Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna is anticipating an exciting and tough match at Portman Road on Sunday against an in-form AFC Bournemouth side.
The Blues are the only team yet to win at home this season in the Premier League and face a ninth-placed Cherries team who have won three of their last five games in the league and have beaten top sides Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
McKenna said he is wary of the threat Andoni Iraola’s men possess and is eager to limit them from playing their best football.
Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna. Picture: Barry Goodwin
“Bournemouth have a real confidence about them at the moment, some big wins for them already this season,” the Blues boss said.
“It could be an open and exciting one. We have to stop Bournemouth reaching their best levels.
“If Bournemouth reach their best levels, they're further along the line than us. So, we have to stop them reaching our best levels and try to impose ourselves on them as much as possible.”
McKenna added: “There's not too many games this year where we can just have a free-for-all ding-dong against the other team and see who scores the most goals.
“We need to play smart. We need to play intense. We need to be organised. We need to be disciplined and also try to impose ourselves on the opposition while trying to limit them doing the things they want to do.
“So, yeah, that's going to be a good challenge and they're certainly a team in good form. I think anyone who saw the game last night was a top, top performance, really, against Tottenham.
“So, we're going to have to work really, really hard to limit them and try and execute really well on and off the ball and on our set players.”
Town’s only win this season came against Tottenham in November with the Tractor Boys currently sitting in 18th in the table with nine points.
In the last week, the Suffolk side have been on the end of two 1-0 losses against Nottingham Forest followed by Crystal Palace.
McKenna has given an idea of how his side need to perform if they want to get all three points on Sunday (2pm).
“They (Bournemouth) are certainly very good in the transition. You can see that last night. You can see that in all the games,” he said.
“They have the most high turnovers in the league, I think, and they're about the most at-turn in the shots. So, we need to use the ball really, really well.
“We need to be really clean on our build-up, find a good balance to our game as well, and, of course, make sure we're positioned well whenever we have the ball and in good positions whenever the turnovers come, because they will come at times.
“We need to react well and we need to close off the spaces that they want to counter-attack into. So we're fully aware of their strengths. It's pretty clear. They've developed the team and the squad really, really well over the last few seasons and that's why they're doing well.
“So, yeah, they've certainly got strengths that we have to respect, but we believe we have strengths as well and we'll try and impose them.”
When asked if there are areas that can be exploited, McKenna said: “No, it's not necessarily weaknesses, but there's no playing style in the world that doesn't leave you one way or another.
“If you press high, you leave more space in-behind. If you drop off, then you allow the team to gain territory, so Bournemouth are certainly an aggressive team.
“They run a lot. They're really constant with that, but, of course, that opens up space as well and they tend to have plenty of open games. I think it should make for a good game, to be honest.
“We like to play aggressive football as well. We're a team that runs a lot and competes really well and I think it should make for a really good game on Sunday.”
The Blues and Bournemouth have only contested four league games in the past 34 years, all of which were score draws in the Championship between 2013 and 2015.
The Cherries last victory at Portman Road was a 2-1 win in the second tier in March 1988, when Harry Redknapp was in charge.