McKenna on Ipswich's 4-1 Liverpool defeat and fighting relegation

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McKenna on Ipswich's 4-1 Liverpool defeat and fighting relegation  25/01/2025  Anfield, Liverpool, UK

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00:00Any volunteers to get us underway, Stuart?

00:03Kieran, obviously another tough afternoon for your side, you knew that on the scale of the challenge,

00:09your verdicts on the game, what did you take away from that?

00:12Yeah, a difficult game, difficult position to be in at half-time but also a frustrating position because,

00:20you know, in some aspects in the last week in terms of, there were some positives in the first half,

00:27it didn't feel like we were under huge pressure, we started the game well and, you know, from very, very little,

00:33from not a huge amount of pressure, we found ourselves behind in the game and then a few goals behind in the game

00:38where, you know, Liverpool executed well and we didn't defend our box well enough.

00:43So we found ourselves in a really difficult position in the game, especially after last week,

00:48a really difficult game management scenario and I think we can take a lot of positives from the second half.

00:55Firstly, in terms of the early stages of the second half, everybody stuck together, we learned some lessons from last week,

01:00we stayed in organisation, we managed the game pretty well, we still showed some good passages and moves with the ball as well

01:08and then we finished the game really strong, the subs come on, have a good impact, we get a goal back,

01:12could have had another goal and, you know, the fans got some reward in terms of a goal in front of them.

01:17So, look, it's a difficult game on top of a difficult game last week.

01:23We've made some mistakes in there that we can learn from, there's reasons for that as well,

01:28but I feel like it's one that if we take the lessons in the right way and now we get to work hard on it,

01:34that we can be stronger for and I think finishing the game in the manner that we did at the end of two difficult games

01:39I think is a big positive and a good sign for us.

01:41How's Wes? You've got a friction up?

01:44Yeah, not good. So, you know, we've got our fingers crossed, but knees very swollen, he's in crutches and he'll be going for a scan.

01:51So, yeah, we'll hope that it's not as bad as it might look, but it looks like a serious one.

01:56Has Leif Degas subbed at half-time?

01:59Yeah, sick. Yeah, he was sick this week, felt better yesterday and wanted to have a go at it,

02:04but he felt sick during the game, was sick at half-time.

02:08I'm just going to ask you about Julio's impact when he came on today.

02:11He crashed into someone straight away, assisted the goal, whipped it up the away end.

02:16Were you pleased with that?

02:18Yeah, he had a positive impact, as did Connor Townsend, to be fair, at half-time.

02:23Coming into that scenario, it's a hell of an opponent to come in when you've played maybe three minutes this season in the league or something.

02:31Julio and Nathan and George Hurst all had a really positive impact when they came on, to be fair,

02:38and gave us fresh energy and different qualities.

02:41George could have scored from the header from Connor's cross and then, yeah,

02:44a great delivery from Julio and some good moments for Nathan.

02:47So, that's what we said we're going to need.

02:49We need to add more quality and depth to the squad and to the forward positions.

02:54I think Jadon showed some real good qualities today and Julio shows them off the bench.

02:58I think we're going to be stronger in that position in the second half of the season.

03:12Yeah, he's been an important figure around the club in the last couple of seasons.

03:16He played his part, certainly, in both promotions and a well-liked character in the dressing room and around the community.

03:22He goes, certainly, with our best wishes to a good club.

03:25We hope it goes well for him and he'll always be welcome.

03:39Yeah, they were fantastic. It certainly means a lot.

03:43Yeah, I thought they were incredible.

03:45They appreciate the challenge, they appreciate the size of the jump

03:49and the amount of change that there's been and the challenges that that brings.

03:53I thought they were incredible and delighted that we were able to give them a goal at the end.

03:58We want to reward their support in the weeks and months ahead by hopefully giving them some good days.

04:04So, we're going to work really, really hard to do that.

04:16I'm not exactly sure what, but yeah, it's something with his knee.

04:20It wasn't an impact, it was a movement and it's very swollen and sore at the moment.

04:28Yeah, he's still in the dressing room now.

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