Ange Postecoglou will hope fit-again Giovani Lo Celso can provide the creative spark for Tottenham when Bournemouth visit on Sunday.
Spurs’ selection issues have increased after Dejan Kulusevski received his fifth caution of the season in Thursday’s 4-2 loss at Brighton and will sit out the New Year’s Eve clash.
Kulusevski had stepped up in the absence of chief creator James Maddison, but Postecoglou is pleased to have Lo Celso to call upon again after a recent muscle injury.
“Gio dropped out the team because he was injured. It wasn’t by decision,” he said.
“He was going well when he got injured. We’re going to have to make another adjustment there (in midfield).
“I thought Gio, when he came on (against Brighton), was good. He was good last week when he came on (against Everton). It’s good to have him back fit and available.”
Lo Celso had scored in consecutive matches before sustaining an injury earlier this month as he attempts a redemption arc at Tottenham.
Signed for a hefty fee in 2019, the Argentina playmaker has struggled but been given a lifeline by Postecoglou and despite continued interest from Barcelona, Spurs have no intention of letting the midfielder leave in January, the PA news agency understands.
Both Lo Celso and Oliver Skipp could earn starts against Bournemouth, who have won six of their last seven games.
Postecoglou added: “Yeah, tough. Every game’s tough. We played Everton, they were on a great run as well.
“Every week’s a challenge. Short turnaround for us. Hopefully we might get Oliver Skipp back, probably the only fresh legs we’ll have to contribute to what we’re doing, but good challenge for us.
“We’re at home. Whilst we’ve had a couple of losses at home, every home game we’ve been well in them and we’ll need to be at our best to match Bournemouth.”
Postecoglou acknowledged it would be a “different” challenge compared to Tottenham’s 2-0 win at Bournemouth in August and also paid tribute to his opposite number Andoni Iraola.
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“He’s done a great job. They didn’t have a great start and it would have been very easy, not just him but the whole club, to shy away from what they were trying to build but they’ve stuck at it,” the Spurs boss explained.
“And the results recently have been very, very promising. It’s credit to him and the football club that they’ve stuck to what the plan’s been.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp joked he is six times happier than he was a year ago with his team top of the Premier League.
Their position may have slipped by the time they play Newcastle on New Year’s Day as Arsenal could reclaim top spot by beating Luton the day before, but it will still not be as bad as 12 months ago.
On January 2 they lost 3-1 at Brighton to sit sixth, 15 points behind the Gunners who were the then leaders.
With just one defeat, and that a controversial one at Tottenham, all season and having dropped only four points at home, Klopp is pleased to see his side back on track and ahead of schedule.
“Six times happier! I can’t even remember (the first game of 2023),” said Klopp when asked how he felt compared to last new year.
“A horrible time last year. It feels better, no doubt about that, but it is not like we really think too much about it.
“We had a lot of good spells in games where we didn’t win or we had lesser-good spells in games we won and these kind of things, so it’s a process.
“This team is in the middle of something and we just try to make the best of it, to deal with different situations. We had a lot of injuries, we are now without key players – both left-backs are not in – but so far we found a way to compete.
“Obviously it’s better to be first than sixth, but both gives you a lot of work to do for the rest of the season.”
While much is made of Liverpool’s attacking options – they have scored in all but one of the last 37 matches – it is their defence on which the foundations of this season have been built.
Their 16 goals conceded is the best in the league and compares favourably with their title-winning 2019-20 campaign when they had conceded just 14 at the same stage. Last season it was 25.
“It started with the defensive record. Everybody buys into how we have to work,” Klopp said.
“How many goals did we concede, 16? Probably eight or nine of them were after we lose the ball and are a bit exposed and that was obviously last year even more a problem.
“We do better now. Recently we stepped up counter-pressing-wise, which helps as well, as that means everybody reacts better – front line, midfield line and in the last line.”
That defensive security also has a positive effect at the other end of the pitch as players know they are not likely to concede many, if at all, so there is rarely a necessity to score a lot.
“We are not desperate (to score) – we were a bit against Manchester United (a 0-0 draw) to be 100 per cent honest – because we don’t think we concede all the time and then we have to score immediately,” said Klopp.
“Even though we conceded quite a lot of times the first goal, but even in these moments we didn’t get desperate. That’s really important.”
Jenson Button and Damon Hill have paid tribute to Indy 500 winner Gil De Ferran, who has died aged 56.
The Brazilian reportedly suffered a heart attack in Florida.
Button wrote on Instagram: “Still in shock that we lost one of the good ones so young, one of the best behind the wheel and all round great guy Gil De Ferran. I will miss that wonderful smile, rest in peace my friend.”
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Fellow Formula One world champion Hill tweeted: “One of the nicest guys I ever met. He made me laugh. He got it.
“Jesus, Gil, you left too soon. My sincere condolences to his lovely family and all who knew him (there are many, many, many) and all at McLaren. He was a fighter and a winner. Big loss.”
De Ferran won the Indy 500 for Team Penske in 2003.
Team boss Roger Penske said in a statement: “We are terribly saddened to hear about today’s tragic passing of Gil De Ferran. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Angela, Anna, Luke and the entire De Ferran family.
“Gil defined class as a driver and as a gentleman. As an INDYCAR Champion and an Indianapolis 500 winner, Gil accomplished so much during his career, both on and off the track.
“Gil was beloved by so many. He was a great friend to the Team Penske and INDYCAR family, as well as the entire international motorsports community. Gil’s passing is a terrible loss and he will be deeply missed.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 22 of his 40 points in the second half to help the surging Oklahoma City Thunder pull away for an impressive 119-93 road win over the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets on Friday.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished 14 of 20 from the field and a perfect 10 for 10 from the free-throw line to lead the upstart Thunder to their sixth win in seven games.
Oklahoma City, which last reached the playoffs in the 2019-20 season, is now 21-9 and percentage points ahead of Denver for second place in the Northwest Division.
Chet Holmgren added 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting for the Thunder, who outscored Denver by a 34-20 margin in the third quarter to turn a six-point half-time lead into a commanding 88-68 advantage.
The Nuggets had a six-game winning streak halted despite another efficient outing from Nikola Jokić, who made 9 of 10 field goal attempts while compiling 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Jokic's primary teammates were off the mark, however. Jamal Murray missed 11 of 15 field goal attempts while being held to nine points, while Michael Porter Jr. was 4 of 12 and ended with 12 points.
Antetokounmpo, Lillard rally Bucks past Cavaliers
The Milwaukee Bucks got 34 points and 16 rebounds from Giannis Antetokounmpo and a big second half from Damian Lillard to rally for a 119-111 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in a clash of the Central Division's top teams.
Lillard scored 24 of his 31 points after half-time to help Milwaukee overcome an early 15-point deficit and post its ninth win in 10 games. The Bucks extended their lead on second-place Cleveland to six games in the division.
The Cavaliers had won five of six coming in and got top scorer Donovan Mitchell back from a four-game absence, with the four-time All-Star registering 34 points and nine assists in his return. Cleveland also got a big effort from Jarrett Allen in defeat, as the centre amassed a career-high 30 points, 12 rebounds and six assists while finishing 15 of 17 from the field.
Cleveland owned a 50-35 lead midway through the second quarter before the Bucks closed the gap to 59-52 at the break. Milwaukee then opened the third quarter on a 12-2 run, then later put together an 11-0 spurt to claim an 88-73 advantage with under three minutes remaining in the period.
Both Antetokounmpo and Lillard had 14 points in the pivotal third quarter.
The Cavs were able to cut Milwaukee's lead to 115-111 inside the final minute, but didn't make a shot the rest of the way and the Bucks sealed the game with four late free throws.
Milwaukee finished 25 of 28 from the foul line, while Cleveland attempted just nine free throws on the night.
Wagner, Banchero lead Magic over Knicks
Franz Wagner had 32 points and Paolo Banchero added 29 as the Orlando Magic got back on track with a 117-108 victory over the New York Knicks.
Orlando bounced back from Wednesday's 20-point home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers behind strong performances from its two young stars. Wagner finished 11 of 19 from the field to go along with nine rebounds, while Banchero had 10 boards and scored 15 points in the second half.
Jalen Suggs contributed 21 points for the Magic, who never trailed after stringing together a 14-1 run in the second quarter that turned a 33-33 tie into a comfortable 47-34 lead.
The Knicks battled back behind Julius Randle, who finished with 38 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, but could only get their deficit down to five points in the game's late stages.
Wagner helped Orlando hold on by recording 10 of his points in the fourth quarter.
Jalen Brunson had 20 points for New York, which has now lost two straight, but was held to 4-of-15 shooting from the field.
Sam Reinhart had two goals and Carter Verhaeghe scored the game-winner with 6:23 remaining to lift the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 win over the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers on Friday.
Aleksander Barkov recorded three assists to tie a franchise all-time record in that category and help the Panthers to a third straight victory. The Florida captain now has 415 career assists, matching former teammate Jonathan Huberdeau for the most in club history.
The Rangers rallied from an early two-goal deficit to draw even at 3-3 when Mika Zibanejad scored short-handed with 7:45 left to play. The deadlock was short-lived, however, as Verhaeghe whipped a wrist shot past New York goaltender Jonathan Quick just 1:22 later to put the Panthers back in front.
Florida's Evan Rodrigues had the lone goal of the first period, and Reinhart increased the lead to 2-0 with just over seven minutes elapsed in the second before the Rangers got goals from Artemi Panarin and Will Cuylle less than 90 seconds apart.
Reinhart sent the Panthers back ahead before the end of the second, however, by redirecting a shot from Barkov past Quick with Florida on a power play.
Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 31 saves for Florida, while Quick stopped 28 shots in just New York's second loss in its last seven games.
Stars' Hintz completes hat trick with overtime winner
Roope Hintz finished off a hat trick by scoring with 7.9 seconds left in overtime to give the Dallas Stars a thrilling 5-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Dallas bounced back from blowing a two-goal third-period lead when Hintz knocked home a feed from Jason Robertson with time winding down in overtime. The hat trick was the fifth of the standout centre's career.
Robertson finished with two assists, while Jamie Benn and Joe Pavelski each had a goal and an assist as the Stars improved to 6-1-1 over their last eight games.
Tyler Johnson had two goals for Chicago, including a power-play tally with 2:36 remaining in regulation that tied the game at 4-4.
Johnson also scored the game's first goal, three minutes before teammate Cole Guttman converted a pass from Lukas Reichel midway through the first period for a 2-0 Blackhawks' lead.
Dallas then recorded the next four goals, beginning with Hintz's first of the night that came under a minute after Guttman's tally. Hintz and Pavelski both scored in the second period to put the Stars ahead before Benn extended the lead to 4-2 with just over two minutes elapsed in the third.
Jason Dickinson later brought the Blackhawks back within one by beating Dallas goaltender Scott Wedgewood with 11:02 left in the third.
Petr Mrazek had 30 saves for Chicago, which has now dropped seven of its last nine games (2-6-1). Wedgewood recorded 25 saves for the Stars.
Kraken edge Flyers in OT to extend point streak
Justin Schultz's goal with 2:25 left in overtime extended the surging Seattle Kraken's winning streak to four games with Friday's 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Schultz slid a pass from Oliver Bjorkstrand past Flyers goaltender Carter Hart in extra time shortly after Seattle secured an eighth consecutive game with at least one point (6-0-2), which ties a franchise record.
Joey Daccord allowed a short-handed goal to Philadelphia's Travis Konecny in the first period, but kept the Flyers off the board thereafter in a 27-save effort.
Hart, who also finished with 27 saves, had a shutout going until Vince Dunn scored on a power play 5:45 into the third period to tie the game at 1-1.
Philadelphia has now lost three of its last four games but is now 6-0-3 over a nine-game point streak on the road.
Gary Anderson has warned against putting excessive pressure on 16-year-old Luke Littler ahead of his clash against Raymond van Barneveld at the World Darts Championship.
Littler, the world youth champion, is the youngest player to reach the last 16 and was born 21 days after Van Barneveld won the most recent of his five world titles in 2007.
The pair will face off at Alexandra Palace on Saturday, and two-time world champion Anderson is worried about the amount of attention being put on Littler at such a young age.
“If it goes tits up with Luke give yourselves a pat on the back,” Anderson told reporters. “Let the boy play darts. I’ve been downstairs and he’s got cameras, zoom calls, meetings…Let the boy play darts.
“He’s had a great tournament, he’s done well. What if it all goes Pete Tong now? You boys have ruined that. Let the boy play darts, He’s 16 years old.
“Keep having that boy mic’ed up, doing interviews when he should be on the practice board. You’ve seen it a thousand times. Every year there’s a boy come through.
“You’ve not got a clue how many young darts players coming through the system who are the next big thing and then there’s the pressure on it and it all goes Pete Tong. We’ve seen it in the past.”
Van Barneveld set up the meeting with Littler with a 4-1 win over Jim Williams.
“I will love to play Luke Littler,” he said. “When I was 16 I was playing with Lego and Playmobile, we didn’t have the internet or whatever.
“This guy is amazing, and I am looking forward so much to that game. He is a quality player and I can’t wait to meet him tomorrow night.”
Ian Evatt hailed Bolton’s “best victory of the season” as they saw off Fleetwood on a windswept night on the Lancashire coast.
Dion Charles and Victor Adeboyejo scored in the second half to leave Wanderers just two points behind League One leaders Portsmouth.
Evatt told Wanderers TV: “That was a proper performance, I’m so pleased with that.
“For me, the best victory of the season in the circumstances – the weather, the storm, the wind, the pitch was all against us really, but I thought we were just so professional.
“I think we dominated both halves really, with the wind and against it. Obviously disappointed not to score in the first half but stayed calm, stayed composed and did the business in the second half.”
Charles opened the scoring four minutes after half-time with his 12th goal of the league season and stepped over Kyle Dempsey’s pass for Adeboyejo to hammer in a late second.
“Great time to score,” said Evatt of the first goal. “I’m delighted for Dion, who I thought was excellent tonight, and then a bit of magic from Dion again with the ‘over’ for the second one for Victor.
“As away performances go, that’s a proper performance.”
Lee Johnson rued individual errors which meant an otherwise impressive battling display from his Fleetwood side went unrewarded.
“It was a tough game,” he said. “We knew the quality Bolton have – they’re a well established side in the division that’s had time to build, and an ex-Premier League club.
“But we felt, genuinely, at half-time that we had a good chance in this game. We defended ever so well in treacherous conditions, the spirit was good, the blocking was good.
“We’re not affecting boxes anywhere near enough, we know that, and we have to because wins are very important.
“You have to give credit to Bolton but again we’re masters of our own downfall with individual errors and that seems like the story of almost the calendar year. If we want to get out of trouble, they’re the bits we have to stop.
“We had 15 players, for various reasons, unavailable for this game and it’s difficult for a club like us.
“We’re not throwing the towel in, I’m well up for the fight. We’ve got 23 games now in which we need a number of wins.
“The first thing we’ve got to stop is the individual errors because there was a clean sheet in that game, and that’s what’s frustrating.”
Leeds manager Daniel Farke insisted his side should have had a penalty after losing more ground in the battle for automatic promotion from the Championship with a 1-0 defeat at West Brom.
Farke was frustrated at referee Graham Scott’s refusal to award a spot-kick for a challenge by Baggies defender Cedric Kipre on Wilfried Gnonto in the 30th minute as Leeds suffered a second successive loss for the first time this season.
Seven minutes later, Grady Diangana scored the only goal to make it back-to-back home wins for the Baggies and move them to within three points of fourth-placed Leeds.
“Why should he go down when he’s one against one with the goalkeeper?” said Farke.
“I think the whole stadium saw the situation but they decided not to give us a penalty.
“Normally if that had been a penalty, it would also have been a red card.
“There was no intention to play the ball so it was a decisive moment in the game.
“It changed so much against a side who was so focused on defending.”
Diangana’s goal came off his knee after his first attempt was blocked by Joe Rodon after Okay Yokuslu split the Leeds defence for Jed Wallace to cross.
Despite having 63 per cent possession, Leeds failed to seriously test goalkeeper Alex Palmer and Farke admitted his team lacked a cutting edge.
“We started well, but the last two or three per cent brutality to get the shot away was not there – that’s why we lost,” said Farke.
“We changed our base formation and brought on offensive players, they brought all their defensive players on and showed great commitment to block our strikes.
“We needed that last few per cent brutality to win those headers or to shoot after a really tidy first touch to get the shot away.”
West Brom head coach Carlos Corberan saluted a “special” performance from his side.
“It was special in terms of the commitment the players put into the game,” he said.
“We knew that to beat Leeds you can only have these special wins if you have a lot of good players, if you’re a very strong team and you play with a lot of team mentality, team spirit and personality.
“We found good possibilities to cross from our right side with Jed Wallace, and from one of these actions, we scored.
“The second half started balanced, but then they changed formation and were very aggressive with a lot of attacking players and we had to adapt our shape and to defend the goal we scored.”
On Leeds’ claims for a penalty, Corberan added: “I don’t know because I haven’t seen the action back yet.
“But Leeds have some of the best players in the last third of the pitch and normally they want to challenge your defenders a lot.”
Watford head coach Valerien Ismael hailed his players for holding on for a point from a 1-1 draw with Stoke despite Vakoun Bayo’s 52nd-minute dismissal.
Striker Bayo was shown a straight red card for an off-the-ball clash with Potters defender Luke McNally.
The pair initially tussled for the ball and both ended up on the turf – but when they picked themselves up referee Scott Oldham was convinced he saw Bayo strike McNally as play continued elsewhere.
Hornets fans stuck with their side afterwards – and gave referee Oldham a hard time throughout.
“With 10 men we played some great football,” Ismael said. “The spirit was unbelievable in the stadium – for the first time this season I got some goosebumps. The fans gave us a lot of energy.
“I’m proud of my players because they stayed calm and showed great fighting spirit.”
Ismael agreed with the home fans’ assessment that Oldham had lost control of the contest.
“Everyone got that feeling tonight that something was wrong,” he said. “It was difficult to manage all the emotion because it was not only the players, it was all over the place.”
Oldham showed a yellow card to Ismael for dissent in the first half.
“My feeling was of injustice,” the manager said. “I know I have a job to do on the sidelines, to be an example, but I am human.”
Stoke head coach Steven Schumacher admitted his players had failed to capitalise on the red card but reckoned the decision itself was routine.
“I just saw the two lads clash on the floor, I don’t know what Scott’s seen,” he said. “It was a decision that went for us but the momentum of the game changed. Unfortunately we didn’t make the most of it.
“I’m sick of talking about referees – I’ve been on the end of a few mad decisions as well. It’s part and parcel of football – it’s what happens.”
Jake Livermore put Watford ahead in the 15th minute, bundling home from close range from a corner to celebrate his first goal for the Hornets.
Ryan Mmaee’s fine strike levelled the scores in the 34th minute and despite chances for both sides before and after Bayo’s departure there was no further scoring.
The draw extended Stoke’s unbeaten run to five matches, three of which have been under Schumacher, who replaced Alex Neil on December 19. The Potters are 19th, seven points clear of the relegation places.
“We showed some good character, especially after going 1-0 down from a set-piece,” he said. “That was a disappointment but we responded really well.
“It was a great finish from Ryan. It was a goal he deserved. He has led the line really well in the last three games.
“At half-time I said to the players that the game was there for the taking if we continued to play with some energy and show more quality in their box.
“Unfortunately, especially when they went to 10 men, we just didn’t have that killer pass that would have been the difference.
“It wasn’t a poor performance but you could see there were some tired bodies out there.”
The result left Watford in 10th place, four points off the play-offs, but the draw was an upgrade on Boxing Day’s 4-1 home loss to Bristol City.
“From minute one we were much better than Tuesday,” Ismael said.
Watford held out for a 1-1 draw at home to Stoke despite losing Vakoun Bayo early in the second half to a straight red card for lashing out at Luke McNally.
Jake Livermore’s first Watford goal was cancelled out by an equaliser from Ryan Mmaee before the break.
Bayo saw red in the 52nd minute but Stoke could not find a winner.
Watford head coach Valerian Ismael handed a first start to Giorgi Chakvetadze as one of six changes to the side that lost 4-1 at home to Bristol City on Boxing Day.
Stoke brought in Ben Pearson and Sead Haksabanovic to freshen up their side after the 3-1 win at Birmingham in Steven Schumacher’s second game as head coach.
Livermore launched an early long-range strike over the Stoke crossbar before defenders blocked replies from Stoke duo Wouter Burger and Andre Vidigal.
Matheus Martins saw a drive deflected wide as Watford came again – and the Hornets took the lead from Chakvetadze’s 15th-minute corner.
Ryan Porteous flicked a header across the box for the former England midfielder to bundle over the line. It was his first goal since netting for West Bromwich in an FA Cup game with Chesterfield in January.
Mmaee sent a Stoke chance wide before Yaser Asprilla thumped a drive straight at Potters goalkeeper Jack Bonham.
Mmaee fired Stoke level in the 34th minute after Haksabanovic’s run down the left saw the ball bounce off Ryan Porteous to the Morocco striker, who turned to evade Tom Dele-Bashiru before blasting beyond Hornets keeper Ben Hamer.
Junior Tchamadeu missed a great chance for Stoke to take the lead straight after but his shot was too high.
Ismael Kone was booked for a challenge that left McNally requiring treatment. Referee Scott Oldham then showed a yellow card to Ismael for complaining about Stoke challenges that went unpunished.
The half ended with Livermore booked for a late challenge on Haksabanovic – and boos for the referee from the home fans.
Chakvetadze began the second period with a 25-yarder that Bonham touched on to the bar – but Watford were down to 10 men in the 52nd minute when Bayo was shown a red card.
The striker tangled with McNally and, after both players had picked themselves up, appeared to lash out at the Stoke defender with an elbow in full view of the official as play continued.
Hamer came out to make a fine block to stop Bae Jun-ho, played in by Haksabanovic, from slotting Stoke into the lead in the 65th minute.
Watford were still dangerous though, with Bonham denying Asprilla before substitute Mileta Rajovic scooped an even better chance over.
Hamer denied Mmaee a second with a reflex stop, and then had to save low down from substitute Lewis Baker but that turned out to be the game’s last clear-cut chance.
Burton interim manager Gary Mills was “proud” of his side after claiming back-to-back wins at the Pirelli Stadium with a hard-fought 1-0 success over Shrewsbury.
The home side took the lead with their first chance of the game, Joe Powell’s corner whipped perfectly onto the head of striker Beryly Lubala, who guided his effort into the back of the net on 16 minutes.
Mills said: “I’m absolutely delighted with the attitude and application of the boys over the Christmas period.
“The willingness to defend the goal as a unit is something we’ve been working on and we’re really proud.
“The game played out exactly as we planned for, we know they’re effective in what they do which makes us so proud is what we achieved as a group.”
Despite the narrow manner of the victory, Mills was particularly impressed with the quality his side showed in the defensive third of the pitch.
He added: “The lads put their bodies on the line and showed that want to keep the ball out of the net as well as the solidarity, spirit and togetherness.
“I’d hoped the forward players would help their defenders out and put the ball in the net a few more times but they’re warriors.
“The group are really together and they want to perform for each other and the football club which is fantastic.”
Shrewsbury boss Matt Taylor was disappointed with the nature of the defeat but wanted to highlight his players’ work-rate and commitment.
Taylor said: “I felt we did enough to win the game let alone lose it.
“I know it can’t be that a team only has to score one goal to beat us but we’re in a tough moment in terms of results but, more importantly, we’re in a really difficult spot in terms of available players.
“I can’t question the players’ effort but I can question the quality when we’re in those big moments when we get chances because the players have done it this season and we know they can do it.”
The Salop faithful were audibly upset with what they were seeing from their team and Taylor was keen to sympathise with the supporters.
He added: “I can hear their frustrations and I’ve got no issues with that but you have to understand where we are.
“This football club did really well last season with a different group of players and where we are now with the players we have available, we’re at full stretch.
“I knew the job would be tough but what I didn’t expect was all of these unforeseen issues where we would pick up injuries that you’d argue are some of our best players and make it really difficult for us.”
Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna admitted his sickness-ravaged promotion chasers did not do enough to take all three points as they were held to a goalless draw by struggling QPR.
The Tractor Boys lost the chance to pull away from the chasing pack in the Championship and have now gone four games without a victory and failed to score at home in a league game for the first time since October 2022.
The result saw Ipswich fall eight points behind leaders Leicester, with the gap to third-placed Southampton just three points, while QPR stayed in the drop zone.
McKenna said: “I didn’t think it was a very good match or general performance or general atmosphere.
“It was a really difficult build up to the match right up to the two minutes before kick off when Nathan Broadhead is vomiting in the dressing room and there’s a few players with the vomiting bug and probably a couple more to come.
“So difficult build up, it wasn’t a great game and of course there’s a lot of factors behind that. It’s the third game in six days after a massive effort, the players are humans.
“I thought that the effort levels, especially in the second half, were excellent and we tried really, really hard and had some chances to win the game.
“Didn’t give up any chances in open play, gave nothing away, had a couple of chances to win it but didn’t do quite enough in the performance to win the game.”
QPR head coach Marti Cifuentes was pleased with his team’s response to the 2-0 defeat on Boxing Day at Millwall.
He said: “It was a good answer from my guys after a disappointing performance on Boxing Day against a very good side.
“I like Ipswich the most in the league, the way that they play they have been really, really strong so far this season, especially playing at home: scoring a lot of goals creating a lot of goals, creating a lot of chances and I think today we did a good job.
“Sometimes football is a little bit more than just the tactics and the training – the togetherness and the capacity to build as a team some kind of identity and I think that today we did that.
“I think that the answer from the guys in the terms of how committed they were against a very good team was excellent and I have a feeling that we competed at a very good level during the whole game and we had some marginal situations.
“We hit the post with the most clear chance of the game, probably.”
David Wagner criticised his Norwich players for ‘losing their heads’ and ‘doing everything wrong’ as they slipped to a second consecutive 1-0 defeat in a fiery Championship clash at 10-man Millwall.
Tom Bradshaw grabbed the decisive strike in the first half at a rocking Den as the Canaries were unable to convert sustained spells of possession into clear-cut chances.
Millwall saw George Saville shown a late red card for a cynical lunge on Jonathan Rowe after Ashley Barnes and Jake Cooper had both been booked for a pair of hot-headed altercations.
Norwich had winger Borja Sainz sent off at West Brom on Boxing Day and “angry” boss Wagner insists his team’s discipline proved fatal once again under the Friday night lights.
Wagner, whose side now sit five points away from the play-off places, said: “It was just not good enough – it was a deserved defeat at the end of the day.
“It was intense but you have to be calm, do your stuff and play football – not get dragged into the situation and get the crowd on their side.
“We’ve done more or less everything wrong when you play here, especially at Millwall away, we fought with them more than we played and we played into their cards.
“Our experienced players know exactly what it’s about here, but we lost our head and this is what makes me really angry.
“How we started, we were able to get something out of this game.
“It’s frustrating and disappointing – we started well, were good and created our moments.
“Then we conceded after a counter and totally lost the focus. We didn’t play in the right areas and never really went forward in the right areas.”
City started brightly as Barnes shot straight at Matija Sarkic and Hwang Ui-jo fired wide of the post.
But it was the hosts who took the lead in the 18th minute when Bradshaw slid in from close range after Brooke Norton-Cuffy’s inviting low delivery across the face of goal.
Angus Gunn pulled off a brilliant pair of acrobatic saves to deny both Zian Flemming and Aidomo Emakhu either side of the break.
Tempers flared on the hour mark when Barnes and Cooper were booked and the atmosphere in Bermondsey reached boiling point.
Gunn once again kept City in it with a flying stop to deny Ryan Longman before Saville saw red with two minutes remaining for a challenge on a rampaging Rowe.
Millwall are now unbeaten in four after back-to-back wins and sit eight points clear of the Championship drop zone.
Boss Joe Edwards said: “That was a pleasure to be a part of.
“It hadn’t been what it should be at The Den so it was one of the big objectives to put it right.
“It took a bit longer than we would have liked – we want a certain atmosphere and energy from the fans but it’s our job to create that.
“The fans could see from the off that our desire and energy was there, it was what we wanted to be.
“It was very difficult for Norwich to play and when it got heated in the second half, it kicked everyone on even more.
“When we then go down to 10 and we have to ride it out, the fans have to help us get through that – it was a brilliant night for us.
“Millwall away is not a fixture people look forward to playing in. We want to add an element of control and quality to our game in possession, but we don’t want to do that at the cost of that fight and aggression.”
Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick hailed the “unbelievable” spirit of his players after the 2-1 victory over Huddersfield at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Both sides missed easy chances in the first period, with Boro’s Isaiah Jones miskicking the ball two yards in front of an open net before Town’s Josh Koroma crashed off the crossbar after rounding the goalkeeper.
Second-half substitute Josh Coburn lifted over Jacob Chapman to put Boro in front but the home side were not behind for long as Michal Helik’s strike from the edge of the box made it 1-1.
Boro had the chance to win it late on from the penalty spot but Jonny Howson saw it saved by Chapman only for him to redeem himself and net the winner moments later.
Carrick said: “It’s not the perfect way or ideal way to go about it but sometimes you have got to find a way.
“The spirit is unbelievable in the group with the staff and backroom staff. It’s an effort from everywhere, a lot of clubs have injuries as well, it’s something you have to deal with and accept to a point.
“As we are in the league now, come the end of the year with everything to play for in the cup so there is a lot to be pleased about but still a lot of work to do for sure.”
Carrick was happy to see Howson net the winner just a minute after his spot-kick was saved.
He added: “It was a hell of a save to be fair from the goalkeeper, sometimes there are good penalties and bad penalties but it’s a hell of a save.
“You can see the emotion on Jonny’s face, what it meant to him and to everyone and celebrations were ramped up by the fact he missed the penalty.
“Sometimes it’s quite nice to win like that, really digging and fighting and Jonny showed that moment. It was one of those games that didn’t really come easy for us really.
“It was a slog, a grind, bit chaotic with chances at both ends and I said at half-time ‘if it is going to be one of them games then make sure we win the battle’.
“To be fair to the boys they all chipped in in different ways and I’m delighted with the result.”
Huddersfield boss Darren Moore felt his side did not deserve to lose.
He said: “I said to the boys to keep their heads up really because what’s doing Huddersfield is small lapses of concentration but credit to the players for the performance.
“It’s fine margins that split the difference and that’s what’s done us in the end tonight really. I’m encouraged because the performances are there so the results won’t be too far away.
“It’s a hard one to take but we have to take the positives from the game and take it forward.”
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