Ipswich Town: Kieran McKenna previews Coventry City trip

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has admitted that Coventry City fully deserve their place at the top of the Championship ahead of tonight’s meeting at the CBS Arena (6pm).

The Sky Blues made the most of Boxing Day, edging past Swansea City 1-0 while the four teams immediately below them – Middlesbrough, Ipswich, Hull City and Preston North End – all dropped points after being held to draws.

That run of results has seen Frank Lampard’s side open up an eight-point lead at the summit and a 13-point cushion over Ipswich in third, putting them in a strong position in the promotion race.

“They’re doing a really good job,” McKenna said. “They’ve earned their position by picking up a lot of points. They’ve been very consistent.

“We played them not long ago and know how tough they are, especially at home, so it’s going to be a big challenge for us.”

Ipswich have won the last four meetings between the two clubs, including a convincing 3-0 victory at Portman Road earlier this month, with goals from Sindre Walle Egeli, George Hirst and Ivan Azón.

However, McKenna insists that result will have no bearing on tonight’s encounter in the West Midlands.

“We can’t afford to be naïve or take anything for granted because of that,” he said. “We believe we can be a very good team, but every game is different.

“In that match, we scored first after a really tight opening half. Once that happened, they had to open up and we were able to exploit the spaces. We were very clinical on the day — and that made the difference.

“Other times, we haven’t been as ruthless. Both teams will look back at that game and take lessons from it, but the flow can change completely. We’re expecting a very tough test.”

Following Friday’s goalless draw at Millwall, McKenna confirmed he was uncertain whether Sam Szmodics would be fit to feature due to illness. George Hirst remains sidelined with a groin issue, while Wes Burns is available again after making a late cameo at The Den.

So could Ipswich rotate their squad?

“We’ll see,” McKenna added. “With four games in a short period, there will have to be changes at some point.

“For Monday night, we’re not looking too far ahead. We’ll assess how everyone recovers and make our decisions from there.”