Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has revealed that the club has received an apology regarding Preston's two early goals last weekend.
The Blues found themselves 2-0 down inside eight minutes. Will Keane's heavily deflected effort came after what looked to be a foul on Sam Morsy going unpunished, then a clear offside wasn't flagged in the build-up to George Edmundson's own goal.
With skipper Sam Morsy having alluded to the club receiving an apology this week, McKenna confirmed: "Yes, I think it was stated that both first goals shouldn't have counted and I think that's clear watching it back.
“The first goal is a clear foul, taking away the massive deflection on the shot from 28 yards, and the second goal is a clear offside.
“I said at the time it's a tough game anyway, but when you have those two instances happen in the first seven minutes of the game, it's always going to be tough. There can be credit taken from the way we came back from that situation.”
SIGN-UP! Get five months of ALL our Town content for just £5 - or 30% off a whole year!
Fifteen of the 48 goals Ipswich have conceded across all competitions this season (31%) have come in the opening 15 minutes of games.
Asked about that record, McKenna said: “You can say that we started the game slowly, but that's because there were two goals that should have been disallowed in the first seven minutes.
“It wasn't like the players weren't running or on the front foot in the game, so sometimes it can be moments.
“I think we've had quite a few games this year where there have been random moments. Refereeing decisions, great goals or individual errors. These things can happen in a football match.
“But we don't hide from the fact that, especially away from home, there's been a few too many games than what we would want where we've conceded the first goal.
“Especially in a couple of the away games we haven't managed to get a foothold in the game as steadily as we would want to in the early stages of the game, and that's something that we've looked at and will continue to look at.
“We always review every bit of the team and how we're progressing and try and identify areas that we can improve. But at the same time, football is a random game sometimes.
“The players prepared really well last week for the game, I certainly don't have any problem with the attitude and energy at the start of the game. They scored a deflected goal from 28 yards that should have been a free-kick and that turns into a bad start.
“So I think there's been a few of those, but there's also things that we've identified and we'll look at to give us a better chance to get a good footing in the game.”
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 hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel