The patched-up Potters were gifted a two-goal lead in the first half, but Town came roaring back in the second half to turn the game on its head through Wes Burns’ deflected strike, Jack Taylor’s expert volley and George Hirst’s low finish.
There was to be a late sting in the tail though, with Lamine Cisse awarded a 95th minute penalty and Milan Smit tucking it away. The soft spot-kick award against Cedric Kipre comes just three days on from the defender being denied a stonewall penalty in the dying stages of a 1-1 home draw with Leicester.
Asked if he could sum up his emotions, McKenna replied: “I’m certainly on the upside down bit of the rollercoaster at the moment.
“It’s a devastated dressing room. A really frustrated dressing room.
“We’re really frustrated with our role in the last minute and the fact that we didn’t show the composure we needed. But we’re also really frustrated with the decision. For me, it’s a really soft penalty.
“It’s beyond irony with the level of contact Cedric’s put on his shoulder there compared to what happened to him in the 96th minute on Saturday.”
He continued: “There are so many ways to dissect the game. First half we didn’t do well enough and we made a couple of mistakes. We also hit the inside of the post to go 1-0 up, so it could have been really different, but we go into half-time in a difficult spot.
“From there the group showed outstanding character and quality in the second half and the supporters were outstanding in terms of their backing. We deserved to get into a winning position and we’re all just devastated at the moment that we didn’t manage to get over the line.”
On the two dreadful first half goals conceded, the Blues boss said: “With the first one we (Ivan Azon) look for a foul on the halfway line that may or may not have been, but we didn’t react quickly enough after that to read the danger and to deal with Manhoef down the side of the box (Cedric Kipre beaten).
“The second goal is just a mistake (loose back pass from Jack Taylor). Of course you don’t want that, but any player can make a mistake. What you can say is that Jack’s reaction to that was absolutely fantastic. From the first minute of the second half he drove the team forward and scored an outstanding goal. The character he showed tonight typified the character that the group showed in adversity.”
McKenna continued: “We haven’t had a comeback win yet, but I’ve been saying for a few weeks that we’re getting really, really close.
“The intensity, the quality, the resilience that we showed in the second half to put ourselves in that position is a really good thing for the group. We’ve not had the reward tonight, but it’s still a group of players that are going through quite a lot of stuff together for the first time.”
On the need to now pick his players up after a couple of moments of perceived injustice over the last two games, McKenna said: “That’s the challenge.
“Look, we’ve had two decisions at the end of the last two games go against us. If they had it panned out slightly differently – if they had panned out fairly – then we’d be sitting here with four more points (and six straight wins) and feeling absolutely on top of the world.
“As it is, despite two really, really strong second halves, we’re feeling really low. That’s football.
“But I believe that we’ll find the energy and the attitude over the next couple of days to approach the game on Saturday (at Sheffield Wednesday) in the right way.”