Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna hailed super sub Freddie Ladapo's two 'pleasantly scruffy goals' after his side came from 2-0 down to beat Cardiff City 3-2 at Portman Road this afternoon.

Finishes from Aaron Ramsey and Joe Ralls put the visitors in control, but Nathan Broadhead's thunderous strike turned the tide and Ladapo - on for the injured George Hirst - was twice in the right place at the right time to scramble in.  

"I'm delighted for Freddie," said McKenna. "He's a great example for the squad of the level that's required in terms of professionalism and everyone staying ready.

"As a striker you're not expecting to come on in the first half, but he was ready, came on, had a good impact in his general play, his back to goal stuff was good, and of course gets his reward with two pleasantly scruffy goals that all strikers will enjoy!"

Ipswich dug in to see out their opening weekend win at Sunderland, left it late to secure all three points at QPR and never gave up when losing a seven-goal thriller against Leeds.

Twelve points from a possible 15 leaves the newly-promoted Blues second in the early Championship table going into the international break. 

East Anglian Daily Times: Kieran McKenna, pictured after Ipswich Town's 3-2 home win against Cardiff City.Kieran McKenna, pictured after Ipswich Town's 3-2 home win against Cardiff City. (Image: Steve Waller)

"It's a wonderful way to win the game," said McKenna. "We showed all the qualities that I believe we have built over the last 18 months in terms of the resilience, the spirit, the belief in what we're doing, and the unity for subs to come on and bring something different and keep going right to the last whistle.

"We said at the start of the season that we're not going to win every game - we're not going to win every game here - but we'll try and give the supporters a team that plays brave football and we'll fight to the last minute. Today I think we did both."

With Cardiff defending deep and narrow in the first half, posing a threat on the counter and at set-pieces, McKenna said: "It was definitely a different type of game and challenge. I think it's the first time in the Championship that somebody has come here and played a low block against us out of possession.

"I don't know if that was paying us a little bit of respect or maybe just how they wanted to go about the game. But it's the first time a team has come here and defended en masse behind the ball. 

"Of course we have lots of experience of that from last season, but this is the first time we've had it in the Championship where the players are a bit faster and a bit more athletic.

"I thought their organisation was good. You can very easily lose concentrration in these sort of games because all you're thinking about is how you're going to break down the opposition. If you lose your intensity defensively, at this level the quality of players means you're going to get punished. That happened with the first goal, which was the first time that we'd really had to defend in the game.

"There's a great lesson in that first half about the concentration needed playing against a low block but with players of high quality. It's always great when you get your lessons and still manage to win games."

The Blues boss continued: "Having said that I thought we worked the ball well in the first half and I thought we were only ever a yard away from scoring a goal.

"I knew that they would tire out because that's a hard approach to keep up for 90 minutes. I knew if we kept doing the right things we would come on stronger in the latter part of the game. We had to stay patient, keep believing and we needed the crowd. Getting a goal back obviously helped change the momentum."

Hirst, who sat out last weekend's 4-3 home loss to Leeds with an adductor problem, limped off in the 36th of this match.

"I've not had the full report on George, but he was holding the same area," said McKenna. "It's obviously disappointing.

"We didn't think there was any risk playing him today, to be honest, because it's normally a five to seven day injury and he was close to playing last week. So we felt he would be safe eough.

"If anything we thought it might be his fitness levels catching him out later in the game, but obviously he's had another little issue in that area. The good thing is we've got a couple of weeks now to get it assessed and treated."

With captain Sam Morsy limping off in stoppage-time, after making a crunching tackle, McKenna said: "I think he felt something in his hamstring as he stretched for the ball. He'll have to be assessed. Whether he joins the international team (Egypt) for that assessment or has that here, we'll have to see."