Ipswich Town: Tractor Boys show promising signs after draw with Premier League Luton

Ipswich Town showed promising signs ahead of the upcoming season in the Championship following their 1-1 draw with Premier League side Luton.

Manager Kieran McKenna said there were good things to be taken from both halves of the match at Colchester United’s Community Stadium.

Wes Burns’s cross-shot gave the Tractor Boys the lead in the first half but Carlton Morris levelled from the penalty spot for the Hatters with 15 minutes of normal time remaining.

The result followed on from the performances against League One sides Cambridge United and Stevenage at the weekend where two different Town sides both lost 2-1.

McKenna said to reporters: “You can’t compare, we’re trying to get different things out of different games. Tonight was a game that we wanted to play against a good opponent, go at the first half with a real intensity.”

“We prepared the game properly and focused on delivering a performance and I thought the performance was really good.

“There were lots of good things on and off the ball in the first half, and even in the second half, it ends up with more individual moments because it’s hard to get that cohesion with so many changes, but on an individual basis in the second half, there was some really good stuff and I enjoyed the game.”

The Blues boss refused to get carried away after the fine display against Rob Edwards’ side who will be playing in the top flight for the 2023/2024 campaign.

He said: “I don’t think you can ever read too much into it. We played League One teams at the weekend, we’re playing a Premier League team tonight, or are going to be a Premier League team.

“I don’t think you can over-read into these things. I’m pretty sure on where we’re at and where we need to keep improving but the things that we’re doing well, every day in training and every little bit of match exposure is to work on those things.

“I thought it was a really good game, nice to be back in front of the supporters, made me excited to get back to Portman Road to that atmosphere and I could feel that with the players as well, they really enjoyed having the home support.

“It gives us that excitement again to start the season next week and to get back to Portman Road the week after.”

New loan signing Omari Hutchinson impressed for the first time in a Town kit, as the Chelsea man showed his pace and quick feet having come off the bench at half-time.

On the youngster, McKenna said: “It’s a natural process for any 19-year-old coming out of U21 football. You can see the talent, you can see the technical and skill level, you can see the enthusiasm for the game.

“He’s shown some good bits of work off the ball, which is a good starting point. The supporters I think will enjoy him, and we’re enjoying having him here. Of course, it’s about how he and how we help him to hone that talent now.

“I think he’s got some great examples in this squad of players who are learning and are currently maximising their talent in terms of how they put that effectively into a team and that’s a process for him that he’ll find over the next few years - different teams he’ll play in, how he can find a role in those teams where he can utilise and bring that talent out and turn that into, as a forward player, assists and goals and good things for the team.

“I’ve seen that process through with lots of young players and it’s exciting to have Omari here and we think that he can contribute to the team and we think that he’ll develop a lot being part of that team.”

Following his cross-shot in the 14th minute which opened the scoring, Welsh international Burns spoke to TownTV in a post-match interview and said: “We knew what type of game it would be.

“We knew Luton would be a very physical team, they got promoted off the back of being very organised, good on set plays and were obviously a very physical team in the Championship.

“We knew it would be like that tonight, so it was a very good test for us ready for the new season.

“I got a good 45 minutes under my belt. I basically just tried to go out there tonight, run about and get in as much physical work as I could.”

The club now make their second summer visit to Austria, in which the Blues will face RB Leipzig and Werder Bremen at the Innsbruck Cup in 60-minute matches on Friday.

McKenna said: “It’s a really exciting trip, two 60-minute games against very, very high level opponents, so it’s going to be a massive step up.

“It’s going to be a challenge for us, especially missing the bodies but it’s one we’ll go and embrace.

“I’m sure we’ll learn from it and we’ll get things from it and we have to have a good discussion with the group over the next day or two about what we’re going to get out of the games and how we’re going to approach them.

“It will be a good experience and a great way to finish off the pre-season campaign, not just on the pitch but also off the pitch, going away together and then really we come back and from Monday onwards we can really focus and enjoy and look forward to the big game coming up next weekend.”