MCKENNA'S IPSWICH MAGIC

JOHN LYONS REPORTS ON THE BRIGHT NEW ERA AT PORTMAN ROAD UNDER THEIR ROOKIE MANAGER...

IPSWICH Town fans haven't had a lot to cheer over the last couple of decades, but you can sense a new wave of optimism at Portman Road these days.

The supporters are flooding back to watch Kieran McKenna's Tractor Boys tackle the Championship and so far you would hardly know the Suffolk side had just stepped up a division.

It was Plymouth (champions) and Ipswich (runners-up) who kept their nerve in an epic threeway League One battle with Sheffield Wednesday for the two automatic promotion places last term.

In the end, the Owls joined them in the second tier after a dramatic last-gasp play-off victory against Barnsley at Wembley. Wednesday - who replaced boss Darren Moore (now Huddersfield) with Xisco Munoz this summer - have made a stinker of a start to the season and Spaniard Munoz has already cleared his desk.

Ipswich, on the other hand, have had no such problem. Heading into the recent international break, the Blues were flying high in second place in the Championship with a bumper haul of 28 points from 11 games. Nine wins, one draw, one defeat - this second tier appears a doddle!

The Blues had also scored by far the most home goals in the division (19), while a whopping 30 goals in total had been netted in their six home games. Perfectionist McKenna might not like the number of goals flowing into his own side's net, but you can't argue that Portman Road isn't the place to be in the second tier right now.