Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna says his side are “not too far away” after their first Premier League home win of the season lifted them to 18th in the table.
Liam Delap’s penalty and Omari Hutchinson’s low strike saw off Chelsea and will give the Tractor Boys faith in 2025.
They are just one point behind Wolves and two behind Everton.
McKenna said: “It was everything it needed to be, I thought we came out really fast, really aggressive, we tried to impose ourselves on the game. “I meant Liam [Delap] it was amazing tonight. It was one of many incredible performances tonight.
GET IN THEREEEEEEEEE.#IPSCHE pic.twitter.com/GmOJjTcFML
— IPSWICH TOWN (@IpswichTown) December 30, 2024
“In general, there was hope in the performances, we competed in almost every game. If you do, you always have a chance. We are just a few points short of what we could have had.
“Getting three points tonight is always welcome, of course. We are in the game and not too far away.”
“We must continue”
Delap was a thorn in Chelsea’s side throughout, scoring and assisting in the Premier League for the second time this season and scoring Town’s first penalty in the top flight since November 2001.
He told Sky Sports: “We’ve worked so hard this season and it hasn’t gone our way. The performances deserved the victory and today we showed that we are excellent and we defended well, attacked them well. We’re buzzing.”
“We had three or four chances where we didn’t have a penalty that we probably deserved so it was nice to get that one and put it in the goal. I practiced them a million times so I just aimed at the corner and put it there.
“I don’t think it changes much. We played so well in other games this season, but we didn’t get a result. We didn’t take our chances or we conceded a late goal. Now we just need to push on and get more wins.”
