admin“That’s been the story of our away games”- Kieran McKenna delivers a very honest verdict on Middlesbrough’s win over Ipswich Town
McKenna Admits Middlesbrough Fully Deserved Win as Ipswich Town Fall Short at Riverside
Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna conceded that Middlesbrough were worthy winners after his side’s 2–1 defeat at the Riverside Stadium on Friday evening.
Boro returned to winning ways thanks to goals from Morgan Whittaker — his first for the club — and an unfortunate own goal by Cedric Kipre just before half-time. A late header from Darragh O’Shea gave the Tractor Boys a glimmer of hope, but the hosts held firm to claim all three points.
The game itself was packed with drama, including missed chances and saved penalties, and McKenna admitted his team were second-best in key moments.
“Probably too eventful for our liking,” the Ipswich boss said after the match. “I can’t have too many complaints about the result because we made too many mistakes to win a tough away game like this against a good team in form.
“We didn’t handle the difficult periods well enough. The end of the first half got chaotic — we had the penalty to go 1–0 up, which could have completely changed the night, but to come in 1–0 down from that position isn’t good enough. We have to be stronger.”
McKenna went on to admit that his side’s defensive structure was uncharacteristically loose.
“At the start of the second half, around their second goal, we were too easy to play through. We didn’t stay compact or defend strongly enough in those tough moments. That’s not like us — we’ve been really solid lately and hadn’t conceded from open play since the Derby game.”
Despite the defeat, Ipswich created several good chances throughout the match.
“There wasn’t much between the teams overall,” McKenna added. “We had our chances, and so did Middlesbrough. It was an open game — too open — and we made too many mistakes. Their keeper made saves, Alex [Palmer] made saves for us, and both sides could have scored more. But we didn’t manage the key moments well enough.”
The loss ended Ipswich’s four-match unbeaten run, which had seen them score 11 goals in three victories. However, their search for a first away win of the season continues, and McKenna acknowledged that conceding first has been a recurring problem.
“That’s been the story of our away games,” he admitted. “We’ve had big chances to take the lead in nearly all of them but haven’t taken them. Missing the penalty and then conceding a poor goal before half-time gave their crowd a lift and completely changed the game.”
The Ipswich manager did praise his substitutes for injecting energy into the final stages.
“The subs made a good impact, and we had a spell where we were pushing hard for the equaliser. We were inches away when Jack Clarke crossed — it was so close to finding Ivan [Azon]. The players kept going, but Middlesbrough defended their box really well, and we didn’t create enough in the closing minutes.”
McKenna concluded with a clear message: “We can’t keep going 1–0 down away from home. It makes the job so much harder. We need to take our chances, manage the key moments better, and stop giving away soft goals.”
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