and we know we don’t have time but we need to use and maximise the time as well as we can.”
The Blues had a number of opportunities, Ben Johnson’s header just prior to the Palace goal perhaps the best of them.
“We certainly had chances and we can do better in a couple of situations, for sure,” McKenna admitted. “We had some big overload moments in the second half. We had some big moments around the box.
“But we’re coming up against really, really strong, physically strong, top quality defenders, a really top quality goalkeeper [Dean Henderson], who I know well [from Manchester United], who made some good saves, and Crystal Palace have won the game a fantastic moment from Sarr.
“It’s unlucky from our point of view, but also he showed why he has played a really good level for a good period of time and played in the Premier League for a few seasons because his acceleration is outstanding as is his touch to get in that position, and then he takes it really well.
“Our group we know, if you’re talking about the forwards and the frontline today, you’ve got Jaden, who has just turned 23, Liam 22, just turned, Julio, just 21, Jack Clarke, just turned 24, Omari comes on, 21.
“A lot of talented young players and to have that at Ipswich Town is a real positive thing but it also means they’re not going to be the finished product. If they were the finished product, they wouldn’t be at Ipswich Town.
“We’ve got to keep working and believing in those boys and pushing them to get better and I’m sure they all will.”
McKenna was asked about positives, among them Philogene playing a right-sided role where at times he was a winger and at others a fifth defender.
“There were some good elements to our play,” he said. “We know coming to Crystal Palace is a tough place. Some aspects of their system is similar to ours, so there was always going to be a challenge of how we were going to deal with the threat with [Tyrick] Mitchell pushing forward from that side. Of course, we have similar with Leif [Davis] on that side.
“Jaden’s a versatile player on that side, he’s adapting to playing on the right-hand side, which he has done but not as much. And then in games like today against a wing-back, he’s adapting to the fact that he’s spent a good bit of time deeper where he’s having to defend against Mitchell on the backline.
“But he can also push forward and sometimes press a little bit higher up and also gives us a real winger threat on that side. I think he’s growing into that role.
“That’s a real challenge for us, we have Wes Burns and Chieo Ogbene, who were the two first-choice players for that role coming into the season, both finished for the season through big injuries, so we’ve had to adapt.
“Ben Johnson can do it in a slightly different way, maybe more of a natural full-back. Omari can do it in a very different way, but Jaden we feel has some real good winger qualities, but is also really disciplined and fit to do his defensive work. He’s growing into that role.
“Julio, it’s just a positive having him back. He’s versatile, he can play left 10, he can play right 10, he’s got a really good level of individual quality that we can feel can take us to another level and we’ll use him in a few different roles in behind Liam or behind George Hirst. He’s done both of them for us already, so he’s going to be really useful for us.”
Quizzed on whether he feels it was a chance to make up ground on Wolves missed and whether he plans to watch the Molineux side in action at home to Everton later this evening, he added: “Hopefully not, I’ll try and avoid it. Honestly, we have to just focus on ourselves. That’s the reality.
“We have 10 games left, we’re going to have to win a good few of those games. We’re going to have to win at a greater rate than we have so far this season and the first thing you need to do is win one, and then you can talk about a run of form or a run of wins or whatever.
“If we don’t manage to do that, then we won’t be successful at the end of the season in terms of trying to stay in the division. If we do manage to do that, then let’s see where that takes us.
“We don’t have a crystal ball to say how other teams will do, how many wins we’ll need to get. We know it’s going to probably be a significant number and all we can use our energy on is controlling and improving the things that give us a chance to get those wins in the next 10 games.”
