Kieran McKenna was full of praise for Samy Morsy after he broke the deadlock late on in Ipswich’s 2-0 win at Fleetwood.

The visitors claimed maximum thanks to Morsy’s 71st-minute opener and Kayden Jackson sealing matters with the second goal 10 minutes from time.

And Ipswich boss McKenna was surprised it was the first time the Egypt international had found the net this season.

“He’s been getting into good areas,” said McKenna of his midfield anchor. “We think that’s his best role. Sometimes players have to do what’s best for the team and that’s the case for him after Lee Evans’ injury.

“We like him in that role. He’s got the running power, the timing and the hunger to get beyond people and get into effective areas. I’m surprised that was his first goal of the season but I don’t think it’ll be his last.

“It was a good win because it was a difficult game on a very difficult pitch. It was a big challenge to pick ourselves up after a disappointing result against Morecambe last week and we didn’t feel sorry for ourselves, we improved on a few things and went again.

“It was very pleasing for the fans who have travelled. We put on a good performance in very difficult circumstances and we got our reward.

“We made good decisions and for the first goal we got good movement from Sam (Morsy), who has worked hard on his game.”

While the win extended Ipswich’s unbeaten run to seven, the defeat left Fleetwood looking uneasily over their shoulders at the relegation battle.

The Cod Army have not won in nine games but boss Stephen Crainey insists that, with the effort and commitment his injury-hit squad show each week, they will turn things around sooner rather than later.

“First and foremost, I’m disappointed to lose that game,” he said.

“I didn’t think there was much between us in the first half, there weren’t many chances. I felt a goal was going to come from a set play, and when we’d given the foul away we didn’t react well enough and we let them break away and score.

“I think the first 10 minutes of the second half was a period that was very encouraging. That’s what I said to them at half-time, we wanted to get in their faces a bit more and, credit to the lads, they did that. We just switched off at a set play.

“For the second goal we were chasing the game a bit and they broke in behind us and got the second goal. From that point of view it’s a bit frustrating, but we need to dust ourselves down and go again at Sunderland on Tuesday.

“There are no excuses, we can’t use injuries as an excuse for not winning football games. We’ve got a good squad of players and everyone is going to be needed between now and the end of the season, so there aren’t any excuses in terms of injuries.

“We’re frustrated but we won’t use that as an excuse by any means.”