Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna insisted his team ‘still has a job to do’ after tonight’s 3-0 win at Barnsley saw the club take a giant step towards promotion.
Goals from Nathan Broadhead, George Hirst and Conor Chaplin made it 12 wins from 13 for the Blues and leaves them needing two points from their final two games – at home to Exeter on Saturday and away to Fleetwood the following Sunday – to secure a top-two finish.
“It was a great night for us as a team in our development. It was a really good performance,” said McKenna.
“It was a tough place to come. The game was everything we’d expect it to be.
“I thought first half was a really intense, high-level game.
“Barnsley are a really good team. Michael (Duff) has got them playing in an organised, physical, really effective way. You can see their home record and how they’ve blown teams away.
“But we knew that if we saw that period out that they wouldn’t be able to maintain that intensity, spaces would open up more and we’d control the game more.
MORE: Andy Warren's player ratings following Town's 3-0 win at Barnsley.
“Even with the difficulties in the first half we had some big chances. We got the goals just before half-time and delivered an excellent second half performance.
"It was good to get another set-piece goal. Barnsley are one of the best set-play teams in the league, defensively the best I think, and we knew if we came out even on set-plays we'd have a chance. Winning 1-0 on the set-play battle gave us a real chance with the other threats we have.
"George's goal and all-round performamvce was outstanding and doesn't need much mroe said about it.
“Then I thought we dealt with the emotion of the game really well. After (Broadhead) missing the penalty at 2-0, we straight away moved on and focused on the details of our jobs.
"The third goal I didn't have the best view of because I was in the dugout arranging the next substututes. I heard the noise and looked up as the ball came back to Conor and he lobbed the keeper. It was nice for him to score back at his old home.
“It gives us a really important win. Now it’s immediate focus and eyes towards Saturday.”
With close to 5,000 Town fans creating a superb atmosphere at Oakwell, McKenna enthused: “It’s a special effort from them. Incredible noise, incredible effort. That wonderful support gives us such a boost coming to a tough place like this. It felt like we had more crowd with us than against us.
“It’s a massive night for them. I’m glad we can make their journey a bit more worthwhile and just wish we could celebrate a bit more with them!
“But we’ve got our eighth game in a month coming up and know we’ve still got a big job to do.
“Hopefully the time to celebrate for us as a group of staff and players will come further down the line."
He continued: “Honestly, it has to be that next game mentality still. We’ve got a game at Portman Road that we need to be ready for.
“Exeter delivered a really good performance against Sheffield Wednesday and, if truth be told, were the better team for bits of the game. I’ve watched that already.
“We know they’re not going to give us anything. We need to keep focused.
"We're on 94 points but there's nothing done because of the remarkable season and the efforts of all the teams.
"We've had two big away games, it's taken a big effort and we've got a long drive home now. We have to recover well, prepare in a professional way, block everything out and go and deliver a performance on Saturday."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here