His side came from behind to take three points for the first time since Easter Monday in 2024, having conceded to a low strike from Carlos Vicente just after the half-hour mark.

But Town responded well. Ben Johnson forced the equaliser over the line before Kasey McAteer wrapped up the game, although the visitors were the better side in the second half and felt frustrated to come away empty handed.

“I think it was a brilliant win, if I’m honest, in many ways,” McKenna said.

“Our first comeback win of the season is really important. I think it’s been coming. I’ve said that over the last few weeks and months. Every time we’ve had a setback, our reaction is getting better and better.

“I think today was the best one because the group took a big body blow in the first half. It was a different first half than I expected, to be honest, in terms of how the opponent came and tried to make the game.

“It was hard to get a rhythm, hard to get the ball in play in the first 20 minutes. It was probably about three minutes. It was difficult, but we were by far, for me, the team who wanted to go and take the game on and win the game.

Town came from behind to take all three points at Portman Road (Image: Ross Halls)

“We have a big, big chance to go 1-0 up. Their keeper makes a really good save and they go up the other end and score a really well-taken goal. That’s a big blow at this stage of the season for this group.

“Azor [Matusiwa] going off as well, another big blow.

“The reaction from there to half-time in the goals that we scored, and we could have had a couple more before half-time, was outstanding for me. That was the key phase of the game and the phase where we deserved the win.

“We know second half, it didn’t pan out how we wanted it to. We wanted to come out and get on the front foot and take the game to the opponent and try and go for the next goal. We didn’t manage to do that.

“We’ll look at that and learn some lessons of what we could have done better. On the other hand, there are some big challenges in there.

“One, from our point of view, we’ve got a lot of players out there who are probably not quite 90 minutes fit yet. People coming back from injury, important players missing. That was a big challenge physically.

“You have to say it’s an opponent who’ve got a really good squad bringing on big talent off the bench and playing without consequence, in terms of they just coming on and throwing everything to get something for the game. But it’s maybe not going to be absolutely pivotal in their season.

Ipswich struggled to get going after the restart (Image: Steve Waller)

“Those factors can make the second half difficult. You get those halves at the end of the season.

“Apart from a few moments, I thought the players managed it well. We know things we could do better in the second half. But I think the big bit, the reaction in the first half, the performance in general in the first half in a different sort of game, I think they really deserved the win.”

For McAteer, this was a big moment. He’s had numerous chances to get his first goal in an Ipswich shirt, but nothing fell for him up until the game against Birmingham.

Even then, he was denied before the opening goal, but his moment came in the 45th minute as he composed himself before firing a low strike under James Beadle.

He wasn’t even supposed to start the match, however.

“It was a brilliant day for him,” McKenna enthused.

“I don’t mind saying that Wes was going to start the game. We thought Wes [Burns] was going to start when we named the team and then he wasn’t quite ready in training yesterday.

Match-winner Kasey McAteer was supposed to be named on the bench (Image: Ross Halls)

“We had to make a late change there. I only say that because it’s even more credit to Kasey because if you’re not fully engaged and if you’ve not prepared yourself well, you’re not ready to come in and do the job that he’d done today, especially in the first half.

“It was a brilliant moment for him. I thought he was really unlucky with the one that he ran through as well. To be honest, I think you have to give big credit to the goalkeeper for the save.

“For him to come into the team like that and score the winning goal is a great moment for him and another great lesson for the rest of the group.”

Birmingham had good opportunities to equalise after the restart. They even had the ball in the back of the net when Ibrahim Osman cut the ball back, firing it off Dara O’Shea and past Christian Walton.

Referee Adam Herczeg claimed the ball went out of play. Some angles suggest otherwise. Regardless, it meant little to McKenna.

“Someone showed me an image which it may have been in or may have been not,” he explained. “So I don’t know.

“It’s hard to be really accurate on those in the Championship. Without VAR, it’s the same in every game. There’s lots of times the ball goes in or out and penalties at the top end of the pitch that weren’t given.

“I’m not going to lose too much sleep on that one, to be honest.”