'We showed great resilience and belief' - McKenna on 2-1 win at Morecambe

The rock-bottom hosts didn't allow the Blues to find any rhythm in the first period and grabbed the lead when Kieran Phillips scored at a set-piece. Town upped their game significantly after the restart, equalised through George Edmundson's finish at a corner, saw a Conor Chaplin penalty saved before Lee Evans converted another spot-kick.

"It was a difficult game and a very good result," said McKenna, whose side remain second in the League One table behind Plymouth.

"We showed great resilience and belief as a squad.

"The first 30 minutes or so were challenging. Credit to Morecambe they came out and pressed us man-to-man, which was a completely different strategy to what they've had in previous weeks. That made it difficult for us to get into our rhythm and settle. They were very aggressive - overly aggressive on one occasion - but in general it was good aggression from them throughout that first period.

"They scored a free-kick that I don't think they could repeat again if they did it a lot of times over. They've tried to spin it in behind us, it's dropped short, the lad's produced an amazing one-touch flick over the top of the defence and it's fallen to someone who's one-touch volleyed it into the net. I don't think it was a deliberate one. Derek (Adams) might say they've practised that, and if they have fair play, but I think it was more something that went against us.

"Then it's about the response. I thought the response at the end of the first half was very, very good. We had to make some adjustments because the game wasn't going our way and we hit the post.

MORE: Town player ratings following win at Morecambe

"The best thing of the day for me was the dressing room at half-time. The boys were calm, had belief, knew we had to up it, knew we had to be cleaner and crisper on the ball to break the pressure. They had every confidence that they could go and do that.

"The spell at the start of the second half was fantastic where we hit the woodwork twice, had chances, got the goal and then the penalties. That was probably the key period of the game.

"We know we are not going to play fantastically every minute of every week. We knew we had to trust what we do and that our quality would show if we found that intensity and rhythm."

Asked if this was a classic example of a successful side finding a way to win when not at their best, McKenna said: "Yeah. You can't play well every game in a long season. We've played very well in certain games and not got three points. There will be other games where you are not at 100% for the whole game. I thought we were very good for a shot spell in this game and showed some good resilience in other spells."

After Portsmouth were awarded two penalties at Portman Road last weekend, McKenna highlighted the fact that his team hadn't been awarded a spot-kick for quite some time. Finally, having waited 36 matches for one, two came along in the space of 10 minutes.

"It's funny how it goes sometimes," said the Northern Irishman. "I thought the referee (Thomas Kirk) was very good. Of course I'm going to say that because we got penalties, but I believe it's one of his first games in the league and I thought the way he managed the crowd, the way he managed the flow of the game and stayed strong with his decisions he was very good.

"It was two clear penalties of course. If you have players like Kyle (Edwards), who can go one-v-one, and Kayden (Jackson), who has electric pace, to catch defenders out then you have a better chance of getting penalties. We were certainly due some."

Asked whose decision it was for Evans to take over from Chaplin when the second penalty was awarded, McKenna said: "The players decided to be fair. Connor was our designated penalty taker, but it's a good decision when you've missed one to let somebody else step up.

"Lee is a lovely striker of the ball and he struck it home well."

On his decision to make five changes to the team which started the midweek 3-0 home win against Cambridge United, McKenna explained: "We've had a busy period. The boys are working ever so hard and we have a smallish group. We lost Dominic Ball to a gash in his leg so we're down to 15 seniors, really, plus Cameron (Humphreys).

"So we needed to freshen it up. Marcus (Harness) and Wes (Burns) both had little minor muscle issues.

"We know we have a quality group of players who can all contribute and offer different things. Richard (Keogh) and Kyle (Edwards) were the only two who came into the team that started at Sheffield Wednesday away and I thought they were both excellent.

"I thought Kyle, once we got him in the right slot (switching from the right to the left) and he found the spaces, showed real character and quality in that second half.

"And I thought Richard was a colossus in that second half. He was up against a good forward (Cole Stockton), but when we were under a bit of pressure he was completely commanding and also gave us come composure and experience on the ball and helped us get through the game."

For the second time this season, Ipswich have won three league games on the spin. They now have a free week to prepare for the visit of Lincoln City.

"After Plymouth we spoke about that being the end of an unbeaten run and that we needed to start again to show the character that we have. We've managed to bounce back well so far but we want to keep it going.

"Winning runs are important. When you're dealing with midweek games you can quickly accumulate points. That's the second time we've put this little three game burst together and we want to go longer this time.

"I think we've maybe had the busiest schedule. I'm not sure if anyone played the international week and also played the Tuesday night as well. Plymouth and Morecambe are two of our longest trips in a relatively short space of time.

"It's been a busy spell and our squad isn't massive at the moment, so getting some recovery in over the next couple of days will be good. Then it's back on the training pitch because there are still lots of areas to improve."