Ipswich Town: Are the Tractor Boys better prepared for the Premier League?

There is no doubt that McKenna has taken lessons from his season at Ipswich in the Premier League, his third full campaign as head coach.

One of the accusations against him is that he shows too much loyalty to the players he has served well in the past.

The 11-man side that beat Liverpool 2-0 in the 2024-25 season opener included six players who started their last League One game against Frontwood Town 15 months ago – Christian Walton, Luke Wolfenden, Leif Davies, Massimo Luongo, Wes Burns and Conor Chaplin.

Walton, Davies and Burns are in the current Ipswich squad and also featured striker George Hirst in the 2-2 draw at Fleetwood.

Staff changes at Portman Road last summer saw 11 new signings, including the Premier League parachute money transfer of Chilean playmaker Marcelino Nunez from regional rivals Norwich for £10m.

The new-look squad took time to gel – they are winless in their opening four league games this season – and there were further additions in January when Anis Mehmeti and Dan Neill arrived.

It didn’t quite match the 2024 team’s total of 96 points, 28 wins, and 92 goals, but it could be indicative of the extra competitiveness of this year’s championship.

“The players have grown over the season – you look at this last run, this was our eighth game in 26 days, three away games back, there were a lot of challenges,” McKenna told BBC Radio Suffolk.

They are stuck on it and you can’t imagine how hard it is to get promoted to the Premier League. This is a great achievement.

“To finish 15 games with one loss really shows the team’s character came together towards the end.”