McKenna: A Brilliant Win
Saturday, 11th Apr 2026 16:22
Boss Kieran McKenna hailed the Blues’ 2-0 victory over Norwich City at Carrow Road as a “brilliant win for the club”.
Town ended a 20-year wait for derby success in Norfolk as they recorded their first double over their greatest rivals since the 1992/93 season, the inaugural Premier League campaign.
Jaden Philogene netted a penalty in the 11th minute, before George Hirst added the second in first-half injury time.
“A brilliant win for the club, really,” McKenna said. “Today, for me and for the group, it felt different to the league campaign, it’s felt like we had a massive goal here, a massive mission to come and try and win at this stadium where we haven’t won for so long, and trying to back up the win we had earlier in the season.
“And knowing it’s been so long for club to achieve those two things, that it would be a fantastic part and a brilliant memory in our season.
“That was what today was about and I thought the players did a brilliant job. It was a really tough game, it was always going to be, that’s why the club hasn’t won here in so long.
“But from a defensive point of view, I thought it was an outstanding performance against a good Norwich team playing with confidence and we limited them to so little in free play.
“Our counter-attacking and our threat was excellent, we had the better chances in the game. Of course, we would have liked to have controlled more, especially in the first half, with the ball.
“Second half, when you’ve got the lead like that, you’re always going to end up being more compact, but we didn’t manage to do that in the first half.
“However, today wasn’t about that, it was about coming here, picking a team and a game plan, and the boys coming together to deliver something special for the supporters, and I’m delighted we did that.”
Rather than trying to dampen the derby aspect of the day, McKenna says he and his staff did the opposite.
“We decided we wouldn’t play that down and maybe that’s a little bit of learning from the last time coming here as well,” he added. “The atmosphere last time and how much it meant to their supporters and what a challenge it would be.
“So we tried to just really separate it from everything else that’s going on and just really hone in on this game — what the derby meant, what an achievement it would be to come here and get the victory and what special moments they are for the football club.
“And we talked about the teams that have done it, the last time it was done and made sure the boys were fully aware of the significance and the history and wanted to write their own part in that history.”
Marcelino Nunez, back at Carrow Road for the first time since last summer’s controversial £7.5 million move, played his expected role as public enemy number one among Norwich supporters – and players – with the home fans furious that the Chilean, who had come on as a second-half sub, hadn’t been sent off for a second bookable offence. McKenna hooked the midfielder soon afterwards.
McKenna was asked why he opted not to start Nunez: “It was partly just from a physical point of view, he’s coming back from injury and played a little bit longer than we would have liked the other day [against Birmingham] with Azor [Matusiwa] going off, so we needed to protect him with the game schedule that we have over the seven games because he’s so important to us and we’ve got some other really good players there.
“Of course, we knew that that was going to add extra to the environment and to the atmosphere and that might not necessarily be something that would help the team.
“That was a decision we made coming in, but he’s such an important player for us, he was always going to come on the pitch and have a part in trying to get us the victory.
“It obviously got a little bit heated out there and emotions were running high, so we had to protect the team and protect Marcelino in that situation, the same as we did with Leif [Davis] and Hirsty and Anis [Mehmeti], the boys who were on yellows.
“It was really important to stay with 11 today and that was the case with Marcelino as well, which was why we made that change in the end.
“He’s through that one now and he’s tackled it head-on probably, you could say, and hopefully he’ll have a big part to play now in the run-in.”
Regarding his side’s resolute defending, McKenna added: “I thought we defended outstandingly well right the way through the team, but the backline were excellent, defended the box really well, clearances were good, trusted the positions, trusted our principles. Same on the set plays.
“And despite conceding territory and having to defend our box, I thought we did it really well and really didn’t give up too much in open play.”
The display was not dissimilar to the performance after the break against Birmingham on Monday.
“The second half of that we came under some pressure and it’s important to know that you can do that,” McKenna continued. “If you’re going to be successful at the top end of any division there are going to be games like that and they’re probably going to come at the end of the season.
“To show that resilience, that togetherness, that spirit, that composure, things that have probably been questioned about the group over the course of the year, but that I’ve seen building, to show them on a day like today is a big, big positive and we’re going to have to keep showing them right the way through to the end.”
Regarding Hirst’s winning goal, he added: “It was a good finish, obviously the goalie saved a big chance for him just before that, so it’s always credit to a striker when they’re there on the spot for the next one and show the composure and the technique that he did.”
McKenna was delighted with the composure Philogene showed to roll his penalty into the corner of the net in such an atmosphere, particularly having only just returned to the team after his knee injury.
“That was brilliant, I have to say,” the Blues boss said. “Someone who’s not started a match for months, it wasn’t a gamble but you’re still really considering whether to put him into one like this.
“But he’s someone who I think enjoys the big occasion, enjoys the spotlight and when he was stepping up for that, you don’t know that it’s going to go in, but you’re pretty sure it’s going to be a composed penalty, and it certainly was that.”
McKenna says there wasn’t a nominated penalty taker with Hirst, who took kicks early in the season but missed a couple, handing the ball to the ex-Aston Villa man.
“We didn’t name one today,” he revealed. “Jack [Clarke]’s been the penalty taker and he’s nominated when he starts.
“But we felt like today with Jaden, George and Anis that we had three players on the pitch, and probably some others who would put their hand up, but three players there who have all been penalty takers for their clubs before, so we’d let the players decide by who was feeling in the moment, what stage of the game it was, who was playing well, all those things can sometimes be a factor in it.
“So when Jack didn’t start, we decided to leave that to them and I think you can say they sorted it out well.”
Asked how big a moment in Town’s season today’s victory might be, McKenna reflected: “Let’s see. I think the time to revel in a game like this is hopefully in three weeks’ time or in the summer after a successful season, it’s not now.
“How big it will be, let’s see. In essence, it’s the same three points as we got last week, it’s the same three points as we’re fighting for against Portsmouth [on Tuesday].
“Of course, against a good team like this, getting three points is massive, but we’ve got six more games to fight for those points and we’re going to need to win plenty of them and they’re all going to be hard to win. It’s a good step towards that.”
Having already achieved plenty of records with Town, McKenna was asked where today ranks.
“It feels like a big one,” he admitted. “I have to say, when you arrive when the club had had some not-so-great years, there was probably a list of different hoodoos – we can’t win on Sky, we don’t win on Tuesdays and definitely Norwich was probably the biggest outstanding one that people make you aware of really, really quickly.
“It’s great to have done it and hopefully it will set the tone for a better record in the years to come.”
McKenna, who confirmed that Davis’s late withdrawal wasn’t due to an injury just to avoid a second yellow card, revealed that Ed Sheeran called the players on Facetime in the dressing room.
“I didn’t get to speak to him, but he’s really connected to it,” he said. “He’s really passionate about it, so that would have been a nice moment.”
Photo: TWTD
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