Ipswich boss McKenna delighted counting on Morsy this season

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna is delighted counting on Sam Morsy this season.

The Egyptian’s goal in the draw with Southampton means he is the fourth Ipswich player to score for the club in the top three divisions, following Ted Phillips, John Elsworthy and Jimmy Leadbetter.

McKenna said of keeping Morsy this season: “It was never in doubt in my mind that amongst all the decisions we had to make in the summer.

“I think Sam was always going to be the club captain this year and be an absolutely integral part of the football club as we move forward, and as we try and establish ourselves as a Premier League club and develop our culture with a new group of players and some new staff. He always going to be integral to that.

“Performance-wise, I think his performances were really strong last season in the Championship and that was maybe his first season that he’d been operating at the very top end of the Championship.

“I think he performed very well and more than deserved his chance to be a big part on the pitch this season as well. And he came back and he performed well in pre-season and he’s performing well in the early games.

“He’s still got improving to do, he’s still got growth to make to be performing as well as he possibly can. And he’s the mindset who will always be striving to get better. But it’s really good to have him here still as an important player for us off the pitch and on the pitch.”