Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna calls for ‘fast start’ in Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna believes that ‘getting the start right’ will be key when his side entertain Tottenham Hotspur at Portman Road tomorrow afternoon.

The Tractor Boys, who are two points from safety, go into the clash looking to halt a six-game winless streak in the Premier League.

And McKenna feels that the team that begins the game the brighter could go on to win the contest.

“You always want a good start at home so you have to go for that,” he said.

“Tottenham always go for a fast start as well – home and away they always look for a fast start and look to impose themselves on the game.

“We need to make sure we hit the intensity at the start of the game first and foremost, try to impose ourselves on them in different ways, but knowing that they’re a really dangerous team if you leave yourself too open.

“We have to get the start right, set the right tone and hopefully carry that on through the 90 minutes.”

Victory for McKenna’s men would see them record a Premier League double over Spurs following their memorable 2-1 victory in north London last November.

That was Ipswich’s first win since returning to the top flight – and McKenna is expecting to come up against an opposite side gunning for revenge.

He added: “The first result was incredible, we can’t play it down. It was a top, top result. Tottenham have had a difficult couple of months since then but we faced a really strong Tottenham team at their stadium in a moment when they were in good form. Had they won they would have gone third in the league.

“It’s really, really tough to beat a team of Tottenham’s ilk. It’s a big win across the course of a season and if we can manage to do it again, of course it would be absolutely fantastic, but we know they’re going to be desperate for the points as well.

“They respected us in the first game but I think their players will of course have the pride as well, they’re going to want to make sure they get the result this time.

“We can take some belief from the first game but in some ways it makes it an even bigger challenge. That’s what we have to try and rise to.”