Ipswich Town: Kieran McKenna on the run-in and promotion pressure

The Blues have failed to win any of their last three games, losing at arch-rivals Norwich City before playing out draws at home to Watford and Middlesbrough.

Their performances improved massively in the two games at Portman Road, and they arguably did enough to win it despite a couple of late scares. Nonetheless, we’ve seen all three of the automatic promotion favourites falter in the last few days, which some people put down to pressure.

McKenna doesn’t believe that’s the case for his players, however, highlighting how well they played against Michael Carrick’s men on Saturday afternoon.

Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna doesn't believe his promotion-chasing side are playing with any anxiety. (Image: Stephen Waller)

“I can only speak for myself, but I can also speak for what I saw in the performance,” he said after the match. “I don’t see a team playing with any tension, I certainly don’t see a team playing with any anxiety.

“The boys look like they’re loving the match, playing their football, enjoying being part of this team and playing in that atmosphere to produce a really good performance.

“I don’t sense any tension in the group at all, to be honest. I know we haven’t picked up as many points in the last couple of games, but if we had Watford and Middlesbrough in such quick succession at any point in the season, they’d be two hard-fought, competitive games that could go either way.

“We could easily have won either game, I thought the performances were probably good enough to win them both. At the same time, we could’ve lost one.

“I honestly feel that the group are enjoying it. They’re enjoying the games and enjoying being part of this experience at the top end of the division.

“The great thing now is that we’ve got a little bit of a pause, and then we can really look forward to the last three games.”