“I want to say…” – Enzo Maresca chooses “fantastic, top” Ipswich standout for praise after beating him to Blues job | OneFootball

We face Ipswich in a few hours, and there’s plenty of excitement around a game Chelsea suddenly need to win after dropping points in two consecutive matches.

Enzo Maresca has been speaking a lot about our opposition in his pre-match comments, and he was full of praise for his opposite number Kieran McKenna.

KcKenna was on Chelsea’s shortlist of managers this summer, and while the sporting structure will be delighted they went with the Italian given his success so far, former Tottenham and Man U assistant McKenna has shown some of the promise which led to him being in the frame.

“Kieran McKenna is doing fantastic. Since he joined Ipswich a few years ago, they are doing top. Even this year they are doing well. I would like to say congratulations to him for the job he is doing ever since he joined the club,” Maresca raved about the man who was his rival at the top of the Championship last year.

Enzo Maresca expects “difficult” game against Ipswich

Kieran McKenna with the Chelsea logo.

One a more general note, Maresca pushed back against the idea that 19th placed Ipswich are there for the taking:

“All the Premier League games are complicated, no matter who the other team is. Every game we play is complicated, and you also see how you can struggle to beat teams. That’s because every match in the Premier League is difficult. The Ipswich game will be exactly the same.”

We certainly don’t expect an easy game, and we don’t think there will be any complacency from a team which has just dropped points in two games they will have been hoping to win.

Even with rest and rotation needed in our first team we should have enough firepower to score the goals needed to put away the Tractor Boys.