Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna was pleased to see his side keep a clean sheet in this afternoon's 2-0 win at Exeter City.

Headed goals in either half from Freddie Ladapo (11) and Marcus Harness (68) saw the Blues get back to winning ways after a couple of frustrating draws.

Town looked comfortable throughout, giving away very few chances against a Grecians side that are the fifth-leading scorers in League One.

"It was a good, solid away performance where we controlled the game with and without the ball," said McKenna.

"There are lots of positives to take and, of course, it's an important win."

On his side's first clean sheet in four league games, after seven goals were conceded against Port Vale, Charlton and Cheltenham, the Blues boss said: "We really dialled into their threats this week. We wanted to defend on shape a fair bit today and have that feeling of being compact and have that feeling back within ourselves that we can defend for periods of the game when we need to.

East Anglian Daily Times: Freddie Ladapo celebrates putting Ipswich Town 1-0 up at Exeter City.Freddie Ladapo celebrates putting Ipswich Town 1-0 up at Exeter City. (Image: Ross Halls)

"In the very limited amount of games where we've had to defend lately we've come up short in that area, so today we wanted to be a little bit more compact at times and have that feeling of real solidity.

"I'm really pleased with the clean sheet - and not just for the goalkeeper and defenders. The front three had to press well and block off passing lines. Sam (Morsy) and Cam (Humphreys) did a really good job in front of the defence. It was a real team effort.

"Our game management was good and we gave away very few chances."

Ladaop's stooping header was his ninth goal of the season in all competitions and made it five in five for him.

"He's growing in confidence and developing his understanding of the team and his role within it," said McKenna.

"It was great for him to pop up in the right slot for the goal, but also I thought he led the line really well on and off the ball."

East Anglian Daily Times: Marcus Harness celebrates putting Ipswich Town 2-0 up at Exeter City.Marcus Harness celebrates putting Ipswich Town 2-0 up at Exeter City. (Image: Ross Halls)

On Harness heading in the second at a corner, McKenna said: "He probably epitomised last week (against Cheltenham) in that I thought he played really well, did so many good things, got in the right areas, hits the underside of the bar, comes close with a header, comes close on a cut-back, had other chances as well...

"He's such a good finisher, he can score a variety of different type of goals. It's just about him keep getting in those goalscoring positions and keep believing and keeping his confidence. It was a good assist from him for Freddie as well."

The only real negative of the afternoon for Town was the sight of Leif Davis limping off holding his hamstring the second half.

"I've not heard anything on that yet," said McKenna. "Hopefully it's just tightness. We'll have to see."