Kieran McKenna: Ipswich Town boss says team 'in good place' despite losing top spot
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George Edmundson was inches wide with a header as Ipswich pressed in vain for an equaliser at Wycombe
Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna played down the significance of losing top spot in League One going into the festive run of fixtures.
Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Wycombe means they will go into Christmas two points behind leaders Plymouth Argyle.
It was suggested to McKenna that he would have taken second place at Christmas before the season began.
"I don't set targets like that, but I'm sure the supporters would [have taken it]," he told BBC Radio Suffolk.
"We really wanted to give them a victory, so it's disappointing we weren't able to do that but we know we're in a good place as a team.
"Wycombe are one of many strong teams in this league who were way ahead of us last year, in terms of the points they picked up and performance consistency across the season.
"They are one of the teams we've managed to catch in that area but we need to keep doing the extra little bit that wins the game."
Ipswich are looking to regain the Championship status they lost in 2019 and are nine places higher than they were at the same stage of the 2021-22 campaign.
"I thought there were lots of good things about the performance. It's a difficult place to come and control the game but I thought we did that," said McKenna.
"They want to put the ball in our box at every opportunity and if they do that they're a big goal threat but we limited that really well, dominated the ball, found the spare man and we had moments when we played through them with real quality."
Brandon Hanlan scored for Wycombe following a brilliant solo run into the box
Ipswich had 71% of possession at Adams Park but a superb individual goal by Brandon Hanlan - his first since February - was enough to give the Chairboys three points.
"Ipswich, Sunderland, the Portsmouths, Charltons, Derbys, fantastic [former] Premier League [clubs], they all come to Adams Park and it's brilliant to see," said Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth, who are now seventh, two points outside the play-offs, which they reached last season.
"The remit was always to get this club in League One, it's a small club and only got in the league in 1992 or 1993 and I think everyone's wildest dreams have been exceeded.
"It's a really nice feeling sometimes that everyone is still massively shocked that Wycombe have turned Ipswich over at home, everyone except the personnel in that dressing room. We're a match for anyone in this league."