Preston is a tough side: Kieran McKenna

Town manager Kieran McKenna believes Preston North End, who the Blues face at Deepdale on Saturday afternoon, remain a challenging challenge despite a strong start to the season.

The Lilywhites headed the Championship table in the early stages of the season and were third when they met the Blues, who were already in second place, at Portman Road in early October.

However, the Lancastrians are now 12th in the division and have only won one of their past five Championship games, defeating fourth-placed Leeds United 2-1 at home on Boxing Day.

Deepdale’s record this season is seven wins, two draws, and five losses. No one in the division has conceded more goals at home than them, who have 24, which is tied with local rivals Blackburn Rovers.

Only two Championship teams have conceded more than 47 goals, both at home and away.

McKenna was asked if he was shocked that North End had dropped down the table after such an amazing start to the season.

“No, I think that’s the level of the division, to be honest,” he added. “[Manager] Ryan [Lowe] is doing a wonderful job. They are having a good, solid season.

“Of course, they began off strong, and any squad will find it difficult to sustain their position. That’s why you’d assume we’ve gotten a lot of credit, and rightfully so, for keeping our form to this point.

“But it’s such a competitive division that every game is challenging, and as far as I can tell, they still have the components that worked well for them at the start of the season.

“They’re still a very hardworking, aggressive team that imposes their physicality and is aggressive both with and without the ball.

“And at home, they’re a really difficult proposition as well, so we know we’re going to be in for a tough game.”

The key information ahead of this weekend's test in Lancashire. ⤵️

— Ipswich Town (@IpswichTown) February 2, 2024

Now that the transfer window has closed, McKenna hopes to keep the Blues in contention for automatic promotion in the final 18 games of the season.

“We’re looking forward to it,” he replied. “I believe we are passed the second half now. I’m not sure where we are; perhaps in the third third. I don’t know; we haven’t done the math.

“But we are really enjoying it. We have to enjoy the final 18 games. We know that even if we don’t pick up another point, we’ll have more points than the average freshly promoted League One team. But, of course, that is not the purpose.

“Our goals are to play as well as we can in the second half of the season, to accumulate as many points as possible, and to assess where we stand.

“So, we’re enjoying it and we have to keep enjoying it, keep playing the way that we want to play, and try to perform as well as we can.”

McKenna believes his club will now be able to present new issues to opponents after adding Kieffer Moore, Ali Al Hamadi, and Jeremy Sarmiento during the transfer window.

“I think you’re always trying to have variety in your playing squad because that helps you have variety in your play, especially your attacking play,” he said.

“And I believe that’s something we’ve done successfully over the last year. As I previously stated, there are various ways to threaten teams.

“With Kieffer, he matches the profile that we felt we needed after George [Hirst]’s departure to add a striker with some physical presence back to goal and aerial presence in the area.

“I believe he is a specialist and a significant threat in certain areas. My attitude has always been that we must adapt to the quality of the players and use their greatest talents while remaining true to our beliefs about how we want to play and how the Ipswich squad should look.

“So, with Kieffer, Jeremy, and Ali, particularly as forward players, we’ll do our best to build the team up to bring out their greatest qualities. “The three of them certainly bring different qualities to the team.”

McKenna will most likely return to the lineup that drew 1-1 away to league leaders Leicester in their most recent Championship game.

Vaclav Hladky will start in goal, with Harry Clarke at right back, Leif Davis at left back, and Luke Woolfenden and George Edmundson as centre backs.

Skipper Sam Morsy will return to midfield after serving a two-game suspension and is expected to be paired by Massimo Luongo.

Conor Chaplin will almost certainly continue in the middle, with Wes Burns to his right and Marcus Harness possibly getting the nod on the left, though Sarmiento’s recent performances may have put him in the running for a full league debut for the Blues.

Moore, on loan from AFC Bournemouth, is expected to make his second Town debut but first start for the club, seven years after joining from Forest Green Rovers. Al-Hamadi, another new signing, will most likely start on the bench.

🎟️ Close to 3,500 Town fans have already secured their seats in the away end at Preston tomorrow.

Tickets remain available until midday today, with online sales available to collect from the away ticket office at Deepdale. 👇

— Ipswich Town (@IpswichTown) February 2, 2024

Preston will have centre-back Jack Whatmough back in the team after missing four games with a knee injury, as well as midfielder Ali McCann, who returns after being ill.

But striker Ched Evans is out again with a hamstring problem, while teenage defender Kian Best has injured his ankle.

Historically, the Lancastrians have had a slight advantage, with Town winning 13 games (12 in the league) and Preston winning 14 (12), with 11 (10) meetings ending in draws.

The teams met at Portman Road in October, when Town went into the international break second in the Championship after a 4-2 win over third-placed Preston, whom they then lead by eight points.

Chaplin put the Blues ahead in the 18th minute, but Mads Frøkjaer equalized for the visitors nine minutes later.

Brandon Williams made it 2-1 with a superb solo goal, and Broadhead added a third in first-half injury time.

Town had a poor start to the second half, and Lilywhites substitute Ben Whiteman equalized on 52 minutes, but Kayden Jackson sealed Town’s ninth win of the season 12 minutes later, with all five substitutes combining.

The teams previously met in a pre-season friendly at Deepdale, when the Blues won 2-1 thanks to goals from Chaplin and Hirst, with Felipe Rodriguez-Gentile pulling one back for the Lilywhites late on.

Preston defeated Town 4-0 in their most recent competitive meeting at Deepdale in April 2019, with Callum Robinson and Lukas Nmecha each scoring twice.

Robinson scored six and 22 points to give the Lilywhites a solid half-time lead, while Nmecha clinched the win with a brace in the second half.

The jaded-looking Blues, who never looked like winning the game after a slow start in which Robinson scored the first goal, came closest to scoring when Kayden Jackson struck the crossbar in the second half.

Ex-Town striker Keane joined the Lilywhites in the summer after spending a year and a half at Portman Road from January 2019 to May 2021, originally on loan before signing a one-year contract.

The former Manchester United youth started 28 games and appeared 13 times as a substitute, scoring nine goals.

Dai Cornell, a former Town goalkeeper, joined the Lilywhites in June 2022 but has only made three appearances this season. The Welshman made 15 starts for the Blues in his lone season, 2020/21.

Saturday’s referee is Graham Scott from Oxfordshire, who has issued 64 yellow cards and three red cards in 14 games this season.

Scott’s last Town game was a 2-2 draw against Rotherham in November, when he booked Morsy and one Millers player.

His previous Blues outing was in the final Championship encounter of the 2014/15 season at Blackburn, where the Blues were defeated 3-2 but still qualified for the play-offs.

Scott yellow-carded Cole Skuse and Jay Tabb that day and handed the Blues a penalty, which Daryl Murphy converted after Teddy Bishop was brought down by Tommy Spurr. At the other end, Rovers had a good call turned down when Tyrone Mings tripped Adam Henley.

Scott had previously led the 1-0 FA Cup replay defeat to Southampton at Portman Road in January 2015, during which he held his cards close to his chest.

He also officiated the 2-1 home win against Doncaster in April 2014, cautioning Christophe Berra and three visitors.

Earlier that season, Scott was the man in the middle for Burnley’s 1-0 home loss, and he did not use his cards for the entire 90 minutes.

The previous season, he took charge of Wolves’ 2-0 home loss, booking two Midlanders as well as Michael Chopra.

In his first Town match, in August 2011, he sent off both Lee Martin and Tommy Smith, the first time Town had ever had two players red-carded in the same game, as the Blues were thrashed 7-1 at Peterborough, while also booking Damien Delaney, Grant Leadbitter, and two Posh players.

Squad from: Hladky, Walton, Clarke, Davis, Humphreys, Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Morsy, Travis, Luongo, Ball, Burns, Chaplin, Broadhead, Harness, Aluko, Hutchinson, Sarmiento, Moore, Al-Hamadi, Jackson.