Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna insists he and his team will never be euphoric about drawing games.

The Blues won 56 out of 92 league games on the way to securing back-to-back promotions, but are still waiting for their first Premier League victory six games into the new campaign.

There's a sense the Suffolk underdogs are building nicely into the season though, with competitive defeats to heavyweight duo Liverpool and Manchester City followed by successive draws against Fulham, Brighton, Southampton and Aston Villa.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow's trip to West Ham, McKenna said: "We’re a group that’s used to winning a lot of games, so I don’t think we’ll ever be euphoric after a draw, but last weekend was a really good game to be involved in.

"They’re a fantastic side, as we saw in midweek (when Villa beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League), so to be as competitive as we were in such an exciting game at Portman Road was enjoyable.  

“But the turnaround to West Ham is pretty quick. We know it’s another big game and another big challenge."

West Ham have finished sixth, seventh, 14th and ninth in recent years, winning the Europa Conference League in 2023 before reaching the Europa League quarter-finals last season. Now, following David Moyes' exit, they are embarking on a new era under former Spain and Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui, with more than £130m spent in the summer transfer window.

It's been a slow start to the season for the new-look Hammers, who have lost all three of their league games played at the London Stadium so far.

"I don't think there will be many games this year where we'll be able to blow teams out of the water," said McKenna. "We know we need to work really, really hard to perform close to our best every week - with the ball, without the ball, set plays - especially away from home. 

"West Ham are strong opponent. They invested a lot in the summer, have really high level of individual talent, really good physical profiles in every position. It's going to be a big test.

"But we know that if we work as we have been over the last few weeks, if we can impose our game, as we have increasingly done so as the weeks have gone on, we can make it a really competitive game. And if we can make it competitive then football always comes down to the margins and moments. We hope we can be really clinical in execution when we have our moments and of course defend the opponent's moments well."

He added: "They've got a new manager, two new centre-halves, a new right-back in Aaron Wan-Bissaka, they're integrating a lot of other new players as well. So they're still building towards what they want to be.

"But we have a lot of respect for them. They've got an experienced manager and have signed a lot of good players on top of the good players that were already there. They've been a really competitive Premier League team for a lot of years. We'll pay them every respect, but we'll also go there with the same mindset we have every week of trying to impose ourselves and play our football."