Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna says his side “are not too far away” after a first home Premier League win of the season lifted them to 18th place in the table.
Liam Delap’s penalty and a low strike from Omari Hutchinson saw off Chelsea and will give the Tractor Boys belief going into 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, tried to impose ourselves on the game. “I thought Liam [Delap] was incredible tonight. He was one of many incredible performances tonight.
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“There has been hope in the performances in general, we have been competing in almost every game. If you do that, you always have a chance. We are only a few points short with what we could have had.
“To get three points tonight is always welcome, of course. We’re in games and we’re not too far away.”
”We need to push on”
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’s not gone right. The performances have deserved a win and today we showed we are excellent and we defended well, attacked them well. We’re buzzing.”
“We’ve had three or four opportunities where we’ve not had the penalty we probably deserved so it was nice to get that one and put it in the back of the net. I’ve practiced them a million times so just aimed for the corner and put it there.
“I don’t think it changes much. We’ve performed as well as that in other games this season but not got the result. Not finished our chances or conceded late. We just need to push on now and get more victories.”
