The Blues twice came from behind in the first half through well-worked goals from Anis Mehmeti and Ivan Azon, then took the lead early in the second period through Cedric Kipre’s fine strike.
George Thomason, Callum Doyle and Nathan Broadhead goals turned the match around though, adding to the earlier finishes from Kieffer Moore and Josh Windass, to make it back-to-back defeats at the Racecourse Ground.
“We’re really, really disappointed with the outcome, disappointed with ourselves and obviously the goals that we conceded today,” said McKenna.
“We’ve come away from home and scored three really good goals and that should be enough to win you the game, but we’ve conceded some really poor ones today.
“It’s really frustrating because it was on the cusp of being a really good day for us with some of the qualities that we showed. But ultimately the goals we conceded and mistakes we’ve made as a team or on an individual level have cost us the result we wanted.”
Asked if he’d been able top pick the bones out of the goals conceded, McKenna replied: “We’ll have to analyse them all. The first goal is a really good strike from Kieffer, but we should defend the basic flick-on better (Josh Windass beating Jack Taylor in the air).
“We’re most disappointed with the second goal, to be honest. That was a phase where we weren’t defending with enough intensity as a team.
“We get back to 2-2, came out really well at the start of the second half, scored another really good goal to go 3-2 up, then we’re pushing for the fourth goal.
“Look, maybe at 3-2 you can say we didn’t manage the game well enough. We leave ourselves a little bit open on a transition where they’re able to counter through the middle of the pitch. I think at that point we were really pushing for the fourth, so we could have managed that situation better.
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“Having said that, the goal is a little bit lucky as well. We had Dara (O’Shea), Darnell (Furlong) and Cedric behind the ball, defend the 18 well, block the shot and it just falls right to their player.
“Then at 3-3 you know it’s going to be really, really tough and you’re going to have to stand up well and we didn’t do that on the first corner, maybe, that they had in the second half. We don’t attack the ball well enough and they score almost unopposed on the six-yard box.
“With the last one… To be honest, goals like that can happen when you’re four-three down and you’re chasing the game.
“The ultimate feeling, of course, is the frustration at a loss and anger and disappointment with the goals conceded.
“That overrides the positives of the fact that we came back from behind and put ourselves in a winning position.
“So we will be really honest and harsh with ourselves on those goals when we watch them back now as a group and really try and rectify the mistakes we made.”
Ipswich’s are still without a comeback win to their name this season. On why that has proved elusive, McKenna said: “I’m not sure. I don’t think it’s ever one thing.
“I do think there’s actually a step towards it in there today, to be honest, in terms of how we reacted to going behind early, how we came back and went from a losing position to a winning position against a good team away from home. So there is a step forward in that way.
“What’s cost us today is not seeing a game out when ahead. And that’s something that we’ve done really, really well this season consistently.”
This was the first time that Ipswich have conceded 5+ goals in a game since a 6-0 home loss to Man City in the Premier League last January. It was the first time they have conceded five on the road full stop under McKenna.
Asked what sort of conversations had been had in the dressing room, the Blues boss replied: “Everyone’s really disappointed. Of course, really frustrated. I don’t think it’s like us. I think we’ve generally been good defensively this season but to concede five goals in a league game for us is really strange.
“We’re not hiding from the fact that we conceded three at Sheffield United. But that’s not been like us over the course of the season. We know we need to stand up and do better in some situations as a team from a defensive point of view. We need to redouble down on the things that have made us a good defensive team this year and got us lots of clean sheets.”
Ipswich, who remain fourth in the Championship table, now go to ninth place Watford on Tuesday night.
“By the time we get to Tuesday, we need to take the positives from some of our attacking play, the goals that we scored and the way that we came back into today’s game,” said McKenna.
“Anis gets his first goal. There were some really good team moves. We need to make sure that we don’t lose those things.
“But ultimately the biggest reflection piece in the dressing room and when we get back to the training ground will be to say that we know we can’t concede those goals and we need to do better.”
Town’s away league form now reads W5 D4 L6, a stark contrast to a record of W10 D5 L1 at Portman Road.
“It’s something that we’ve been cautious to speak about with the group,” said McKenna.
“Of course, it’s easier to play at home, it’s better to play at home. We like playing at home. But we’ve shown that we can go and win away from home in tough places. We’ve shown that we can do it against the best team in the league (Coventry).
“But the Championship presents some big challenges away from home and, up to this point, we haven’t overcome those challenges as often as we would have liked.”