'Still annoys me' - Ipswich Town boss' barbed remark at Portsmouth as date finally confirmed for rearranged game
Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna is still annoyed by his side’s trip to Fratton Park in January being called off just hours before kick-off.
Kieran McKenna has admitted he’s still irrated by the cancellation of Pompey’s game against Ipswich at Fratton Park back on January 4.
The Tractor Boys boss made the frank confession as his promotion-chasing side face the gruelling prospect of eight games in 27 days at the business end of the Championship season - including a rearranged trip to the south coast on Tuesday, April 14.
The original PO4 fixture at the beginning of the year was called off just four hours before kick-off because of a frozen pitch. However, conspiracy theorists believed it was too much of a coincidence given that John Mousinho had 11 players - including on-long Ipswich player Conor Chaplin - unavailable just days after his team’s 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Bristol City.
The Blues boss denied he benefited from match official Leigh Doughty’s decision that day in the build-up to the rescheduled game on February 3, which was also called off, on that occasion for a waterlogged Fratton playing surface.
Yet that’s something counterpart McKenna continues to have reservations about.
Indeed, after last weekend’s FA Cup results had consequences for the Tractor Boys, including their trip to Southampton on Good Friday needing to be rescheduled due to Saints’ continued involvement in the competition, he reopened the wound that was caused by that January 4 cancellation.
Kieran McKenna: I think you now why
Southampton’s win at Fulham on Sunday and their progression to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup means they will now face Arsenal over the Easter weekend.
Norwich’s defeat to Leeds also had implications for Ipswich as victory for the Canaries - who host the Blues on Good Friday - would have opened up the door for the Fratton Park fixture to be played then.
That Pompey game at Carrow Road goes ahead as scheduled now. But even though a new date has been announced for Ipswich’s PO4 return in April, McKenna is still angered by the situation.
There’s also an undercurrent to what he says, which implies he agrees with the conspiracy theorists.
When asked about his fourth-placed side’s forthcoming busy schedule, and the consequences of last weekend’s Cup results, the Northern Irishman told the EADT: ‘The FA Cup one is what it is. However, there's something that could be done differently for the Championship clubs who progress in that cup because it is a big challenge now for Southampton, but also for the teams who are playing against them, including us who already have a game to rearrange.
‘The only rearrangement that still annoys me is the (first) Portsmouth one and I think you know why (Portsmouth were injury-ravaged at the time).
‘We're going to have a lot of games, we're going to have tough games, but there are some brilliant games in there to look forward to. It should be a really exciting end to the season.
‘But that's all to come. All we can control at the moment is the next game. We have to keep performing well and picking up results to make sure that it is an end to the season with a lot on it.
‘If we can get to that point, and we're still fighting for our goals, and if we have to go and win back-to-back and back-to-back games in quick succession away from home, then that'll be a great challenge for us.’