Kieran McKenna was pleased to see Ipswich Town improve their performance against Luton Town, but admitted that it's difficult to use pre-season to judge his side's progression.

The Blues looked underwhelming in their defeats to Cambridge United and Stevenage over the weekend, but they improved massively in their 1-1 draw against the Hatters at the Colchester Community Stadium.

Wes Burns found the back of the net with an overhit cross in the first half, but while Town dominated the match, they were unable to see out the win as Carlton Morris equalised from the spot.

McKenna revealed that he enjoyed the game and saw encouraging signs from how his team played, but stressed that it is difficult to read into pre-season results too much.

“We’re trying to get different things from different games," he said. "Tonight was a game where we wanted to play against a good opponent and go at the first half with a real intensity. We prepared for the game properly and focused on delivering a performance.

“I thought the performance was really good. There were lots of good things on and off the ball in the first half, and even in the second half, although it ends up as more individual moments because it’s hard to get that cohesion with so many changes.

“On an individual basis in the second half, there was some really good stuff. I enjoyed the game.

“I don’t think you can ever read too much into it. We played League One teams at the weekend and we played a Premier League game tonight, or they’re going to be a Premier League team. You can’t overread into these things.

“I’m pretty sure on where we’re at and where we need to keep improving, the things that we’re doing well every day in training. Every little bit of match exposure is a chance to work on those things.

“I thought it was a really good game. It was nice to be back in front of the supporters, it made me excited, to be honest, to get back to Portman Road, to that atmosphere. I could feel that in the players tonight, we really enjoyed having the home support.

“It gives us that excitement to start the season next week and get back to Portman Road the week after."

One major concern was Nathan Broadhead, who was substituted in the latter stages of the first half with a quad injury.

The Wales international was seen with an ice pack on his quad shortly after being withdrawn, with some concerned that he may face a period of time on the sidelines.

McKenna is optimistic that he'll still be able to travel to Austria with the rest of the squad, although Massimo Luongo and Harry Clarke are both set to miss out.

“He just said he felt something tight in his quad," the Town boss said.

“When that’s the case in pre-season, you don’t take any risk at all. We’ll see how it is tomorrow.

“Massimo isn’t too serious but he felt a little issue in his abductor. We’ll have to see how it is, but at the moment, it’s unlikely that we’ll bring him on the Austria trip. We’ll probably let him recover.

“Harry Clarke, we’re reviewing at the moment. He’s had a longstanding issue with his Achilles and he had a treatment over the off-season that the club hoped would clear it, but it hasn’t cleared it so far.

“We’re reviewing what the next course of action is for him.”

McKenna also confirmed that Cameron Humphreys will miss the Innsbruck Cup after suffering a concussion against Preston North End.

On a positive note, Omari Hutchinson impressed fans yet again with his cameo performance against Luton.

The Chelsea loanee took a starring role against Cambridge United on Saturday afternoon, providing the assist for Leif Davis' early opener.

He was benched for Town's trip to Essex on Wednesday night, but came off the bench in the second half to add extra energy in the final third. 

McKenna was excited by his performance, but admitted that there are lots of areas he can still develop over the coming months as he adapts to senior football.

“You can see the talent," he explained. "You can see the technical and the skill level, you can see the enthusiasm for the game. He’s shown some good bits of work off the ball as well, which is a good starting point. The supporters will enjoy him and we’re enjoying having him here.

“Of course, it’s about how he and about we help him hone that talent now. I think he has some great examples in this squad of players who are learning and are currently maximising their talent in terms of how they effectively put that into the team.

“That’s a process for him that he’ll find over the next few years in different teams that he plays for. He can find a role within that team where he can utilise and bring that talent out.

“He can turn that into, as a forward player, assists and goals and good things for the team. I’ve seen that process through with lots of young players and it’s exciting to have Omari here. We think that he can contribute to the team and that he can develop as part of this group.”