Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna, pictured before his side's 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace. (Image: PA)
Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna, pictured before his side's 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace. (Image: PA)
Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna described this afternoon's 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace as 'a sickening result'.
Both teams had chances in an even and, at times, open game. In the end, however, it was decided in the 82nd minute when Ismaila Sarr reacted quickest to a ricochet in the box to fire high into the net.
"I think it was a really competitive game - we certainly played our part in that," said McKenna, who must now wait to see if 17th-place Wolves can extend their five-point lead over the Blues when they host Everton tonight (8pm).
"It was at least even in terms of the opportunities that both teams had. We certainly feel we were good value for a goal today and were really close on a couple of occasions to getting the first goal.
"Of course it's a sickening result. To come away from home and be competitive as we were against a strong Crystal Palace side who've been in good form for a good period of time, at the end of a week when we've played 120 minutes in the FA Cup at Nottingham Forest on Monday night, with a depleted squad, is another reflection of a lot of good things in the group.
"We also know we have to keep working to turn those margins in our favour. I know that's been the story for a lot of the season, but that's the only path forwards. That's the reality of it.
"We've still got a group that's learning and growing and developing. Julio Enciso's playing his second game, Jaden Philogene's only a few games into his career here, a large majority of the group are very early into their Premier League careers.
"They're learning all the time and you can see individual growth. We need to try and accelerate that as much as we can to try and turn the margins in our favour and try and pick up some wins and points in the remaining 10 games, especially next week (at home to Nottingham Forest)."
Sarr's winner came after Phillips' tackle in the Town box led to the ball spinning kindly for the Eagles.
"Kalvin thought it was a foul," said McKenna. "I haven't looked at that aspect of it too much to be honest. Look, it's a tackle that we win, it ricochets to Sarr and then he shows the level. His acceleration over three/four yards to end up six yards out one-v-one with the goalkeeper is incredible. That shows the level of the league.
"We'll look at that bit of it, but I don't think we've defended the situation too badly. I certainly don't think we defended in the game too badly, considering it was was a pretty open game at times.
"Yeah, there's certainly a level of luck in the goal. But, as always, we'll focus on the bits we can control and try to get better at those."
Philogene couldn't beat the keeper from the heart of the box early on, Jack Clarke didn't put the ball into the path of Enciso at the end of a rapid breakaway around the hour, then Philogene had a shot cleared off the line, while Ben Johnson couldn't get a back post header on target.
On his team not being able to take their chances in the game, McKenna said: "Yeah, we certainly had chances. We can do better in a couple of situations, for sure. We had some big overload moments in the second half and some big moments around the box, but we're coming up against really strong, physical, top quality defenders and a really top quality goalkeeper who I know well and who made some good saves.
"Crystal Palace have won the game through a fantastic moment from Sarr. It's unlucky from our point of view, but he showed why he has played at a really level for a period of time."
With Kalvin Phillips and Julio Enciso both producing good performances on their return to the team following injuries, McKenna said: "To have those two back was a big positive. We've missed important players all through the season and haven't been able to get as settled as we'd like to be.
"I thought Kalvin put in another really strong performance and is working back towards the level and hopefully maybe beyond where he's been before. We think that Julio can be a big addition for us if we can keep him fit. It's been a big blow to lose him, but good to have him back today. It was good to get Omari (Hutchinson) back on the pitch too.
"As much as we've lost Axel (Tuanzebe) for a good period of time, we've also had players coming back into the team today who can help us.
"It's Jaden's maybe third game today and he's three different right-backs and right 10s in those games. That's just the challenge that we've had. We've got to respond to that challenge in the right way. That just comes down to work and time. We know we don't have time, but we need to use and maximise that time as well as we can."
The Blues boss added: "If you're talking about our front line today you've got Jaden who's just turned 23, Liam (Delap) who's just turned 22, Julio just 21, Jack Clarke just turned 24, Omari comes on, he's just turned 22. That's a lot of talented young players, and to have them at Ipswich Town is a real positive thing. It also means they're not going to be the finished product. If they were the finished product then they wouldn't be at Ipswich Town.
"We've got to keep working and believing in those boys and pushing them to get better. I'm sure they will."