McKenna Disappointed With Supporters After Cup Defeat McKenna admitted his side showed both positives and weaknesses during the game.

Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has expressed disappointment with the reaction from some supporters following his side’s FA Cup defeat, defending his decision to rotate the squad heavily.

The Blues boss made 10 changes to the team that started last weekend’s 2–1 league win at Derby County, prioritizing player fitness ahead of a demanding run of fixtures. However, Josh Windass’ first-half goal proved to be the difference as Ipswich were knocked out of the competition.

Speaking after the match, McKenna said results in upcoming league fixtures would ultimately justify his decisions.

“If you make changes, go out and win your next league game — back at Wrexham next weekend — then I know there won’t be too many questions,” he said.

The manager stressed that an extended FA Cup run could have negatively impacted the squad during a crucial period of the season, with Ipswich facing nine games in four weeks.

“If you look at the schedule and where we would fit in the games for an FA Cup run, to be honest it was really hard to see how that wouldn’t have been to the detriment of the group,” McKenna explained.

“We’ve got minutes into some boys tonight, no injuries, and I think that will set us up better for the nine games in four weeks we have coming up.”

Reflecting on the performance, McKenna admitted his side showed both positives and weaknesses during the game.

“Of course we’re disappointed with the result. I thought the performance was mixed. I thought we started the game well and had some good looks at the goal, but we lost momentum about halfway into the first half.

“They had a run of set plays, one after the other, and got some good momentum up. We weren’t able to quite withstand that or wrestle it back for the rest of the first half. They got their goal in that period.”

Ipswich will now turn their full attention to the league campaign, with next weekend’s match seen as an opportunity to respond quickly and regain confidence.