Kieran McKenna has heaped praise on captain Sam Morsy, while also insisting his Ipswich Town squad is packed full of leaders.

Morsy has led Ipswich since being signed from Middlesbrough by Paul Cook in the summer of 2021, with the midfielder and McKenna building a strong bond since coming together in December.

But the Town boss believes there are plenty of players in his squad with leadership qualities, something he believes is vital as the club look to finally win promotion from League One.

Lee Evans captained Ipswich at Cambridge on Tuesday night, while the likes of Keogh, George Edmundson, Janoi Donacien and Sone Aluko have all worn the armband over the course of the last year.

“I think we have an absolutely outstanding captain both on and off the pitch,” McKenna said of Morsy.

“Someone who leads by example day to day on the training pitch and somebody who leads by example on the pitch in games. We couldn't ask for any more in terms of the leadership that we have.

“But it's also important to spread that leadership and that's been a focus for us this year. We wanted a slightly flatter hierarchy to our leadership and to have more voices and leaders within the group.

“That was obviously an attraction of Richard Keogh coming in as well, to have another senior figure.

“But beyond that, we have a leadership group that spreads a little bit wider. We have lots of voices in the dressing room and that's something we encourage of players who are confident enough to speak their opinion and give to the group.

“They are also knowledgeable enough to help them with their understanding so that they can contribute in positive ways. At the moment, we have lots of boys who are showing leadership in all their different ways.”

Asked if any players had surprised him in their vocality or by emerging as a leader, he said: “No surprises, just that I've seen it in lots of the players when I arrived here and I think everybody has their own personality and everybody has their own nature.

“Sam Morsy is a different character to Luke Woolfenden, who is a different character to Janoi Donacien.

“But everyone has their own way of contributing and everybody has something to offer. It's about harnessing that and making everybody feel that they have the trust and responsibility to help the team in whichever way possible.

“Part of that is being vocal and that is something we want to work on as a team, being more vocal in the dressing room and being more vocal in different moments in games.

“We've had a few of those moments this year and we've hopefully learned from them, and it's a process we want to continue developing to evolve the leadership in the dressing room.”