Boss Kieran McKenna says he truly enjoyed the Blues’ hard-fought 2-1 victory over Swansea City, which he believed required a really excellent effort from his team in difficult wet conditions.
Nathan Broadhead scored his third goal in three games to put the Blues ahead, Jerry Yates equalized for the Swans, and Conor Chaplin scored the winning goal 10 minutes before halftime. Town put up a tenacious second-half performance to secure the three points and their second away win in four days.
“I really enjoyed it, it was a tough game, a proper game and it took a really, really good performance to come out on the right side of it,” McKenna said of the contest.
“I believe we showed the best of ourselves at various periods of the game. I thought we played some really decent football at times in extremely difficult conditions.
“We played some bold football, moving through the pitch brilliantly, creating some nice opportunities and scoring some goals.
“I think our organization’s ability to contain them, particularly in free play in terms of opportunities against, was commendable, and the most impressive aspect was the commitment, effort, and resilience in difficult conditions against a good team. Very delighted and proud of what we accomplished today.”
McKenna described Chaplin’s goal, which was a trademark Town team effort featuring Cameron Burgess and later Leif Davis, as “a great goal.” One thing we worked on and performed exceptionally well. Cameron, you can see the benefit of his left-footedness, which we’ve missed over the last six weeks while he was gone from an attacking point of view, in playing the pass.
“And Leif’s first touch is great and the movement in the box is great and there’s no one better stepping onto it than Conor.”
Town had opportunities to give themselves breathing room but were unable to capitalize, and the game ended with a strong defensive performance after the break.
“I think in that sort of game state, you know the next goal would be really, really important,” he said. “We knew that by halftime.
“We wanted to come out and try to stay on the front foot as much as possible, but still remaining daring and positive in terms of creating opportunities.
“And I think for the initial part of the second half, we did that and had some good opportunities, but we didn’t take them.
“And when you don’t do that, you know it’s going to require a different type of performance in the later phases of the game, which I believe we demonstrated with the starting.
“And then subs who come on maybe don’t get as much recognition as if they come on and score a goal, which they do frequently, but they came on today and helped the players who were on the pitch from the start of the game see the game through to completion. Overall, I think we played the game quite well.”
Keeper Vaclav Hladky only had to make one major stop in the second half, and he was equal to Harry Darling’s deflected shot.
“That’s good for him, I thought his all-round performance was really good,” she remarked. “To be honest, we are unlikely to win away from home without that.
“I think it’s easy to take for granted because we’ve done so well in terms of points, but coming to Swansea away from home, against a talented club, is still a huge step up for us.
“I have to say, I appreciated that performance; I thought it was as excellent as some of our second-half performances last year in League One, when we won 3-0 against major football clubs.
“But at the level that we’re competing at now, that performance or a similar level performance today earned us a hard-fought 2-1 victory in which we had to demonstrate all of our distinct talents.
“I thought it was an excellent performance and we had to defend our goal well, defenders and Vaz [Hladky] very much part of that but I think that’s the margins that we’re going to have to keep fighting to come out on top of at this level.”
Centre-half Cameron Burgess, who had recently returned from the Asian Cup with Australia, was the standout defender, with McKenna complementing his teammate Luke Woolfenden.
“Him and Luke, to be honest. “I thought Luke did really well on first contacts, and I thought both center-backs were excellent on first contacts,” the Northern Irishman remarked.
“That’s essential for them; we know Cameron has a lot of strength in that area, and Luke has been working hard on it in his game.
“We won a lot of first encounters, but I must admit that our second interactions on the edge of the box were great.
“They do lock down well, and they push a lot of bodies towards the counter-pressure, so it’s one thing to head the initial ball away, but if you’re not really well linked as a team, that’s dropping to a midfielder on the edge of the box, and they’re shooting.
“The way that our number 10 or our wide players collapsed on that and secured things on the edge of the box that could have been shooting opportunities for them, but time and again we turned them into counter-attack opportunities for us and that was a massive part of the victory today.”
Was it a more pleasant display because it was not a normal Town victory, with the Blues having less possession than usual?
“We probably made the mistake of going ahead today!” McKenna joked. “We’re better when we stay behind for a little longer in the game and the opposing team gives us the ball!
“I said at the start of the season that it takes different kinds of strategies to win games at this level, and as much as we want to be an attacking, proactive club, we recognize where we are as a team and won’t be that way every week.
“We strive to take satisfaction in finding new ways to win games, whether it’s set plays, counter-attacks, defending, or whatever it takes. We stated that we will compete with every tool in our arsenal to win every game, and we accomplished that today.”
Town has scored ten goals in its last three games, earning seven points, after winning only one of nine over the Christmas period. McKenna was asked if the minor setback is now completely behind his squad.
“At Christmas we played Leeds and Leicester and you’re not going to score that many goals [against them],” he said.
“Of course, we lost our primary striker [George Hirst] on Boxing Day and had to adapt for the next five or six weeks, trying various players in different places than we’d been playing; we lost three strikers in January.
“These things happen throughout the course of the season, and having harder matchups and no or fewer strikers in the building definitely helps.
“The squad’s depth has improved. Kieffer [Moore] and Ali [Al-Hamadi] have provided us with several possibilities, and we now have other bodies returning fit and available, so we believe we can score goals.
Full-back Davis already has 12 assists on the season, and the Blues manager was questioned if the former Leeds United player has the potential to play at a higher level.
“I think he certainly can,” he remarked. “I honestly have no doubts about it. He still has a lot of potential to improve, he’s still improving, and he’s still a young player; I believe he’s in his second season of senior football, actually; I know he had a number of loans, but last year was his first full year of senior football playing consistently.
“We’re two-thirds of the way through his second season, so he still has a long way to go, a lot to learn, and a lot to improve on, but does he have the ingredients, potential, and traits to succeed at the next level? I believe the answer is clearly yes.”
Following recent allegations that he turned down the opportunity to coach Crystal Palace, McKenna was questioned if he believes he is capable of managing in the Premier League already.
“I don’t think I’ve had the question from that angle!” He smiled and took a long pause. “I believe there are very good managers at all levels.
“I’ve worked in the Premier League as a first-team coach [at Manchester United], contributing significantly to some major victories and successful seasons.
“I know the level; I’ve operated at the level; I believe I can work with players at that level; I believe I can assist players and teams at that level; and, yeah, I believe that is where I want to work and have a difference in my career. However, I believe that other instructors in the chain are also capable of doing so.
“I’m enjoying my job here, it’s a fantastic football club, it’s a great group to work with and that’s where the focus is at the moment and enjoying the really good season we’re having.”
When asked if there was any discussion of second-placed Leeds and third-placed Southampton having won before kickoff, McKenna insisted: “Honestly, zero.” I know I’m not placing much stock in it. I don’t believe the players are either.
“As I’ve said before, we have no energy left to give, so if we were going to use up energy worrying or thinking about the level of teams that are there, then we certainly wouldn’t have enough to do what the players did out there today.”
Is it difficult to produce a performance in light of these results? “I know has no effect on me, and that’s the truth. And I don’t believe it includes the players.
“Sometimes you worry that things like that may enter the group and cause them to get concerned about the results of other teams, but I honestly don’t get that impression from the group at all.
“Their feelings are similar to mine; they recognize that they are doing an excellent job to be as competitive as we have been at this level.
“They know where our expectations were or are, and they know that we set out at the beginning of the season to perform as well as we possibly could in order to impose our style of play, continue to establish our culture, and give our all in every game. We examined those goals again in January, and they remain our primary emphasis.
“Honestly, I don’t think it’s having any impact on the players and certainly not having one on the staff.”
Daniel Farke had made similar comments after Leeds won 4-0 at Swansea on Tuesday and McKenna was asked whether it is a conscious decision for managers to take that approach.
“I believe it’s the best way,” he remarked. “We may find it easier to compare to last year’s League One season. It was still our strategy not to discuss too much about points totals or the need to win two of the next three games, or anything similar.
“Our strategy last season, when we were, I believe, the most dominant club in the league, was to focus just on our performances and not talk too much about the other teams or the points that we would need.
“And I think that was fantastic because if you did that, if you concentrated on points totals and what people would normally tell you you need, you would have received 90 points for promotion last year.
“In the end, we needed 98 points to be promoted, and Sheffield Wednesday missed out on automatic promotion with 96 points.”
“Again, if we spent much work on it this year, people would probably say that if you get 90 points, you’re promoted from the Championship, but I’m quite sure that’s not going to happen this year.
“I believe our situation differs slightly from those of the other teams playing this year.
“I know last year, as much as we never discussed it to the players, I was more aware of Plymouth’s or Sheffield Wednesday’s results, and you, too, took more glances at the table.
“I can honestly say that this year, Leicester, Leeds, and Southampton, we know we’re up against three of the strongest clubs in Championship history, and they’re extraordinarily strong for this level.
“And we know that, certainly internally, there’s zero pressure on ourselves and we’re just enjoying the season, enjoying each game as it comes and certainly aren’t going to spend any time worrying about those teams.”
Is it easier competing against three Goliaths? “I believe it makes it simpler to fully ignore other teams’ results. I don’t believe it’s having any effect on our group since they’ve been so good and consistent, and the points totals of the four teams are so high, with Leicester’s certain to shatter the Championship record.
“For us, we know that we’re not going to waste any emotional energy comparing ourselves to that, and we’re not going to waste any energy getting upset if one of those teams wins on a Saturday because we expect them to win, and we know that we need all of that energy to compete with Swansea, Millwall on Wednesday night, and Rotherham on Tuesday night.”
“I think where we’re coming from last season, where those teams are coming from, it probably is making it easier for the players to not feel any pressure and to not focus on their results at all.”
When asked whether he prefers being the underdog or having their riches, McKenna laughed: “No, we’d rather have parachute payments, we’d rather have more Financial Fair Play wriggle room, we’d rather have been able to add to the squad more in the summer and in January.
“That is the honest truth. The situation is what it is, and we are making the best of it. We have a terrific group here, with stability. That may also be a huge asset, a bunch with incredible humility and energy, and we’re making the most of our circumstances.
“But would we rather have more good players, or would the guys in the locker room want to have more players of really high level come in and share the load with them? I believe they would all say yes.
