McKenna: It Was One Which Hurt, You Have to Go Through It and Process It
Thursday, 12th Dec 2024 16:36
Manager Kieran McKenna says he and his squad looked back at the positives and negatives from Sunday’s last-gasp 2-1 defeat to AFC Bournemouth but now believes it’s out of the system with all sights on Saturday’s bottom-of-the-table clash with Wolves at Molineux.
Town thought they’d claimed their first home win of the season via Conor Chaplin’s first Premier League goal until the Cherries struck on 87 and in the fifth minute of injury time to grab the victory.
“We'd like to think it's out of our system,” McKenna said at his lunchtime press conference. “It was one that hurt and you have to go through that and process it.
“We looked at it back as a group and took the positives from the game. We took the things that we could have done better to turn the very fine margins from what was a largely good performance to a victory.
“Then we move on and we're ready for the next game. It's a really good one to look forward to, and it's an exciting one, to be honest. We know there's going to be a lot of atmosphere around it and everyone's eyes are now fully focused on Wolves.”
The Northern Irishman says the squad have been working hard in training on a variety of areas as they seek to turn marginal defeats - they’ve lost their last three matches by a single goal - into the results which will keep them in the Premier League.
“All aspects of our game,” he said. “We want to keep improving in every aspect. We feel like we're doing some things well. Again, we're coming off of our last three games where we've not given the opposition too many chances for large spells of the game.
“Some of our organisation, our possession has been really good. But we know that defensively we can still do better in some big moments.
“From an attacking point of view, we know that it's hard to create big chances in this league and we need to keep working on every aspect of how we can do that, whether it's from transition moments, from our possession phases and from our set plays.
“So we're working really hard in every moment to create as many chances as we can to give ourselves the best chance of scoring. We're working really hard from a defensive point of view to be as aggressive as we can be without the ball, be solid whenever we're in our shape and keep our communication or concentration at the highest level so that we can avoid conceding poor goals in individual moments, which we've had a couple of cases lately.
“So, for us, we know we need to be good at so many things and to win games at this level, we need to get almost everything right, and every bit of our game needs to be on point. And we've been pretty close to that, but we haven't quite hit that level yet consistently. So that's what we're working towards.”
Regarding the plusses from the defeat, McKenna cited the hugely impressive display by Cameron Burgess and the performances of two other players who, like the Australian international, have progressed from the lower leagues to the top flight.
“That was a big positive that I spoke about after the game on Saturday. It doesn't console us too much when we lose points as we did on Saturday,” he reflected.
“But you look at the game, which I know some people will have done and stripped back the last few minutes in it, you look at Cameron's performance and the journey he's been on, you look at Jack Taylor's performance on his Premier League full debut and the journey he's been on, you look at Conor Chaplin's performance and the journey he's been on, another goalscorer, scoring every division.
“I think there's only a handful of them in history and we've got three of them in the squad, in Sammie Szmodics, Conor Chaplin and Sam Morsy, in terms of people who've scored through every division.
“We know that's the nature of our squad and it's a journey to be proud of. But to be honest, I don't think the boys are spending too much time looking backwards now. I think they all say the same thing when they're asked, and I think it's right.
“It's about looking forward, looking to the next game, competing at the level and doing your very best.
“The time will come in years to come to look back on their journey. I think the best time for that is when it's over and for those boys, there's lots still to come.”
Striker Liam Delap has now gone four games without a goal having netted six in his first 10 for the Blues since making his switch from Manchester City in the summer. However, McKenna isn’t getting too concerned by that.
“I think for Liam, the goals he had at the start of the season were a big bonus, it was never the be-all and end-all when he was scoring regularly at the start of the season,” he said.
“There’s lots to work on. I think he's had some really good recent performances, probably the Man United game he had two of the best chances that he's had all season from inside the six-yard box, or one from just outside the six-yard box, but he had two massive chances.
“In other games, he hasn't had so many chances and went by himself and put the ball in the top corner. So you're going to have flows like that and we can't expect him to do that every single game.
“For a 21-year-old playing his first season in the Premier League and, in some aspects, his first season as a central number nine week in, week out, I think he's doing a terrific job and we're pleased with him. He's working hard to keep improving, and I think he can do that.”
_TWTD_
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