Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna makes exciting Portsmouth admission ahead of crucial showdown
Pompey welcome promotion-chasing Ipswich Town to Fratton Park this evening.
Kieran McKenna has stressed Pompey are ‘a lot better than their league position’ suggests, despite sitting one point above the relegation zone.
And the Ipswich Town boss is not underestimating the threat John Mousinho’s men pose ahead of this evening’s huge showdown at Fratton Park.
The Championship run-in continues to gather pace, with the action coming thick and fast for the Blues, who quickly turn their attention away from Saturday's 1-0 win over fourth-placed Middlesbrough.
The tough tests don’t stop there for Pompey, with the second-placed Tractor Boys making the trip to the south coast this evening for the third time this season.
The showdown, which has been twice postponed already this term, will have huge implications at either end of the table, with Mousinho’s troops looking to increase their advantage over the bottom three, while Ipswich are bidding to solidify an automatic-promotion spot.
The Tractor Boys head into the fixture unbeaten in their previous nine matches, earning six wins and three draws as they eye an instant return to the Premier League.
Ipswich Town boss’ exciting Pompey admission
Pompey, meanwhile, picked up their first win in eight games last time out, snatching a late 97th-minute winner against fourth-placed Boro to keep themselves above the dreaded dotted line.
And after fending off one of Ipswich’s fellow promotion rivals over the weekend, McKenna knows all too well the dangers which the Blues possess ahead of their trip this evening.
Speaking to TWTD, he said: ‘I think across the season they’ve generally played really well. If you look at the statistics, they’re a lot better than their league position would suggest.
‘They’re capable of playing some really good football. You’ll see that in a lot of their games they have a lot of possession, a lot of shots but not won, and maybe in a couple of recent games they’ve been a bit more direct and they’ve got some big targets, so they can go direct and make it that type of game as well.
‘Going away from home, the league’s always tough, especially this time of the season when a team’s fighting for something, so we’re going to have to stand up to everything that goes our way and try and find a way to put the best of ourselves in the game as well.’
Third time lucky at Fratton Park for Ipswich
The original fixture, scheduled for January 4, was called off four hours before kick-off by referee Leigh Doherty due to a frozen pitch at PO4.
The next, re-arranged for February 3, was then postponed the morning of the match due to a waterlogged pitch after persistent rain which battered the south coast.
But with no adverse weather conditions forecasted for this evening, the twice-postponed showdown will go ahead tonight.
And McKenna has admitted the Blues have ‘had a lot of changes’ since their original fixture back in January.
‘We’ll go back through the first and second lot of videos and see what we can get.
‘But they’ve had a lot of changes over the course of the year, so you have to start again, so I’m not sure it’s going to save us too much time.
‘At least we know the way to the elevators in the hotel! But in terms of the game, I’m not sure we’re going to save any more time, I still think it’s going to be a long Sunday.’