Ipswich Town: Kieran McKenna reacts to win at Plymouth Argyle

The Blues seemed to struggle in tough conditions and on a very heavy pitch, meaning that they struggled to build any momentum in a stop-start period as their opponents pressed with energy and intensity.

They stuck to their principles, however, and it paid off after the break as an own-goal from Brendan Galloway and a powerful strike from Kieffer Moore sealed a 2-0 win at Home Park.

“It was a really solid performance in all phases,” McKenna said after the game. “I thought our organisation was good, our discipline was good, we were really competitive. We came out on top in more of our fair share of challenges and gave ourselves a really good foothold in the game.

“In the first half, we knew it was going to be difficult. We knew we’d have to stand up to a really strong home atmosphere and we had to stand up in difficult conditions, weather and pitch wise.

“We did that really well and that gave us a really good platform at half time to know that we could and would push on in the second half if we kept doing the right things and kept limiting their threats. We knew the chances would come our way, and we managed to take a couple and deliver a really good second-half performance.

“We haven’t had too many games like today. It was quite stop-start, Plymouth played quite closed with all their kicks, stuff like that.

“We always back our fitness and our style to come out in a game at some point. It wasn’t easy to bring it out in the first half, but we still had a couple of good build-ups through the pitch, but it wasn’t easy to get control of rhythm in the game.

“Usually we’ll find a period at some point in the game. We really felt comfortable at half time that it’d come in the second half. Obviously the [first] goal took a really big deflection, but up until that point, we were really starting to put pressure on their penalty area and their goal.

McKenna joked that Conor Chaplin will try his hardest to claim the first goal (Image: PA)

“It felt like it was coming.”

McKenna joked that Conor Chaplin will try to find aany way to claim the first goal, even 'deleting all angles of the goal', but regardless of whether he manages to do so, he’ll be credited with the assist for the second, which was confidently dispatched by Moore inside the box.

“It was a really good header, it shouldn’t be downplayed,” the manager argued. “Cameron Burgess does terrific to keep it alive before a typical bit of cleverness from Conor in the box. He just knows where the goal is, he knows where everybody is, he knows where the defenders are. He’s got fantastic pictures in his head, and it was a really clever header to Kieffer, who hits the ball really well.

“It was a great strike. That’s Kieffer, he’s a really good finisher – left foot and right foot. Of course, his headers are well-publicised, but left foot and right foot, he can hit the ball with power and accuracy. He did that for the goal.”

The result means that Town have won five Championship games on the bounce for the first time in more than 20 years. They came close to ending that run on three occasions this season, although they were foiled by Huddersfield Town, Birmingham City and Norwich City.

There’s no doubting that Argyle were desperate to put a dent in Ipswich’s promotion push, but they proved to be too strong across the 90 minutes, allowing them to end a record that dates back to the start of the 2003/04 campaign.

“That’s brilliant,” he admitted. “I know I say it all the time, but every game in the Championship is so tough. A lot of preparation, hard work and so many good qualities in your group.

Chaplin set up Kieffer Moore to score the second goal of the game (Image: Ross Halls)

"To win in the Championship is tough, to win away from home in the Championship is really tough, so to win five times in a row as a newly-promoted team – we had some tough away games in that spell as well. Millwall and then Swansea, then today was probably similar in terms of wet days on really heavy pitches, those games are tough to win.

“To show that level of consistency is pleasing and we’ll try our hardest to keep it up.”

It can’t be ignored that they did it without numerous key players. Not only were Wes Burns and Nathan Broadhead ruled out with muscle injuries, but Massimo Luongo was unexpectedly taken ill before the squad travelled to Devon, leaving them light of options.

“He missed training yesterday with illness, so he’s at home recovering,” McKenna revealed. “We’ll have to see how he recovers.

“Credit to the other players for stepping into the team again. We had three starters out of the team from last week who played really well, but the other boys came into the team and made their contribution straight away.”

It’s also hard to ignore the results elsewhere. Although Southampton struck in the sixth minute of stoppage time to win 4-3 away at Birmingham City, Leeds United were held to a 1-1 draw at Huddersfield Town and leaders Leicester City were beaten at home by QPR.

It means that Town have moved up to second with 75 points. They sit just three points behind the Foxes and two ahead of Daniel Farke’s men, putting them in a fantastic position heading into the final 11 games.

Championship leaders Leicester City have seen their lead on Town cut to just three points (Image: PA)

McKenna, however, knows that many more twists and turns will come. As a result, he’s making sure that focus remains on the task at hand, which starts with a home game against Bristol City on Tuesday night.

“I’ve not been in the dressing room much and we’ve not had any of those conversations all season. We’re not going to start now. We’ll just stick on our own path and, as simple as it may sound, the only conversation after the game is about Bristol City, knowing that they’re a really tricky opponent away from home when they can counterattack.

“That’s where our focus will be, and we’ll let the supporters enjoy the win and anything else they want to discuss. Our focus will just be on Tuesday night now.”