Kieran McKenna heaped more praise on Cameron Humphreys as Ipswich Town comfortably beat Rotherham United in the third round of the FA Cup at Portman Road on Saturday afternoon.
The Ipswich manager believes the 19-year-old has come on leaps and bounds in his first season in senior football and praised the midfielder’s attitude as he scored for the second game in succession.
Freddie Ladapo was also on the scoresheet as he struck against his former club to take his tally to 11 goals for the season in all competitions.
There were also goals for top scorer Conor Chaplin and Wes Burns, both of which were from the penalty spot after Conor Washington had equalised for the Millers.
McKenna on the performance
On the game overall, McKenna said: “It was a very good performance, I thought from start to finish we dominated and controlled the game in all aspects.
“There was one moment that made the game difficult but, other than that, I thought it was a really good team and individual performance and great to get the win and get into the next round.”
Ipswich were on top for almost all of the game, particularly in the first half, something McKenna was keen to point out despite Richard Keogh bringing down Washington to give the visitors a rare chance to level early in the second period.
He said: “We’ve been so dominant in the first half, we deserved the goal and the breakthrough and we showed the right level of aggression and positivity but also patience and control that you need.
“We got the goal and in the dressing room at halftime everyone was focused on pushing on and going for the next goal and getting a fast start.
“But one moment a couple of seconds lapse and Washington's really sharp and he goes through and gets a penalty and the complexion and the energy of the game could potentially really change from there.”
McKenna on Humphreys
Teenager Humphreys recorded his 20th appearance for the club, the majority of which have come this season. Once again, the Town boss was full of praise for the young midfielder’s performance.
“I thought the leadership in that moment was really good from the senior players,” he said. “But even from Cam Humphreys. I will enjoy watching [his goal] back because in that moment I think he had gotten the ball in several times in difficult spots.
“He made a couple of crunching tackles, he was running box to box, he was encouraging his teammates. He showed exactly what you need to be in those moments and the character you need to show.
“We would rather have the clean sheet but sometimes something like that can be a benefit in the long term and you go on and win the game anyway. It's a little notch for the players to know that there's resilience in that group and when things go wrong as they invariably do in a football match, the response is within the group.”
McKenna on the penalties
Three penalties were awarded in total, all were dispatched and two were for the Blues. McKenna believes the referee’s decisions for the spot kicks were correct.
“Both nailed on penalties,” he claimed. “Is it a coincidence that it's not in the league? It's against team above us and not a team below us in the league pyramid.
“I'm not sure if that's a coincidence, but I think the first one is a nailed on penalty but I think there's been so many instances like that at Portman Road that we haven't had.
“So hopefully it's a sign of a correction in the second half of the season and those incidents that are all clear penalties for a team who are any other team’s penalty box trying to score, become penalties more often because I think if they do that that will land in our favour.”
McKenna was keen to stress in the build up to the game that he did not see the cup tie with Championship opposition as a marker for how his side may fare against higher league opposition as Ipswich fight for promotion back to the second tier this season.
The Northern Irishman stands by those comments even after a comfortable victory against a Rotherham side that made just one change from their last league game against Millwall.
He said: “I'm not going to bang that drum now because if the game had not gone our way, I would have been saying it's a different competition, you don't necessarily always need to compare.
“I know the improvement in us as a team, even from when we played Rotherham at home last year in the league, I know that we've improved and developed as a team. I think that performances have been a really consistently high level, I thought today was another really high-level performance.
“If we do that, we know we're a really difficult team to play against and we are a match for an awful lot of football teams and that was a that was continued today.”
Next weekend sees Ipswich face a crunch league fixture with leaders Plymouth Argyle, and McKenna says victory in the FA Cup will breed confidence going into the top-of-the-table clash.
He said: “It's a boost for the squad. When you have players working hard behind the scenes and are waiting for opportunities, I think most of the players on the pitch there have been playing a good amount anyway.
“It's always important when you make changes and you go into the cup competition that you know those players are working hard and contributing to the group and come into the team and put in good performances and get good results as well.
“It strengthens the confidence in the spirit in the whole group and set us up well. We’ve spoken in the group as this week being almost as a break point in the season and I'm looking forward to the second half of the season.
“I think knowing that we have a fourth round tie in the FA Cup is a nice bonus for the second half of the year and it sets us up well as a group.”
McKenna on the supporters
The former Manchester United assistant also gave credit to the supporters, with more than 15,000 in attendance and McKenna spoke about the possibilities for who Ipswich may get in the next round of the competition.
“The club's not been in the fourth round for so long,” he said. “Credit to the supporters who are here today, I know it's not easy to come out for these games. I thought the support numbers were really good for a cup tie when they've been here in so many numbers for the league.
“If we get a home day tie against one of the really big teams in a country or against a team that we really fancy going up against and challenge and against, or an away game and a day out for the fans. It's been so long since we've been in the fourth round that the fans will hopefully enjoy it either way.”
McKenna on transfers
With the January transfer window in full swing, Town target George Hirst was spotted watching on at the game, but McKenna was reluctant to speak about any prospective new additions.
He said: “There’s nothing really to report. There's no point denying or confirming everything. Everybody has camera phones. If you have camera phone and Google then you can identify people.
“It's an important window for us, we're looking to improve the squad, we're looking to add players who fit the profile for us in the short and long term.
“Until anything is confirmed, which at the moment nothing is, then there's nothing further I can really report on that.”
Nathan Broadhead is another name who is connected with a move to Suffolk. McKenna says the same applies: “Yeah.”
The draw for the fourth round will be held prior to the game between Manchester City and Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.