Despite his friendship with many still at Old Trafford, the Ipswich manager is planning a rude awakening for Ruben Amorim’s first game

It takes little effort for Kieran McKenna to remember his first Manchester United game. He was about to turn eight when his father took him to Old Trafford in May 1994 and, while a goalless draw with Coventry might not thrill at first glance, there was the considerable bonus of seeing Sir Alex Ferguson’s side celebrate their procession to the title. Growing up in County Fermanagh you threw your lot behind United or Liverpool: the young McKenna took his pick and those ties took hold across the next three decades.

On Sunday, though, United will come to McKenna and his impressive Ipswich side. It will be a fiery baptism for Ruben Amorim at Portman Road and, had this not been the Portuguese’s long-trailed debut, the story would have been squarely in the home dugout. McKenna has never felt any need to hide his affection for United and, from the outside, it looked a gamble when he left their coaching staff for a drifting League One club almost three years ago. But now he can face them with the realistic prospect of a positive result and it is some measure of the distance he and Ipswich have travelled.