McKenna: Ipswich have more belief after opening three matches

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna believes his side have gained belief from their opening three fixtures of the season.

McKenna’s side picked up their first point of the Premier League campaign since being promoted on Saturday, drawing 1-1 at home to Fulham.

This followed losses in two tough opening matches against Liverpool and Manchester City.

Despite a total of just one point so far, McKenna believes all three matches were beneficial to help show his side how they can approach the season.

“Especially in the Liverpool game, the players came away with more confidence from it,” McKenna said.

“And [against Fulham] we built on what we did against Liverpool. Our pressure was good and aggressive again.

“I think the players have come away from the first three games with more belief to be honest.”

One each. #IPSFUL | @Nustone_UK pic.twitter.com/KTfUKvttu7

— IPSWICH TOWN (@IpswichTown) August 31, 2024

The 38-year-old was delighted with Liam Delap’s display after he got off the mark for the first time since his summer move from Manchester City.

“I enjoyed his all-round performance, each week he’s getting stronger, he’s learning and he’s got great growth to come,” added McKenna.

“He’s got great potential, we have real faith in Liam and we are enjoying working with him.”

Marco Silva was slightly disappointed that his Fulham side failed to build on last week’s victory over Leicester City.

Adama Traore scored an equaliser before half-time but there was little between the teams after the break.

Silva said to BBC Sport: “It was a tough game against an aggressive side. They have great support which demanded us to win duels and beat the pressure.

“The reaction from us [after Ipswich scored] was good, we scored a good equaliser and after that we took a step forward and were completely in control.

“[Traore] created some good moments for other players, he is in good shape, helping the team and the reason why he is playing is because he can be decisive for us if he can take the right decisions.

“But the second half was a lot more difficult for us, we were not able to control the game the way we liked. We were solid, we did not give many things away but we did not create.”