Kieran McKenna on Hull City and squad rotation

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna says Hull City will pose a different kind of test this evening, praising their strong attacking approach that has propelled them towards the top end of the Championship.

The Tigers entered the season with modest expectations after only narrowly avoiding relegation to League One on the final day of the previous campaign.

Yet under Sergej Jakirovic, Hull have spent most of the season in and around the playoff positions, scoring heavily at both ends of the pitch. They arrive for tonight’s fixture following a 3–2 home victory over Portsmouth and a 3–2 defeat away to QPR. Across 16 matches, they have netted 28 goals and conceded 27.

“They’re a major attacking threat — they create a lot and score a lot,” McKenna said. “I believe they’re the second-highest scorers in the league, and the underlying numbers back that up. Their attacking play has been really strong, and they pose real danger.

“We know we’ll need to respect their strengths and defend well, but we also need to impose ourselves and cause problems for them. It should be a really good match, and we’re looking forward to it.”

An open, end-to-end encounter may suit Ipswich. They have won their last two away fixtures 4–1, yet have struggled to break down teams at Portman Road, drawing 1–1 with Watford and failing to score against Wrexham.

“It’s been different,” McKenna admitted. “The last couple of home games and away games have panned out in opposite ways. Away from home, we’ve managed to score first, and that opens the game up for us.

At home, we haven’t, so we end up trying to break down a compact defence, which is difficult.

“If an opponent comes at us, that’s a different challenge, but it can also mean more space for us to attack. These things go in cycles. Six weeks ago, we scored three against Norwich, a couple against Portsmouth and five against Sheffield United, but we hadn’t won away from home.

A month later, we’ve produced two four-goal away wins, and visiting teams have made things difficult at Portman Road by stopping us getting the opening goal.

“That’s football. As teams try to stop what you do well, the game evolves. If you struggle in one area, opponents will target that. You have to develop in every department, and rely on your full squad — players with different qualities who can win different types of games.”

Tonight’s clash marks the beginning of a demanding stretch for Ipswich, with away trips to Oxford United and Blackburn Rovers before key home matches against Coventry City and Stoke City.

McKenna expects rotation to be necessary, calling on supporters to back every player who is selected.

“It’s not as straightforward as just making changes,” he said. “But with seven games in 21 days and a strong squad, we will need to use everyone.

“It’s important supporters get behind the players who need that backing. Many of them are still very early into their time at the club — some have only started two, three, four or five matches. That’s nothing. Then you have someone like Leif Davis, who has made 150.

“If we’re judging players after a handful of starts, we’re heading in the wrong direction. We need to support whoever is on the pitch and approach these next three tough away fixtures as a collective challenge.”