Kieran McKenna hails ‘a good night’s work’ as Ipswich beat Stoke to go fourth

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna said it was a “good night’s work” as his side narrowly beat Stoke 1-0 at Portman Road to move fourth in the Championship.

Jaden Philogene’s exquisite curling finish from the edge of the penalty area after just 100 seconds of the game clinched the three points for Town.

The hosts had further opportunities to increase their lead, with Ivan Azon spurning two great chances to add to the scoreline.

Stoke, who dropped down to eighth following their third defeat on the trot, dominated possession for large parts of the game but struggled to create any clear-cut chances.

McKenna said: “I really enjoyed the game. I thought it was a really, really good game. A really good night’s work.

“We scored a brilliant team and individual goal to start the game off.

“I thought Stoke played well in the first half and had a real, real go at it and I think they came here and had a real swing at it, pressed high.

“That meant there was a lot of space and we almost got through a lot but we also probably rushed it too often because there was so much space we went for the goal every time and gave the ball back to them.

“I thought we played well with the ball, made some extra passes, played through the pressure, defended well and had chances to counter and the only thing was not getting the second goal, that keeps the game alive.

“The crowd were outstanding and really gave us the push that we needed so it was a good night’s work.”

Stoke boss Robins was pleased with his team’s performance against a side which had beaten league leaders Coventry at the weekend.

He said: “We were brave and we took part in a game against a team that got relegated from the Premier League last season, lost some good players, made a lot of money, really invested it really well. It looks like a really improved club.

“The difference was the quality of the finish from Philogene after minute two and I think that was something I was frustrated with.

“I thought we were well into the game and I thought we created some really good moments for ourselves and we let ourselves down with either our final pass, final decision.

“We’ve had chances for us to go and make it exciting and make it a real game.”