McKenna reveals Ipswich star man was not set to start win over Birmingham | OneFootball

Kieran McKenna hailed the impact of winger Kasey McAteer after helping Ipswich to a huge 2-1 win over Birmingham, boosting their hopes of an immediate return to the Premier League.

Ipswich sit second in the Championship, level on points with Middlesbrough and Millwall below them but having played two games fewer.

McAteer put his side ahead in the game after Ben Johnson’s equaliser, but McKenna revealed afterwards that the former Leicester City man was not due to start the game.

“A brilliant day for him,” McKenna explained. “I don’t mind saying, Wes [Burns] was going to start the game, we thought Wes was going to start when we named the team and then he wasn’t quite ready in training yesterday, so we had to make a late change there.

“I only say that because it’s even more credit to Kasey because if you’re not fully engaged, if you’ve not prepared yourself well, you’re not ready to come in and do the job that he did today, especially in the first half.

“A brilliant moment for him, I thought he was really unlucky with the one when he ran through as well, to be honest, I think you have to give big credit to the goalkeeper for the save.

“For him to come into the team like that and score the winning goal is a great moment for him and another great lesson for the rest of the group.”