BREAKING NEWS: McKenna After Another Big Night Under the Portman Road Lights.

McKenna After Another Big Night Under the Portman Road Lights.
Town manager Kieran McKenna is hoping for another great Portman Road night under the lights on Wednesday evening when Watford pays a visit for what could be the season’s final evening home game.

The Blues, who have five games remaining, are now second in the Championship but might be third by the time they face the Hornets, since leaders Leicester, who have a game in hand, and third-placed Leeds both play on Tuesday night. The Foxes are travel to Millwall, while the Whites host Sunderland.

Watford are presently 14th in the table, 16 points from the play-offs and nine points from the relegation zone, thus, barring a horrific conclusion to the season, they appear to be out of the promotion race and in no danger of relegation.

The Hornets have only won one of their past eight Championship games, and two of their last fifteen. They have drawn their past three games, a goalless draw at home to Preston North End on Saturday, a 2-2 tie at West Brom, and an earlier draw with Leeds by the same scoreline.

Tom Cleverley was chosen temporary manager on March 9th, following Valerien Ismael’s departure, after previously coaching the Hornets’ U18s.

Cleverley, 34, has now been in charge for four games and is unbeaten, with three draws and a 1-0 victory over Birmingham in his maiden game.

Watford have performed better away than at Vicarage Road this season, finishing seventh in an away-only Championship table with 28 points (compared to 23 at home) after seven victories, seven draws, and six defeats. At home, they most recently won the league in November, defeating Norwich City 3-2.

Despite their current dismal run, they have won two of their previous four road games, drawn one, and lost one.

Despite their lack of competitive success this season, manager Kieran McKenna believes the Hornets, who were demoted from the Premier League in 2021/22, are not to be underestimated.

“It’s going to be a really tough game, there’s no illusions about that,” he told reporters. “To be honest, I believe they have a group capable of being in and around the play-off spots.

“I believe they have depth, individual quality, physicality, and good experience in some spots, and it’s a really, really strong group, unquestionably one of the best in the division.

“They haven’t had a great season, but they’re four games in under a new manager, unblemished, and coming off 2-0 draws against Leeds and West Brom.

“When you watch those games, you can see they’re trying to make an impact, most likely for themselves, but also to impress a new manager or a possible manager.

“We are confident that we will face a good version of Watford. But we also know that if we perform to our full potential and maintain the atmosphere that has existed throughout the season, we will be a very difficult team to beat at Portman Road. We can give everyone a difficult game.

“I expect a really competitive game, we know it’s going to be a big challenge and that’s what we’ve been trying to prepare for.”

Does he believe the Hornets’ lack of pressure to win a promotion or avoid relegation will allow them to play with less pressure, potentially making them more dangerous than their position suggests?

“I’ve been involved in games like that,” McKenna said. “You can receive them at a later point in the season. I’ve been engaged in games where the opposing team had more flexibility than they do for the rest of the season.

“And this can present a new type of challenge. To be honest, I believe it would be an extremely difficult game.

“It’s a team that’s been out of the Premier League for two years, but they still have a lot of the same players and have done well in some of the other positions. The team has a very high level of individual quality.

“It would be a deadly game regardless. It’s tough to say how it will play out and whether the fact that they aren’t one of the league’s teams with an immediate team goal in terms of the table will have an impact on the game.

“Our focus can only really be on ourselves and our performance and being ready to face the strongest version of the opponent that we’re going to come up against, as we always do.”

The game between the teams at Vicarage Road in December was a close one that could have gone either way until the Blues scored late on.

“As you would expect,” the Blues’ manager added. “This is typical of many of the games this season.

“We had to work really, really hard and perform well just to be competitive in the game, and then because of a number of different factors, we were able to come out on top of a really hard-fought game, with notably a really important winning goal from Samy [Morsy], but also some fantastic defensive interventions and performances at the other end.

“It was a very difficult game; they’re a tough team, no doubt about it. They’ve played well in their last few games, and we’re prepared for a good battle tomorrow night.”

Despite their Manchester United connections, the two managers did not meet at Old Trafford, with Cleverley, who was a player at the time, leaving nearly a year before McKenna took over as manager of the Red Devils’ under-18s.

“No crossover, but, of course, I know lots of people through the Man United association who speak about him very, very well as a player and as a person,” he remarked.

“He’s familiar with the staff here. [Assistant manager] Martyn Pert worked with him in his early days at Watford, and everyone thinks highly of him as a person.

“He’s done a good job so far and I wish him all the best, not going into this game, but you can see the impression he’s made on the team straight away and I’m sure if he wants to do it, he’ll have a good chance to have a good coaching or managerial career.”

Town has had some fantastic nights under the lights at Portman Road this season, most notably last Monday’s last-gasp 3-2 victory over Southampton, and McKenna is looking for another one on Wednesday, with both players and fans contributing.

“That would be fantastic,” he replied. “It’s no surprise that the home record has been excellent, not just because of the performances on the pitch, but also because of the atmosphere in the stands and how players and spectators have supported and fed off of one another. We’re going to need that for the last few games.

“The games under the floodlights at Portman Road have been quite special in recent years.

“I know we had a disappointing weekend, but I’m confident we’ll regroup and recreate that excitement and intensity in the performance. That’s obviously the situation in which we have the highest opportunity of scoring points.”

McKenna has three players who have played key roles in recent years: Wes Burns, George Hirst, and Janoi Donacien, who are currently unavailable due to injury, while other members of the squad are making themselves available despite injuries or illness.

Is this making it more difficult to rotate the starting lineup? Wednesday’s encounter is the fourth in 13 days.

“We’re missing a couple of important players for us and when you get to the last stages of the season, the ideal scenario is that you have all your players and all your best players and important players available,” McKenna said in a statement.

“However, this is not always the case, and it is not the case for us right now. We still have good numbers and alternatives. All of the players are fighting for the cause, including those who have minor concerns or are simply making themselves available for the games and putting themselves out there, which is amazing.

“I think we’ve shown, even in the last few weeks, even with the players that we’ve had missing, that we can still have competitive teams to start, we can still have players coming off the bench making a good impact and we’re certainly going to need that on Wednesday and we’re certainly going to need that with the quick turnaround on Saturday as well.”

McKenna believes the game being played on Wednesday rather than Tuesday is an advantage, since Town appeared jaded at Carrow Road over the weekend.

“I think so,” he responded. “We expect to be able to show this tomorrow night. I believe that every 24 hours makes a difference in recovery, especially after Easter and a game like we had on Saturday. I believe that this is an excellent week to play on Wednesday.

“It doesn’t mean the game’s going to be any easier but hopefully it gives us the best chance of giving the best account of ourselves.”

Vaclav Hladky will start in goal, with Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess returning as centre backs and Leif Davis as left back.

McKenna may want to make a change at right-back, with Axel Tuanzebe having played all three games since the international break – as well as one before – and Harry Clarke perhaps getting the call for this one.

Jack Taylor might partner Morsy in centre midfield, with Massimo Luongo also starting the last three games.

Conor Chaplin appears to be in the midst of the three ahead of them, leaving McKenna to select whether Nathan Broadhead, Jeremy Sarmiento, or Marcus Harness should start on the left.

On the right, the Blues manager may elect to rest Omari Hutchinson and start Kayden Jackson. Kieffer Moore will be number nine.

Cleverley, Watford’s interim manager, is optimistic about both teams’ chances of scoring.

“I’m eagerly looking forward to the game, as is the entire squad. I believe it’s an exciting game. “Being a part of the promotion run-in and having a say in it keeps us motivated,” he told his club’s official website.

“[With Ipswich], it’s very much ‘we’ll outperform you’. They have one of the most productive full-backs in the league in Davis, excitement in Hutchinson and Broadhead, and have now signed Kieffer Moore, who is renowned as one of the best Championship strikers around.

“They have a lot going for them moving forward, but so do we. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were goals.

“If you look at the Preston game, we didn’t do well against them just sitting in a block. We didn’t prepare well for that, so we need to look at ourselves as a coaching staff, and we’ll be much better prepared the next time this happens.

“I’m sure we will create more chances against a team which has the same ambition of winning the game as we do.”

Cleverley is looking forward to competing against fellow Old Trafford alum McKenna.

“Personally I’m excited to challenge myself against a top young coach like Kieran,” he said.

“He had a background at Manchester United with him and Michael Carrick under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He’s done an excellent job of getting promoted to the Championship and then firmly establishing their presence in the league.

“They’ve got good rotations in the team, they’ve got exciting players, they’re well organised and it will be a difficult test.”

Cleverley hasn’t given Town’s Saturday derby setback much thought: “I haven’t really thought about it. Obviously we’ve analysed their performance in the game. We’re more concentrated on how we can have an impact on the game than how they will be feeling. And we’re confident we have the players and the game plan to do so.

“They might have more reason to be motivated than us but then it’s my job to balance that out and make sure we’re fully motivated, we’re relentless until the end of the season and we have the feel-good factor moving into the next.”

The Hornets will be without winger Ken Sema and right-back Jeremy Ngakia, who are on the mend after injuries but not yet ready to return.

Historically, the sides are tightly matched with the Blues having won 28 games (25 in the league) and Watford 26 (25 in the league), while 17 (17) have resulted in draws.

In December, Town returned to the top of the Championship as they rallied from a goal down to win 2-1 against Watford, skipper Morsy netting the winner 10 minutes from time.

Yaser Asprilla gave Watford the lead in the 12th minute but George Hirst levelled for the Blues on 24 before Morsy capitalised on a blunder by Hornets captain Wesley Hoedt to claim all three points.

The Hornets were last at Portman Road back in November 2014 when Town defender Tommy Smith slammed home his second goal of the season from close range seven minutes from time as the Blues won 1-0 to ascend to fourth in the Championship.

The central defender was first to a loose ball after a Kevin Bru shot had been stopped following a well-worked free-kick.

In the second half, then-Town loanee Jonny Williams was pulled out with a groin injury following a violent Joel Ekstrand lunge which might well have resulted to a red card rather than the yellow the Swedish defender was awarded.

Town’s head of goalkeeping Rene Gilmartin had two spells with the Hornets, between 2010 and 2012 and from 2014 to 2017, but made only seven professional appearances, all in his first tenure.

Blues midfielder Dominic Ball was a young player with Watford before joining Tottenham’s academy in 2011.

Town assistant manager Pert has spent two periods with Watford, between March 2005 and November 2008 as a conditioning coach and then again from July 2009 until September 2010 as head of conditioning.

CEO Mark Ashton was chief executive with the Hornets from June 2004 until December 2008.

Watford midfielder Jake Livermore was on loan with the Blues from Spurs from September 2010 to January 2011, making eight starts and four sub appearances under Roy Keane’s management.

Wednesday’s referee is Sam Barrott, who has shown 112 yellow cards and three red in 36 games so far this season in which he has taken control of his first Premier League matches.

The West Riding-based official, who has now refereed 14 top-flight fixtures, will be taking charge of his fifth Town game this season with his most recent the 4-0 win at Millwall on St Valentine’s Day when he awarded the Blues a late penalty after Ali Al-Hamadi was felled by Murray Wallace that the Iraqi international converted, his first goal for the Blues. Barrott also also yellow-carded Leif Davis and three Lions.

Prior to that, Barrott took control of the 1-1 Boxing Day tie at home to Leicester in which he booked Harness and two Foxes.

He was also the referee for the 3-2 Carabao Cup victory over Wolves at home in September, in which he yellow-carded Elkan Baggott, Lee Evans, Sone Aluko, and three Premier League players.

Barrott also took control of Sunderland’s opening Championship match, which they won 2-1, in which he sent off Black Cats right-back Trai Hume for two bookable offences and yellow-carded Morsy, Hladky, Burns, and one Wearsider.

Last season, Barrott was a late substitute for the 6-0 thumping of Charlton in April after it was revealed that the official originally scheduled for the game, James Bell, was a fan of Sheffield Wednesday, who were competing with the Blues for League One promotion.

He gave Davis four yellow cards, Addicks two, and Ryan Inness a red card with two minutes remaining, his fourth of the season and fifth in just over a year.

Barrott had already taken control of a 1-1 draw at Cambridge two months prior, when he gave the U’s a penalty after George Edmundson clumsily felled Conor McGrandles, which Christian Walton saved. Barrott also scheduled Edmundson, Morsy, and two home players.

He was also the man in the middle for last season’s opening game, a 1-1 draw at home against Bolton Wanderers, in which he awarded the Trotters a penalty, which Aaron Morley converted after rookie Davis tripped Conor Bradley. Evans, Woolfenden, and two visitors were scheduled.

Barrott also oversaw McKenna’s debut match as Town manager, a 1-0 home win over Wycombe Wanderers at Portman Road in December 2021, during which he booked Morsy, Joe Pigott, Matt Penney, and one Chairboy.

Squad: Hladky, Walton, Clarke, Davis, Humphreys, Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Burgess, Morsy (captain), Luongo, Taylor, Travis, Ball, Chaplin, Harness, Jackson, Aluko, Hutchinson, Sarmiento, Broadhead, Moore, and Al-Hamadi.