Ipswich Town: Kieran McKenna on injury to Kalvin Phillips
Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna revealed that a thigh injury forced on-loan Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips to miss yesterday’s trip to Southampton.
Phillips had started the previous two Premier League games alongside skipper Sam Morsy in Town’s engine room.
In his absence, Swedish international Jens Cajuste made his first league start for the Blues since arriving on loan from Italian giants Napoli.
Asked about Phillips after the dramatic 1-1 draw, McKenna said: “It’s a very small injury in his thigh muscle.
“He picked it up late in the training week and wasn’t quite right for today.
Phillips has an extra day to get fit for next weekend’s game, with Champions’ League outfit Aston Villa visiting Portman Road a week today (2pm ko)
Southampton boss Ipswich Town admitted he was angry and disappointed after Ipswich Town grabbed a late leveller to earn a point at St Mary’s.
The Saints looked to be heading for their first win and first points of the season, until Sam Morsy lashed home a late leveller to keep them without a victory after five games.
“My overriding feeling is just frustration and I’m a bit angry and disappointed really,” Martin told the Daily Echo after the game.
“We scored a great goal in the first half. Ipswich had too many moments from set plays and in the second phase because we couldn’t quite clean the game up enough.
“We had a really good chance with Cam (Archer) and some really good moments that didn’t come to enough.
“But I really liked a lot of the performance. I thought the lads came out brilliantly and started the second half so well.
“We have another big chance with Cam and a few moments with Ben (Brereton-Diaz) – we should put the game to bed really.
“Ipswich had two shots on target in the second half and that was in the 96th minute and they scored from one of them. So that’s the disappointing thing.
“I thought we were really good second half but you have to score the second goal and if you don’t you have to defend the set play properly and it shouldn’t come to that.
“It was a really poor set-piece to give away. It’s about game management and there’s too much anxiety in the team.
“I’m sure I’ll be so happy about a lot of it (when I watch it back). I’m angry right now as you can see. Conceding on 96 minutes, of course, you’re going to be furious and not very happy about it.
“We are getting better and better every game. I really feel that. We have to continue progressing and getting better.
“It’s so tight down there that the league will be so tight for a long, long time. We just need to keep performing and getting better, but make sure we turn it into wins.”
