Kieran McKenna hails Ipswich’s patience during late victory at Sheff Wed

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna admitted his side had to be patient as two late goals earned them a 2-0 victory over relegated Sheffield Wednesday.

Ivan Azon’s close-range finish and a Jack Clarke penalty in the final 12 minutes got the Tractor Boys back to winning ways as they moved up to third in the Sky Bet Championship and closed the gap on their automatic promotion rivals.

Victory for the visitors also extended their unbeaten run to six matches ahead of a meeting with fellow promotion-chasers Millwall next weekend, the side who Ipswich leapfrogged in the table.

McKenna was pleased to have another impact from a substitute and praised his side for finding a way through a resilient Owls team, who have not been disheartened by their woes off the pitch.

He said: “It’s our seventh game in 21 days. It’s been a long couple of weeks and getting the result was really important.

“We knew today could go a few different ways. We wanted to get the early goal and have the confidence of the lead to go and play our football, but we didn’t manage to do that.

“We had some chances early in the game that we didn’t take. We know how games like this can be. If you haven’t scored, the opponent has something to hang onto and the game can feel really tricky and awkward.

“The most important thing was to not give anything away and make any big mistakes, and give ourselves 95 minutes to win the game. We knew that we could score the goals late. I think we deserved the win and we got it later in the game.

“We have by far the most goal involvements off the bench this year. It’s not just about the players coming off the bench with quality, it’s about having a motivated and engaged squad.

“To have that today with boys that haven’t featured a lot coming in was a big positive. We know the bench has a big impact for us.”

Wednesday are still yet to win a home match all season and their winless run extended to 33 matches after the two late goals ended any hope of snatching what would have been a commendable point.

That leaves the Owls still six points away from reaching positive territory after 18 were deducted, but manager Henrik Pedersen was proud of the effort from his players.

He said: “We really gave it a go today. They have maybe the most interesting and the best individual team in the league. It was a big job for the boys today.

“We came really good into the game and played a really strong defensive performance in the first half. It was difficult for them in the first half and we had some good transitions where we could have created something.

“In the second half, we started to control and had a really good period up to the three minutes before the goal. After this, it’s difficult to come back against a strong team like them. The boys gave everything on the pitch.”