Kieran McKenna Discusses Team Progress and Tottenham Match

Kieran McKenna, manager of Ipswich Town, addressed the media ahead of his team’s Premier League match against Tottenham on Sunday, scheduled for a 14:00 kick-off. The following are the main points from his press briefing: McKenna confirmed “no new injury concerns” for the upcoming fixture. Defenders Axel Tuanzebe and Jacob Greaves, along with midfielder Jack Taylor, are expected to be available for selection following the November international break. Additionally, defender Dara O’Shea is anticipated to participate despite a persistent back issue. McKenna expressed his view that Ipswich has demonstrated being “competitive” in most of their games, even though the team is still seeking its inaugural victory since rejoining the Premier League. He stated: “I don’t think you can always set an exact expectation or definition of performances because every game is different. One of our first goals is to be competitive in every match and we’re not too far away from that. Across the 10 games we have certainly been in the large majority of games. We would have liked to have won a couple by now but, also, we’ve only lost five out of 10 with what we have been through and the challenges we have faced over the early part of the season.” He further commented: “To pick up five results – certainly could have been one or two more – and to be as competitive as we have been, I think there are a lot of positives in there. We know there is another step to take to win games consistently in the Premier League that we haven’t taken yet. We’re showing good signs of progress and the group is growing.” McKenna also reflected on his past with Tottenham, having progressed through the Spurs academy and started his coaching career there. He stated: “It has had a massive bearing on me as a person. It’s a great club and one that I, of course, have a fondness for. From a football perspective, as a player, it was my opportunity and access to the professional game in England. Definitely from a coaching point of view, I was very blessed to be there at the time I was as a coach because from an academy level, the club were country-wide leaders at that time in terms of developing players.”