Ipswich Town latest: Further Kieran McKenna boost as Palace circle, Brandon Williams, Wes Burns reacts to milestone | OneFootball

Heading into the second international break, Ipswich Town couldn’t have wished for a better start to life in the Championship.

The Tractor Boys have gone from being stuck in League One to gaining promotion, and they are now looking on course for a Premier League return in a matter of a year.

The club sailed to promotion last season, and some wondered if that form would continue in the Championship, but Kieran McKenna’s men look right at home, as they sit in second place a few points away from leaders Leicester City.

Ipswich went into the break in the best possible fashion, as they claimed a 4-2 win over third-place Preston North End.

They return to action a week on Friday against Rotherham United, and McKenna will hope their form can continue from where they left off.

As we wait for that game, here we have looked at the latest news involving Ipswich Town…

Ipswich Town receives a Kieran McKenna boost

It was revealed over the weekend by journalist Alan Nixon, that any club who were interested in appointing McKenna as their manager would have to pay a hefty £4 million compensation fee.

That comes after it was also reported that the Ipswich manager was on Crystal Palace’s managerial list to replace Roy Hodgson.

Now, the Tractor Boys have potentially received another boost in their quest to keep hold of the former Manchester United coach.

It has been reported, that Palace are once again interested in Portuguese manager Paulo Fonseca, who is the current manager of French side Lille.

It seems the Premier League side is looking at their options when it comes to replacing Hodgson at the end of this season. McKenna is obviously on the list, but with his £4 million compensation, it seems the London side could now be looking at other targets.

Kieran McKenna heaps praise on Brandon Williams

Ipswich managed to pull off a deal that saw them bring in Man United defender Brandon Williams on a season-long loan.

The 23-year-old has never played in the Championship before, and with his future looking away from Old Trafford, it seemed he was going to get a permanent move away.

However, McKenna used his connections and got a deal over the line. Williams is now 10 games into his loan, and while it was a slow start for the player, he now seems to be finding his feet and earning praise from his manager.

McKenna said, via East Anglian Daily Times: “For Brandon to take the game and the moment by the scruff of the neck and produce a great goal was a big moment.

"He's getting stronger game-by-game, getting back into good habits as a football player on and off the ball.

"He's getting back towards the levels that I know he's capable of, but more importantly it's about pushing him past those levels. “He's been a really good contributor this last month with his performances on both sides of the pitch. "It's clear to see the aggression and the positivity on and off the ball that supporters can really get behind and that will endear you to team-mates as well.

"We're happy to have him here. He knows he's got a lot of work still to do, but I think he'll take a lot of confidence from the last few weeks."

As well as helping claim all three points on Saturday, it was also a special game for Wes Burns in another way.

It was the winger’s 100th game for the club in all competitions after arriving from Fleetwood Town in 2021.

The 28-year-old took his time to get going at the club, but under McKenna, he is a player who looks to have reached a new level in his game. Burns has now admitted that reaching this milestone is a “huge moment” in his career.

He told East Anglian Daily Times: “What an honour for me to even make an appearance for this club. For me to make 100 is something that I never thought I’d do, to be honest.

“When I signed, it was a bit of a whirlwind of what was going on at the club, the new regime and the new people coming in. I was the first face of 20 odd players that we signed that year.

“For me to stick it out and make it to 100 is a very good achievement for me. There’s been some bad times and some good times as well, but I think there’s certainly been a hell of a lot more good times in recent years. The club is just growing and growing to places that we could only dream of.

“I know that we keep saying it, but our goal was to get out of League One last year. I think that, without looking too far ahead, there’s goals that we’ve set that we want to achieve this year that we’re well on the way to doing.”