McKenna on injuries, Davis' new deal and taking 'inspiration' from Brentford
- Published
Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game at Brentford (15:00 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Jacob Greaves, Axel Tuanzebe, Ben Johnson and Massimo Luongo are still unavailable because of injury, while Jens Cajuste has trained this week and is in contention to play. The rest of the squad is the same that faced Everton.
McKenna said the defeat against the Toffees last weekend was his side's "most disappointing result" so far: "Up until two games ago with the Aston Villa game, everyone inside and outside the club could see the momentum, the performances and of course having four games unbeaten and lots of progression. These are the setbacks that come over the course of the season."
He accepted it has been a tough start: "This is a period where we have to stay really strong as a group and come out the other side as strong as possible. There will be other phases in the season where we manage to keep the same group of players available and manage to be more consistent with our selection."
On left-back Leif Davis, who signed a new deal this week: "Really positive signing for the club in all aspects. He's adapted to us well. He was a big investment for a team in League One, but we always felt the talent was there and we trusted our development programme. He's stepped up to the Premier League."
McKenna says Brentford have done "fantastically well" under Thomas Frank: "They have their own model. Every club has a different model. Different clubs have different contexts. There's things Brentford have done well we can take inspiration from."
More on the Bees: "They had a number of seasons at the top of the Championship, lost in the play-off final before going up. When they did, they had a squad that was almost ready for the Premier League. They've had their own journey - ours is very different with the speed of our ascension. They have done some things well and any newly promoted team can look at them as a good example."
