Kieran McKenna explains the absence of Ipswich Town star in friendly win as transfer rumours continue

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Ipswich Town ran out 3-1 winners over Aberdeen on Friday night in a friendly, with Jaden Philogene netting a brace while George Hirst was the other goal scorer.

It was the perfect performance for Kieran McKenna, as the old adage says, Start as you mean to go on.

Ipswich Town are expected to be fighting for the Championship title this campaign, with the minimum expectation being that they get promoted back to the Premier League, following their relegation last season.

However, there were two notable absentees from the side that travelled up to Scotland to face Aberdeen, which led to many questions as to why they weren’t involved; however, Kieran McKenna addressed these after the match.

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McKenna addresses the absence of Ashley Young and Omari Hutchinson

Neither Ashley Young, who recently signed from Everton, nor Omari Hutchinson, who was recently the subject of a rejected £35m bid from Premier League club Brentford, were part of the squad.

Ipswich fans will be desperate to keep hold of Hutchinson to boost their promotion push this season and so will be pleased with McKenna’s comments regarding his absence with the East Anglian Daily Times.

He said: “Just a little bit too soon. He’s building up gradually. It’s just over three weeks since he played 110 minutes, or something like that, at the end of a five-game tournament. So, he doesn’t need match minutes yet.

“He’s had his first few days training this week, and hopefully he’ll be in and around one or both of the games next week.

“He’s an Ipswich player, and he’s training well back at camp.

“Hopefully he’ll be ready to join the group next week. I think he’ll be a really important player this year.”

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Fans will be watching the squad announcements closely

McKenna stated that Hutchinson will be part of the squads for either both of their games this week or at least one.

This may see fans glued to their phones as they wait for team news to indicate if Hutchinson will be part of the plans for this season as they look to return to the Premier League.

Ipswich will face Charlton, at Colchester, on Tuesday night, and then the side will travel to France to face Auxerre next Saturday.

Following that friendly in France, Ipswich will then begin their Championship campaign against Birmingham City on August 8, under the lights at Portman Road.