Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna insisted the Blues did not wilt under the weight of recent East Anglian derby history in a 1-0 Championship defeat at Carrow Road.
Marcelino Nunez’s long range free kick bamboozled Vaclav Hladky to ensure the promotion-chasers’ wait for a first win in this fixture since April 2009 continued.
McKenna’s side drew 2-2 earlier in the season at Portman Road, but the Northern Irishman had to field post-match questions on Saturday whether his players have a psychological block against their neighbours.
“No, to be honest, there’s not,” said the highly-rated Town chief. “Of course, it’s nice to win your derby. We haven’t had one for four seasons before this one.
“I think the game at Portman Road, we played very, very well and came close to winning it and this is the second game that this group’s been through.
“It’s the first time this group of players have been to Carrow Road, so I don’t think there’s any baggage from things that have happened many years ago.
“We just didn’t hit the level required to win the game. I don’t think either team hit a particularly high level, but credit to Norwich, they found a way to come out on the right side of the margin.
“I think it just wasn’t our day and the clubs will hopefully meet again more regularly. I don’t think either of us will be spending time in League One any time soon, so it’s a good rivalry, it’s a good derby, there’ll be more matches over the next few years and I’m sure this club will have its day as well.
“I don’t think we managed to find our intensity, definitely. From a physical point of view, possibly the schedule. We’ve got some players, I’m not going to make an issue, but there are some physical issues in the camp, illness and injury, so that would have been a factor.
“And also it’s a really big game in reality with a big atmosphere and sometimes that can drain the battery a little bit as well.”
McKenna felt the visitors had silenced a raucous home crowd in the early sparring, but pinpointed Axel Tuanzebe’s challenge on Josh Sargent just before the half-hour mark – which saw the Blues’ full-back booked – as a key moment.
“We had a really comfortable first 20 minutes of the game,” he said. “We were in control, we weren’t hitting a fantastic level but the atmosphere was pretty quiet, we were comfortable, we hadn’t given anything away, we were in a decent place in the game.
“And that decision, which I thought was an incorrect one, really lit the crowd, lit the atmosphere and we then had 10 minutes of set play after set play, we couldn’t quite get out of that phase.
“Of course, the feel of the game changes on the first goal and Norwich then defended really compact and with bodies, and especially the longer the second half went on, they were able to defend with good bodies, good organisation, with the crowd behind them and they always carried a bit of a counter threat with Sargent as well.
“A derby defeat is tougher, especially because we know what it means to the supporters and the biggest wish was to give them the result.
“But I think for us as professionals, we can’t afford to let that be the case, to be honest. We’ve done well with dealing with setbacks and disappointments before, and we have to deal with this one.
“We know that it will hurt a little bit more for the supporters and that causes a little bit more hurt in the group.
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