Ipswich Town: Kieran McKenna on Hoffenheim win and George Hirst injury

The Blues sealed a 1-0 victory thanks to Jack Taylor’s first half goal, playing as the better team for the majority of the match and creating the better chances.

They looked much sharper than they did in last weekend’s defeat Fortuna Dusseldorf, which has encouraged supporters ahead of their Premier League kick off against Liverpool in two weeks’ time.

“It was another good challenge, a step up in the opponent again and a really good workout,” McKenna said after the game. “It was a tough game, we managed to get minutes into lots of players, there were some good improvements on things from last week that we wanted to improve on, we had spells where we dominated the game with our pressing and managed to pin them into their half.

“Then we had spells later in the second half where we had to see the game out and show resilience. They’re two qualities that we’re definitely going to need to show. The boys showed that today.

“There were no injuries, I don’t think, on what was a pretty dangerous surface with the downpour and the rain there’s been in the last 24 hours. To come through it without any big issues is a big positive.

George Hirst is set to see specialists after injuring his knee (Image: Ross Halls)

“I wouldn’t say it was comfortable, I thought it was a hard-fought game. Certainly in the first half, I thought we managed to play the majority of the game in the opposition’s half, which is always nice. We had the same at the start of the second half, where we played the majority of the game in their territory for the first 15, 20 minutes.

“The last 20, 25 minutes, we had to defend together as a team. There were lots of substitutions and tired legs, but we saw that bit of the game out well.

“We never read anything and don’t place importance on the result, in particular, of the pre-season games. We want to see progression and we certainly saw progression in some things from the last couple of weeks.”

One player who did miss the game, and indeed the entire training camp on the German / Austrian border, was George Hirst, with McKenna revealing after the match that he’s waiting for an assessment after injuring his knee against Fortuna Dusseldorf.

“George has got an issue, a knock from the game last weekend,” the manager explained. “He’s not been with us this week, he’s seeing some specialists and we can’t update on the definite timeline yet.

“We will do as soon as we can.”

Conor Townsend made his debut during the 1-0 win (Image: Ross Halls)

The match did provide an opportunity for supporters to see Conor Townsend in action for the first time, replacing Leif Davis in the second half of the match.

The Blues have been in need of extra cover at left-back for a number of months, and McKenna is delighted to get the deal over the line ahead of the upcoming campaign.

“It’s very important,” he admitted. “We did lack cover in terms of a left-footer who’s a natural left-back or left wing-back in that role last season. Leif managed to stay fit pretty much all season and other boys stepped in for the few moments that he did miss.

“We know that we need strong competition and options in every position this season, at least two strong players in each position. It’s going to be a big increase in the physical challenge.

“We’re really happy to get Conor in. He’s a good player and a good professional with good qualities for the team and for the role in the team.

“He’s someone that we think will settle in really well and be an important part of the group.”

The club are working hard to get extra bodies through the door, with McKenna previously admitting that he’s been working with a small squad. This saw yesterday’s game against Borussia Monchengladbach switched to become an under-21’s match, which the German outfit won 3-1.

The Blues are currently locked in talks for Sammie Szmodics (Image: PA)

Blackburn Rovers manager John Eustace has gone on the record to say that Ipswich are locked in negotiations with Blackburn over a deal for Sammie Szmodics, and while McKenna was adamant that he wouldn’t comment on the potential move, he did stress that they want to make additions before the start of the league campaign.

“I never speak individually – and never have done – about players from other clubs,” he stated. “The club are working very hard to strengthen the team and the squad, that’s ongoing in several different areas. We hope that’ll progress well in the next few weeks.

“You can’t be working on one thing at a time and the club aren’t. We’re all working really, really hard on different targets and different positions. That’s just the process that a team in our position has to go through.

“We’re happy with the players that we brought in, we think they’re all good additions for the group and we’re hoping to bring in more players to strengthen the group.

“We hope to do that as soon as possible but we’ll always place the upmost importance on bringing in the right player and the right character that can help us now and be the right fit for the medium and longer-terms as well.”