Ipswich Town: Kieran McKenna on Premier League relegation fight.

With 13 games remaining, Ipswich Town is two points from Premier League safety. Manager Kieran McKenna spoke to TownTV about the upcoming survival challenge. The gravity of this season’s challenge cannot be overstated. Ipswich Town experienced a death by a thousand cuts fall in the Championship over several years. After falling through the trapdoor, the club spent four seasons in League One. Back-to-back promotions ended a 22-year absence from the Premier League. Town has returned to what is widely regarded as the ‘greatest league in the world’ at a time when it is perhaps at its most competitive. Even with a large summer budget, the Blues faced a major risk of altitude sickness. So, to be two points adrift of safety with 13 games to go (arguably deserving more), is something to be proud of.

That’s certainly how manager Kieran McKenna sees it.

“We’ve competed well in the majority of the games,” the Blues manager noted. “There have been a few games where the opponent’s level has surpassed ours, but we’ve competed well in the majority of the 24 Premier League games. “The reality is, if we were 3/4 points better off, the perception would be that we’re in a really good position and everything’s on track.” Numerous refereeing decisions have gone against Town (the 2-1 home loss to Leicester being the most notable example), and costly late goals have also been conceded against Brentford, Bournemouth, Fulham, and Southampton. “We can all look at the games and realise that 3/4 points are inches, judgements, and razor-thin margins. We could easily get more points.” said McKenna.

Conor Chaplin’s failure to receive a penalty in the 2-1 home loss to Leicester was a watershed point of the season. (Image: Steve Waller). “We’re at the run-in now. We must adhere to our daily work practices and ensure that they remain as effective as they have been. The players are working so hard. “Then we need to go to every game and do our absolute best, attacking them all as one – the players, the fans, and everyone involved. “I have no doubt that’s what we will do. Let’s see where that leads us in the end. Despite a four-game league losing streak, Town dug deep to draw 1-1 at Aston Villa last weekend after playing for close to an hour with 10 men.

The Blues will face Tottenham on Saturday before travelling to Manchester United the following Wednesday. McKenna’s side defeated Spurs last November and were looking for a winner in a 1-1 home stalemate with United a few days later. Two of English football’s top six stalwarts are currently ranked 12th and 15th.

March begins with an FA Cup fifth-round meeting against Nottingham Forest and continues with games against Crystal Palace (a) and Forest (h). April’s games include matches against Bournemouth (a), Wolves (h), Chelsea (a), Arsenal (h), and Newcastle (a). May’s schedule includes matches against Everton (a), Brentford (h), Leicester (a), and West Ham (h). “Look, it’s a key stage of the season,” McKenna remarked. “We’ve held some discussions with the guys. It’s tempting to believe that the last few years have been a dream, with everything going up, up, and smooth – yet this is not the case. Not everything has gone our way.

“It was 12 months ago that we were 3-0 down to Preston at half-time, 24 months ago we were 1-0 down to Cambridge and it would have been 2-0 had Christian (Walton) not saved a penalty.

Sam Morsy, pictured a little over a year ago on the day Ipswich lost 3-0 at Preston in the Championship. (Image by Ross Halls) “In League One, we went eight out of nine games without winning. In the Championship, things are very similar. But even when things were rough, we adhered to the process and remained consistent with what we did. “Of course, you should always look to improve and adapt. But we committed to what we do well, and we had amazing runs in the spring, including an EFL-record run in League One and nine out of ten games in the Championship.

Read more on sportupdates.co.uk