McKenna: We’ll Learn From Our Loss and…

“Having said that, I thought there was a crystal clear foul [on Conor Chaplin] in the build-up to the corner that was unmissable, that was so clear, it was so close to the referee.” So that was a letdown.

“But we own a piece of it as well.” We didn’t defend the corner well enough, which makes what was already going to be a difficult game even more difficult.

“Leeds were clinical in their first-half moments.” To be honest, I didn’t think there was much of a difference between the teams in the first half. I know the feel of the game varies depending on the score, but I didn’t see a significant difference in the first half.

“But they took their chances well, and we didn’t defend our chances well enough, and when they score from our long throw just before halftime to make it 3-0, you know it’s going to be a tough second half.”

“Of course, the second half had a very different feel to it; Leeds were completely dominant, and we had to suffer a little bit in the second half.”

“However, the players stayed together, and the subs came on and gave us energy.” It wasn’t a pleasant experience, but there will be days when things don’t go your way over the course of a lengthy season. Today is one of them, and we’ll have to, and will, learn from it and move on quickly.”

When asked if he had any issues about the penalty, which was awarded for a foul on Crysencio Summerville by ex-Leeds player Leif Davis, McKenna replied, “I haven’t seen the penalty back.” To be honest, I didn’t think we were in trouble in the game because of the way in which the goals were scored in the first half.

“Some of our pressure when they had the ball was really good, in my opinion.” We forced turnovers and mistakes, and I thought we were comfortable, but we didn’t defend well enough in key times.

“The second goal, we were in a really, really good pressing situation, we actually pressed well deep in their right-back zone, but we let them come out of it and didn’t defend the big spaces well, despite the fact that they’re obviously good in those situations.”

“And then, just before halftime, we were trying to build some pressure around their goal, but we don’t lock it down well enough, and they break out full pitch.”

“The manner in which the goals were achieved was disappointing.” There were communal and individual aspects in there that we will learn from.

“And that’s all we can do for the time being.” The game is over, it didn’t go our way, but we believe we’ve demonstrated as a group that we’re extremely excellent at being consistent, learning from mistakes, remaining stable when things go our way, and preparing as well as we can for the next game.”

The setback was the Blues’ first by more than two goals since McKenna took over just over two years ago, when they had only lost three times – twice in the league – by a margin of two.

“Of course, the players are very disappointed and disappointed for the supporters as well as they travelled in great numbers in support of us, as they always do away from home,” he said.

“However, there will be no overreaction.” We know how hard we’re competing, but we also know the difficulty of the level, the difficulty of the opponent, and that we’re playing against a team that is incredibly strong, even for this level, and that is at their absolute best whenever they’re a goal ahead and can transition because that’s what they do best in the league.

“It hasn’t been a pleasant experience for us.” I’ve certainly been through it in my career, and the players have as well; there will be days when things don’t go your way.

“It’s an incredible testament to the group that this is the first game we’ve lost by any margin in two years.”

“It’s a testament to the group where we are in terms of points after 23 games, and today’s a disappointing day, but we always knew we’d have them.”

“After 23 games, we’ve lost three.” We’ve lost twice to Leeds, and we’ve also lost away at West Brom.

“We know we’re going to lose some games along the way. We never just accept it, we’ll always reflect, look to improve, take the bits that we can improve.

“But for us, it won’t be about revving everyone up for a big reaction [when leaders Leicester visit Portman Road on Boxing Day].

“It wasn’t like that after West Brom. We lost to West Brom with some similarities. We conceded an early set piece against a really strong side and had a difficult afternoon, and today even more so.

“After that game, there was no grand reaction, we just learnt from it, we took the disappointment, we stuck together and put in some really good performances after that.

“That’s what we’ll look to do again. We know we’ve got another strong team in the history of the division to play on Tuesday night, but again it’s just another game. There are 46 of them.

“We play Leicester on Tuesday night, but three days later we play QPR, two days after that we play Stoke and they’re all worth the same points and they all require maximum effort.

“And we know if we do that and we stick to our principles that we can perform well and that we can win games. We won’t win them all but we’ve shown that we can perform and we can win plenty.”