McKenna anticipates a ‘physical, intense game’ at Rotherham, Ipswich Town
Kieran McKenna, the manager of Ipswich Town, anticipates a “physical, aggressive game” against Rotherham United this evening.
In front of the Sky television cameras on Friday night, the Blues travel to South Yorkshire for a matchup pitting second-bottom against second-top in the Championship (8pm ko).
After 11 games, Ipswich is the clear favorite with 22 points separating the teams in the table.
But McKenna believes his squad will have to battle for these points because Storm Babet is expected to bring wind and rain to New York Stadium.
“It’s not an easy place to go,” the Blues manager remarked. “They have typically shown great strength at home. Their triumph in League One was based on their impressive home performances during the second half of the previous season, which included victories over Sunderland, West Brom, and Middlesbrough. This season, they have also had a few successful home performances, including a victory over Norwich and draws with Blackburn and Preston.
“Obviously, a good number of our players—Dominic Ball, Freddie Ladapo, and George Hirst—have played at Rotherham. Generally speaking, you may expect a physically demanding and competitive game that you will need to overcome.
“They are a team that can cause you a lot of issues if you don’t play good box defense. We’re going to have to rise to the occasion, but we can handle it quite nicely. We must continue to create the kind of game we desire while resisting Rotherham’s intimidation tactics and their strong points.”
The last four times Town has played in Rotherham, the Millers have defeated them 1-0, and in recent years, they have proven to be formidable opponents. It happened then, and it happens now. In January, the Ipswich club, heavily revamped, defeated Matt Taylor’s team 4-1 at Portman Road in the FA Cup third round.
“That’s not a game we’ve looked back on too much if I’m honest because it was a different competition,” McKenna remarked.
of be fair, they rebounded well from that and had a great second half of the season. When we met them, they had suffered a string of injuries and losses. However, both teams had successful second halves of the season; we were promoted, while Rotherham managed to stay up.
The last four times Town has played in Rotherham, the Millers have defeated them 1-0, and in recent years, they have proven to be formidable opponents. It happened then, and it happens now. In January, the Ipswich club, heavily revamped, defeated Matt Taylor’s team 4-1 at Portman Road in the FA Cup third round.
“That’s not a game we’ve looked back on too much if I’m honest because it was a different competition,” McKenna remarked.
of be fair, they rebounded well from that and had a great second half of the season. When we met them, they had been through some injuries and a run of defeats, but both teams had successful second halves of the season; we were promoted, while Rotherham managed to stay up fairly easily.
“Obviously, we’ve gotten off to a better start this year, but every game in this division is unpredictable, as I’ve mentioned before.
“They played Southampton away in their final match before the (international) break. Everyone would have been betting on Southampton to win at home, and they managed to secure a thrilling point (1–1). We are aware that nothing can be taken for granted and that in order to stand a chance, we must perform exceptionally well.”
At St Mary’s, former Norwich striker Jordan Hugill equalized for Rotherham, bringing his season total of goals to three.
“They have other threats, of course, but he’s scored a few spectacular goals lately that will have made headlines,” McKenna remarked.
Naturally, our season has gotten off to a better start, but every game in this division is unpredictable, as I’ve noted previously.
Their final match prior to the (international) break was a road trip to Southampton. Everyone would have been predicting a Southampton home victory, and they went there and earned a magnificent point (1–1). We are aware that nothing is guaranteed and that we must play incredibly well in order to stand a chance.”
Jordan Hugill, a former striker for Norwich, scored the equalizer for Rotherham at St Mary’s, bringing his season goal total to three.
“Yes, he’s been making headlines lately with a few spectacular goals, but they have other threats,” McKenna remarked.
Given their recent hard-fought 1-1 draw against Huddersfield, Town has a current benchmark for how difficult these kinds of games can be.
“There are definitely some stylistic similarities there,” McKenna said in response to the aforementioned.
We need to improve on a few areas from our performance against Huddersfield in this game. You can’t always control how the game will play out for the full ninety minutes, but there are some things we can do better to have more influence over the game.
However, in order to win a fiercely contested point, we must duplicate some of the strategies we were successful with against Huddersfield.
It is a league with a variety of obstacles. Going to Rotherham and
Given their recent hard-fought 1-1 draw against Huddersfield, Town has a current benchmark for how difficult these kinds of games can be.
“There are definitely some stylistic similarities there,” McKenna said in response to the aforementioned.
We need to improve on a few areas from our performance against Huddersfield in this game. You can’t always control how the game will play out for the full ninety minutes, but there are some things we can do better to have more influence over the game.
