The Blues took the lead shortly before the break as Sindre Walle Egeli fired home after Marcelino Nunez’s free-kick hit the wall.
Both sides had chances to find the back of the net in the second half, but it was George Hirst who pounced on Jacob Greaves’ cutback to get his team’s second, with Christian Walton saving a Tom Ince penalty to maintain the clean sheet.
“It was a really strong performance,” McKenna said. “I really enjoyed the way the boys went about it tonight. I thought our intensity, our duels and our aggression was really good. That’s the absolute starting point for any game in this division, especially away from home.
“That gave us a chance to show our quality. I thought we played with a really good tempo in the first half. The good pitch helped, to be honest, probably the best pitch we’ve played on since Coventry, I’d say.
“You can move the ball on quickly, trust your touch and your ball speed. So that helped.
Sindre Walle Egeli and George Hirst [pictured] were on the scoresheet in Hertfordshire (Image: Ross Halls)
“I thought we played with a really good tempo and built good pressure in the first half. It’s not easy, they played with a back five, so it wasn’t easy to create good chances, but they had enough looks at goal and built some pressure.
“Then Sindre stepped up with a really good finish to give us a deserved half-time lead.”
Watford struggled in the first half, but they turned the screw after the restart and had chances to get back in the game. McKenna was pleased by the resilience and the intelligence his side showed as they searched for a second without leaving themselves too open.
“They were always going to push on a little bit in the second half and you know you have to stand up to that,” McKenna argued.
“We wanted to get the clean sheet in the second half and we wanted to get the second goal, but we knew we had to find the balance between defending that clean sheet and pushing forward at the right moments.
“We did it with the starters, but the subs really helped with that. I thought we found the right balance in the second half between managing the game, pushing for the goal but not leaving ourselves too open and defending well when we needed to.
Christian Walton’s penalty save ensured that the Blues maintained a clean sheet (Image: Ross Halls)
“Of course, we got lucky at the end with a poor penalty to give away from our point of view. But it’s a great lesson for us in there and brilliant for Christian to step up with the save that got the clean sheet that he and the team deserved.”
A response from Saturday felt crucial. Ipswich needed to bounce back after their 5-3 defeat to Wrexham, and this result certainly eases pressure while cutting the gap on second-place Middlesbrough, who were held at home by Leicester City,
“It was important,” McKenna admitted. “It’s really unlike us to concede those goals in a game, but it’s also football and it’s the Championship. Over a long season, you can get a crazy game like that.
“Of course, you want to show a response, but the biggest thing is taking the lessons from the game, being honest with yourselves, getting ready for the next one and going back out there to do the things you do well.
“It was great to do that tonight. When you concede goals like that, you want to get back to clean sheets, so that’s one of the most pleasing things about tonight.
“I thought our intensity in challenges and duels – that we didn’t manage to win enough of on Saturday – we dominated them tonight. That’s a big thing for us as a group and a big reminder that it’s the foundation of any performance in this division.”