Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna was satisfied with his team’s performance in their pre-season friendly victory over Hoffenheim.
The Blues won 1-0 thanks to Jack Taylor’s first-half goal, after playing better for the most of the game and creating more chances.
They were more sharper than they did in last weekend’s defeat to Fortuna Dusseldorf, which has boosted supporters ahead of their Premier League opener against Liverpool in two weeks.
“It was another good challenge, a step up in the opponent, and a great workout,” McKenna said after the game. “It was a challenging game, but we managed to get minutes into a number of players, and there were some positive improvements on things we wanted to improve on from last week. We had spells where we dominated the game with our pressing and managed to pin them in their half.
“Then there were times in the second half when we had to persevere and finish the game. These are two attributes that we will undoubtedly need to demonstrate. The boys demonstrated that today.
“I don’t believe there were any injuries on what was a very risky surface given the rainfall and rain over the last 24 hours. Coming through it without any complications is a huge plus.
“I wouldn’t call it comfortable; I thought it was a hard-fought game. Certainly, in the first half, I believed we played the most of the game in the opposing half, which is always a plus. We faced a similar situation at the start of the second half, when we spent the opening 15 to 20 minutes of the game in their territory.
“The last 20-25 minutes, we had to defend as a team. There were a lot of substitutes and tired legs, but we finished that part of the game nicely.
“We never read anything and don’t care about the outcome of pre-season games. We want to see improvement, and we certainly witnessed that in several areas during the last few weeks.”
George Hirst missed the game, as well as the entire training camp on the German/Austrian border, with McKenna noting after the match that he is awaiting an evaluation after damaging his knee against Fortuna Dusseldorf.
“George has a problem, a knock from the game last weekend,” the manager said. “He hasn’t been with us this week; he’s visiting various specialists, and we can’t give you an exact schedule yet.
“We will do as soon as we can.”
Supporters had the opportunity to see Conor Townsend in action for the first time, when he replaced Leif Davis in the second half.
The Blues have been in need of more left-back cover for several months, and McKenna is thrilled to have the transaction completed ahead of the new season.
“It’s very important,” he conceded. “Last season, we lacked a left-footer who is a natural left-back or left wing-back to fill that role. Leif stayed fit almost the entire season, while other lads filled in for the few seconds he missed.
“We understand that we will need great competition and choices in every position this season, with at least two strong players in each. There will be a significant rise in physical challenge.
“We’re thrilled to have Conor in. He’s a solid player and professional with good attributes for the squad and his role within it.
“He’s someone that we think will settle in really well and be an important part of the group.”
McKenna already said that he has been dealing with a small squad, therefore the club is trying hard to get more players in. Yesterday’s game against Borussia Monchengladbach was rescheduled as an under-21 match, which the German side won 3-1.
Blackburn Rovers manager John Eustace has stated that Ipswich are in talks with Blackburn about a deal for Sammie Szmodics, and while McKenna refused to comment on the potential move, he did emphasise that they want to make additions before the league season begins.
“I never speak individually – and never have done – about players from other clubs,” he told us. “The club is working extremely hard to strengthen the team and squad, which is ongoing in a variety of areas.
We hope to see good improvement in the next weeks. “You can’t be working on one item at a time while the club isn’t. We’re all working extremely hard on different goals and positions. That is merely the procedure that a team in our position must go through.
“We’re pleased with the players we’ve brought in; we believe they’re all strong additions to the group, and we hope to bring in more players to strengthen it.
“We hope to do that as soon as possible but we’ll always place the upmost importance on bringing in the right player and the right character that can help us now and be the right fit for the medium and longer-terms as well.”