'Really, really poor' - Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna bemoans key moments in Sheffield United defeat
Sheffield United got back to winning ways on Saturday with an impressive 3-1 triumph over Ipswich Town at Bramall Lane.
Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna expressed his disappointment at the manner in which his side defended for Sheffield United’s goals in their 3-1 defeat at Bramall Lane on Saturday afternoon.
Following a run of three successive defeats in league and cup, United got back to winning ways against the Championship’s in-form team, putting them to the sword with an impressive display to ease any concerns about being sucked even closer towards the thick of the relegation battle.
The Blades opened the scoring when they countered from an Ipswich corner, with Gustavo Hamer playing a delightful pass over the top to find Callum O’Hare, who put the ball beyond Christian Walton in the Tractor Boys’ goal.
The Blades then doubled their advantage deep into first half injury time when Andre Brooks punished some slack Ipswich defending, meaning the visitors faced an uphill struggle following the restart.
Ipswich did pull a goal back on the hour mark when Jack Clarke scored from the penalty spot, claiming his third goal in two games, before Patrick Bamford, who was later sent off, fired an instinctive finish past Walton to score the Blades’ third and wrap up the points.
Although McKenna anticipated a much sterner test than the one United gave them when they met at Portman Road back in September, he was less than impressed by his side’s defending at Bramall Lane, as well as expressing his disappointment at his side not being that little bit more clinical in the opening exchanges.
McKenna outlines Ipswich frustrations
"We're really frustrated with how the game panned out," said McKenna, as quoted by the East Anglian Daily Times. "Up until the first goal it wasn't a great game by any means, but there were big chances both ends.
"We had better chances, probably three big, big moments to go 1-0 up, which of course would have changed the complexion of the game. The third of those chances, of course, is the corner that then they score from.
"But then we have to go on to the next bit because the first goal was really, really poor from us. We can't concede that goal from our corner.
"And then we didn't find enough to get through to half-time. When they get the first goal in a situation like that, the stadium is going to be up and you have to stay strong until half-time
"The second goal is disappointing from us again. We didn't sprint back in quick enough, which is not like us, and they shouldn't get two, three bites at it to score. That's a big thing for us, sprinting back in as a collective. If we make a mistake and they get one chance, we have to make sure they don't get the second and third phase of it. We didn't do that well enough.
"We give ourselves a mountain to climb. I think we had a go in the second half, of course got the goal back, had a really good situation with Leif (Davis) on the left to go to 2-2 and then, again, it's a long ball that we don't deal with well enough and it's 3-1.
"That was then too much to come back from. So, yes, frustrating game. Of course, one that could have panned out differently had we been more clinical with our early chances.”