'Completely false' - Kieran McKenna makes Sheffield United claim ahead of Ipswich Town fixture
Sheffield United will be aiming to inflict revenge on Ipswich Town for their 5-0 mauling at Portman Road earlier this season.
Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has admitted he believes Sheffield United are in a “completely false position” in the Championship table ahead of Saturday’s tussle at Bramall Lane.
Following back-to-back 1-0 away defeats, United will be determined to get back on track against the Championship promotion hopefuls on home soil.
After being edged out by Charlton Athletic at The Valley last Saturday, the Blades, who had Djibril Soumaré and Japhet Tanganga sent off in the first half against the Addicks, leaving them with just nine men on the field, were also beaten by Southampton in midweek, being beaten by an early deflected strike from winger Léo Scienza.
Although back-to-back defeats have left United sitting just four points above the relegation zone ahead of this weekend’s action, they have been excellent at home of late, winning four of their last six at Bramall Lane in the Championship. Chris Wilder’s men have also won 22 points from their last 12 matches since the November international break.
Having steadily improved under Wilder since his return to S2 in September, just days after the Blades were hammered 5-0 by Ipswich at Portman Road, leaving the United hierarchy with no choice but to sack former boss Rubén Sellés, Tractor Boys chief McKenna is expecting a tougher test this time around.
Asked if the Blades will provide a sterner test than they did back in September, McKenna, as quoted by TWTD, said: “No doubt about it, that’s clear. If you look at any metric from the middle of autumn onwards, they’re there or thereabouts with anyone at the top of the league in terms of points gathered, but also in performances and chances created they’ve been one of the top band of teams in the division for a few months now.
McKenna anticipating tough test against the Blades
“And it’s not hard to understand why. They’ve got a really good manager, got a big connection at the club and a top squad. Depth in each position, two if not three good players for certain positions, real quality, Championship experience, physicality, all the things you need to be successful.
“They obviously had a slow start and we played them in that slow start. Even in that game, you could still feel the quality of some of their individuals on the night but they weren’t doing so well as a team.
“Now, although they had two red cards on Saturday which changed the game and they didn’t get the result last night, you look at their recent games and the results at Bramall Lane and the performances in those games and we know we’re facing a top, top Championship team.
“And that’s something to look forward to, something to relish and we know we’re going to have to bring the best of ourselves.”
Had the Championship campaign started the day United reappointed Wilder, the Blades would currently be 11th in the table, just five points shy of the play-offs. Instead, because of their disastrous start, they are currently 11 points shy of the top six.
“I think they’re in a completely false position because of the start they had to the season,” McKenna added.
“If you’d started the league table from October, I don’t know where they’d be, but probably in the top three, top four, I would have thought.
“That’s not a false position, where they are now is just reflective of a top start that they’ve recovered really well from.”