Derby County 0-2 Ipswich Town: Kieran McKenna's verdict

Conor Chaplin bagged his 20th goal of the season in the 17th minute and, after seeing off some home pressure either side of the interval, the Blues netted another fine counter-attack goal through George Hirst.

Town have now won seven straight games and recorded eight successive clean sheets. 

With Sheffield Wednesday drawing 1-1 at home to Lincoln, automatic promotion is now in the Blues' hands with eight games to go. 

"It's a great day to enjoy," said McKenna. "Whatever league you're in, you're not going to get too many better days than this in terms of an away day performance. 

"I said at the start of the season that we have to enjoy the journey. 

"We're playing at Derby - a big club, good team - in front of 30,000 and we've got over 3,000. We've got a team that our fans can identify with and we've gone out and delivered a really good performance and a win.

"It's natural for everyone to be looking at the table and other results, but we've just got to enjoy the moments that we're having as a club and see where we are at the end.

"The fans can keep looking ahead. We can get our heads down on Monday and focus on getting ready for Wycombe (at home on Good Friday)."

Ipswich Town fans celebrate the 2-0 win at Derby County. (Image: Ross Halls)

On his side's display at Pride park, the Blues boss said: "I'm proud of the players. It was a really tough game, as we knew it would be against a strong team. But ours was a performance that had a bit of everything.

"We came out on the front foot, were brave and dominated the early stages. Of course after you get the goal you know they are going to come back really, really strong and put pressure on, but we defended with great spirit and organisation, we counter-attacked really well and we also stayed brave at times and built some attacks through the goalkeeper against really good pressure.

"The last 25 minutes couldn't have been much better defensively. I'm not sure there was hardly a shot or ball into our box.

"That's a reflection of the work of the whole team, the way we pressed, the way we defended on shape, the way we got out to the ball with spirit, the way the subs came on and knew their jobs and helped us as well.

"It was a clean sheet to be proud of today."

Conor Chaplin puts Ipswich Town 1-0 up at Derby County. (Image: Pagepix Ltd)

Chaplin's opener came seconds after keeper Christian Walton had confidently claimed a corner delivery. His quick throw out was followed by a super Nathan Broadhead raking pass and a precise Wes Burns header on. 

"I honestly don't think you'll see many better goals anywhere in terms of counter-attacking," enthused McKenna.

"As a young coach you're looking for examples of best practice from games everywhere and you probably can't find too many better examples of a counter-attack goal when defending a set-play.

"You want your goalkeeper to be high and aggressive and to come and claim the ball, you want runners on both sides, you want to zig-zag your way up the pitch so they can't lock you into one line, then you want the execution of the last pass and the finish. 

"It was a terrific goal."

Conor Chaplin celebrates reaching 20 goals for the season across all competitions. (Image: Warren Page)

With Chaplin hitting 20 goals for the season, McKenna said: "It was another calm and clean finish. I'm delighted for him.

"It's been great to see his growth as a man. What a character he is. He's got so much passion for the game, has a big heart and gives energy to everyone every day.

"He has great game understanding, leads some of our tactical stuff in terms of the front half of the pitch and I thought his out of possession performance in the second half was fantastic."

Eiran Cashin headed in at a corner for Derby early in the second half, but the goal was ruled out - seemingly for an offside David McGoldrick wafting a leg at the ball on its way in.

"I don't know why that didn't stand," admitted McKenna. "It was a really crowded penalty box. I thought we should have had a penalty with Conor (Chaplin, later in the game) to be honest, so maybe the decisions have evened up."

George Hirst puts Ipswich Town 2-0 up at Derby County. (Image: Pagepix Ltd)

Hirst's cool finish for the second came after a brilliant Sam Morsy hooked pass and driving and run and shot from Burns.

"He's getting better game-by-game," said McKenna, when asked about the Leicester loanee.

"It's pretty well known we liked him for a while, that we'd highlighted him as a forward wirh good potential and that he would fit into our group after a little bit of time to settle.

"He ran himself into the ground then Freddie (Ladapo) came on and did a good job for the team and helped us get the win."

Leif Davis was a surprise absentee from the squad today, with Greg Leigh stepping at at left-back.

"He picked up a hamstring issue early in the week," explained McKenna. "We thought he might make it, but he wasn't right.

"It was disappointing to lose him but on the other hand I sort of had the feeling that Greg really deserved to play.

"We'd been speaking to players about having eight games in April and that there were going to be opportunities when you don't expect it.

"Greg has been right at the forefront of things in terms of the energy he gives the group. He's supported Leif but also pushed him for a shirt in training.

"I had every confidence with him coming into the team because I see how he works every day."

With Plymouth not in league action this weekend, Sheffield Wednesday returned to the top with their draw. Ipswich are two points behind them with a game in hand to come.

"I've hardly looked at the results today to be honest," said McKenna. "I know we have eight games left. We have to keep trying to win each game because the points totals are really high. We just have to keep performing and see where we are.

"I don't know what other people will make of our form. I understand the question, but I've got no interest in speculating it. 

"I'm really just trying to focus the energy on us and not what others are thinking or doing.

"If we win every game until the end of the season it's going to take a hell of a team to finish above us, so let's just focus on ourselves and our performances and let other people think what they think."